Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

DNC CHAIR PEREZ: Trump supporters ‘cowardly,’ ‘will be judged harshly’

Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez apparently isn’t concerned about courting voters who cast their ballots for President Trump in 2016.

Much like Hillary Clinton infamously describing Trump supporters as “deplorables,” Perez is now labeling Americans who support the president as “cowards” on the wrong side of history.

Perez made the comments during a discussion with Brandeis University Dean David Weil on Monday, and it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke.

“The thing is, they are cowardly,” Perez told Weil at The Heller School for Social Policy and Management. “I mean, history will not only judge Donald Trump harshly, it will judge Mitch McConnell, and Paul Ryan, and all the other cowards who refused to stand up to this president and allowed the party of Lincoln to die.”

Ironically, Perez won his seat at the head of the Democratic Party with a pitch about how Democrats need to better “communicate our message of opportunity and inclusion, that optimistic message.”

He told MSNBC shortly after the 2016 election that Democrats need to develop a 57-state strategy – which includes the territories and the District of Columbia – to build up outreach to rural and suburban areas where Trump trounced Clinton in 2016, largely because Clinton ignored those areas in key states.


Senator Chris Murphy has introduced bill S.3274 to fight “propaganda and disinformation”. Robert Barnes joins Alex to break down how this is actually a tactic to continue and even amplify their censorship of Christians, conservatives, and patriots.

“We’ve got to talk to people everywhere,” he said, according to PJ Media. “We’ve got to build a bench of candidates – if we’re going to take over the redistricting process, we’ve got to be running candidates for state legislature.

“And the way to do that is to get out there in the communities, not just in urban areas, but in suburb and exurb and rural America and talk to people and listen.”

Fast forward a little over two years and Perez is instead trashing Trump supporters on a liberal college campus, pontificating about the cowardly constituents his party is hoping to recruit to unseat Trump in 2020.

“They will be judged harshly,” Perez said, “because whatever (Trump) says goes right now.”

Perez’s comments likely don’t matter much, because it’s certainly not the first time he’s said one thing and done another.

While running for the DNC chair, Perez argued that he was a better fit than then Rep. Keith Ellison, because the chairman needed to be focused on the party full time. Months later, he took a high-dollar teaching job at Brown University.

Then, after purging women and people of color from the top ranks of the Democratic Party, he promised the DNC would stay neutral in primary elections. He lied, and personally endorsed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his more liberal challenger, The Week reports.

And while Democrat voters view the environment and climate change as a top issue, Perez reversed a ban last fall on the party accepting donations from fossil fuel companies, a policy that conflicts directly with the Green New Deal touted by several of the party’s candidates for president in 2020.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Nasdaq reports rise in first quarter earnings

FILE PHOTO: A view of the exterior of the Nasdaq market site in Times Square, New York City
FILE PHOTO: A view of the exterior of the Nasdaq market site in Times Square New York City, NY, U.S. April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

April 24, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nasdaq Inc on Wednesday reported a rise in first quarter profits on Wednesday as a pickup in the exchange operator’s non-transactional businesses, including market technology, helped offset a softer trading environment.

The company’s net income rose to $247 million, or $1.48 per diluted share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $177 million, or $1.05 per diluted share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by John McCrank)

Source: OANN

0 0

From molecules to electrons; can Big Oil become Big Power?

FILE PHOTO: Power lines connecting pylons of high-tension electricity are seen in Montalto Di Castro
FILE PHOTO: Power lines connecting pylons of high-tension electricity are seen in Montalto Di Castro, Italy, August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File Photo

April 4, 2019

By Ron Bousso and Susanna Twidale

LONDON (Reuters) – European oil companies have started to address what they worry may one day be an existential threat to their business — the end of a century of oil demand growth in a low carbon world.

The emergence of the electric vehicle and demand among investors and consumers for cleaner energy to limit climate change has pushed the European side of Big Oil to take baby steps towards refocusing their businesses from oil production and refining to electricity via natural gas and renewables.

Their funding for oil exploration dwarfs any alternatives, but they are buying up power generation and retail utilities to integrate with their long-standing natural gas and emerging renewables ventures.

Relatively small investments in electricity aim to help them ride the energy transition by offering households and businesses cleaner power than coal can provide and giving their petrol stations a green edge with EV charging.

Testing an electrification route also helps meet demands from shareholders that they “future proof” their businesses.

The International Energy Agency predicts regulatory changes to curb carbon emissions will mean demand for electricity will grow much faster than that for oil as Asia’s power-hungry middle class expands. The industry sees oil demand peaking any time from 2020 to 2040.

Diversification is not new to the oil and gas business and has a patchy record at best. Oil majors have bought stakes in coal, household cleaning, pet food, nutrition, shrimp trading, nappies, hotels and steel, with limited success. Critics say power will not deliver the profits the oil and gas companies need to sustain the large dividends their investors are used to.

BP lost billions in its first foray into renewables 20 years ago when it rebranded itself “Beyond Petroleum”. It closed its solar manufacturing division in 2011 and tried to get rid of its wind farms but says it now has a more successful model.

“Most of the things we do today are linked to our core capabilities,” Dev Sanyal, head of BP’s alternative energy division, told Reuters. “If you can start combining molecules and electrons in an integrated offer you start creating something of greater interest.”

PROFIT

Profit is the first challenge when joining the dots between renewables, gas-fired plants and utilities facing growing competition in markets that are fragmenting fast. None of the companies break down their results from renewables or power.

BP returned to solar in 2017 with a $200 million investment in UK solar generator Lightsource and dipped a toe into UK electricity retail the same year by buying a 25 percent stake in Pure Planet, a small challenger brand supplying some 100,000 customers with renewable electricity.

“The renewables business last year was free cash flow generative… we’ve been moving in a positive trajectory over the past three years,” Sanyal said. “Today we have industrial customers and over time there could be retail customers.”

He said BP plans to expand its alternative energy capacity – the biggest among the majors, according to CDP, a climate-focused research provider that works with major institutional investors. Gazprom’s large hydropower interests put it in second place ahead of Total and then Shell, CDP calculations show.

On retail, the French and Italians are ahead.

French giant Total ‘s purchase of Direct Energie last year gave it a portfolio of gas fired and renewable energy power plants and a platform to challenge state-controlled utility EDF .

It is targeting seven million customers in France and Belgium by 2022 and said in a recent investor presentation it aims to make low carbon electricity 15 to 20 percent of its total offering by 2040.

Eni says it is now Italy’s second largest electricity producer with six power plants, large electricity trading business and two million customers.

Shell says it wants to become the biggest electricity provider and over the past year has made a number of investments including a Brazilian gas-fired power plant and a UK utility.

Last week it renamed that utility Shell Energy and switched all 710,000 customers to 100 percent renewable electricity, offering them discounts on petrol and electric car charging in its petrol stations.

Mark Gainsborough, head of the Anglo-Dutch company’s new energy division, told Reuters it aims to grow its retail customer base in Britain.

Shell looked into acquiring the retail division of rival SSE in recent months but discussions made little progress due to concerns over the government’s decision to cap most domestic energy prices, industry sources said, an example of the risks facing power markets around the world. Both Shell and SSE declined to comment.

In a sign of the growing competition among the majors for power assets, Total is considering a rival bid to Shell for Dutch energy company Eneco, according to sources close to the matter. Total declined to comment.

Eneco is valued at around 3 billion euros and has 2.2 million customers and Shell’s Gainsborough said it could provide a template for a power business model.

“The model aspiration is to find an integrated mode with positions in trading and supply and having customer books,” Gainsborough said.

CAUTION

Former BP CEO John Browne, who drove the London-based company’s first push into renewables, said much lower production costs for wind and solar projects and a greater understanding about the future growth of power markets had changed the picture dramatically since then.

“The question is whether you have the skills, the people and the determination to make this work and are you happy that in reality the returns you make are better than the returns you make in your other business,” Browne told Reuters.

Returns on solar and wind projects are typically around 5-10 percent, according to climate research provider CDP, half of those from many oil and gas projects.

So far the oil majors have committed a small fraction of their annual investment to low-carbon technologies as they balance shareholder demands for returns and innovation.

Shell and Equinor plan to put between 5 and 6 percent of their capex investments into clean energy technologies, while Eni is targeting around 4 percent and Total and BP plan about 3 percent each, CDP research showed.

Those numbers rise with investments in gas-fired power generation but are still small enough to swallow if rivals make things difficult, particularly at the retail end, where they include supermarkets, fintech startups and Amazon.

“If at the end of the day it doesn’t work these companies have deep pockets and would be able to spin off power divisions,” said Munir Hassan, Head of Clean Energy at law firm CMS in the UK.

The differential in returns from power versus oil and gas had not changed much, he said, but there was a new impetus because perceptions among shareholders and their children had.

“Some of the oil companies will succeed,” Hassan said. “But I wonder whether they will find it more painful than they expected.”

(Additional reporting by Stephen Jewkes; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Source: OANN

0 0

The Latest: Missing boy’s body was buried in shallow grave

The Latest on the search for a missing 5-year-old Illinois boy (all times local):

3 p.m.

Police say the body of a 5-year-old Illinois boy whose parents reported him missing last week was found buried in a shallow grave and wrapped in plastic in a rural area a few miles from the family's home.

Crystal Lake police Chief James Black said during a news conference that investigators found what they believe to be the remains of Andrew "AJ" Freund early Wednesday in the neighboring city of Woodstock. Efforts are underway to confirm it is AJ's body.

He says they were led to the body after interviewing AJ's parents overnight and presenting them with cellphone evidence.

The parents, Andrew Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham, each face five counts of first-degree murder and other charges.

Authorities say they reported him missing last Thursday and told officers they last saw him at bedtime the night before.

___

2 p.m.

Authorities say they have found what they believe is the body of a 5-year-old Illinois boy who went missing last week, and that his parents have been charged with murder in his death.

Crystal Lake police Chief James Black said at a news conference Wednesday that police dug up what they believe is Andrew "AJ" Freund's body in a field and that it was wrapped in plastic.

He says AJ's parents, Andrew Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham, face murder and other charges in the boy's death.

Authorities say the boys' parents reported him missing last Thursday and told officers they last saw him at bedtime the night before.

___

12:30 p.m.

Officers have removed several items from the home of an Illinois couple whose 5-year-old son has been missing for nearly a week.

Photos and video show the officers leaving the Crystal Lake home of Andrew Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham on Wednesday with a shovel, mattress, brown paper bags and plastic storage tub.

Searchers have been scouring the area for the couple's missing son, Andrew "AJ" Freund. Authorities say the boys' parents reported him missing last Thursday and told officers they last saw him at bedtime the night before.

Police say Cunningham has been refusing to cooperate with detectives. They say they don't believe the boy was abducted and that he didn't leave the home on foot. State child welfare officials have taken custody of the couple's 4-year-old son, Parker.

Authorities plan to give an update on the investigation at a 1 p.m. news conference.

___

9:25 a.m.

The FBI and police in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake are planning a news conference as they search for a 5-year-old boy who has been missing for nearly a week.

The Crystal Lake Police Department says the news conference will take place at noon on Wednesday at City Hall. The agencies have been searching for Andrew "AJ" Freund since his parents reported him missing last Thursday. The couple said they saw him at bedtime the night before and couldn't find him in the morning.

Police searched for AJ in a park on Tuesday and said they planned to use sonar to search ponds in the community, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Chicago.

Authorities say they don't believe the boy was abducted or wandered away.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Apple, Goldman Sachs to jointly launch credit card paired with iPhone: WSJ

FILE PHOTO: Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York
FILE PHOTO: Customers walk past an Apple logo inside of an Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York, U.S., August 1, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

February 21, 2019

(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc has teamed up with Apple Inc to issue credit cards that will be paired with iPhones and will help users manage their money, the Wall Street Journal reported https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-goldman-sachs-team-up-on-credit-card-paired-with-iphone-11550750400 on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The card, which will be linked with Apple’s Wallet app, will allow users to set spending goals, track rewards, and manage balances, WSJ said.

The new cards will be rolled out to employees for testing in next few weeks and will be launched later this year.

The deal will benefit both the companies tap into new income sources. Apple has been sharpening its focus on its services business, including the App Store, mobile payments and music streaming after a recent dip in iPhone sales, which generate most of the company’s profit.

Goldman is also looking to increase its consumer loans to offset dips in its trading business.

Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for a comment. Goldman declined to comment.

The joint card, which will use Mastercard’s payment network, offers a cash back of about 2 percent on most purchases. Spending on Apple products and services could potentially result in more cashbacks, some of the people told WSJ.

Goldman Sachs has already started adding customer-support call centers, and building an internal system to handle payments, a project that could cost the bank $200 million, WSJ said, a time when banks are focused on reigning in expenses to boost their bottom lines.

The Wall Street bank could eventually offer other financial products, such as Marcus loans and wealth management services, to Apple customers, WSJ said.

(Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

Source: OANN

0 0

State Department reacts to reported arrests of Americans in Haiti

The State Department responded to reports that five Americans in Haiti were arrested and held on conspiracy charges after more than a week of anti-government protests.

“We understand that the Haitian National Police detained a group of individuals, including some U.S. citizens. When U.S. citizens are arrested overseas we seek Consular Access as soon as possible and provide appropriate Consular assistance as provided by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” a State Department spokesperson told Fox News. It did not comment further.

Reuters reported that a group of foreign nationals including armed Americans were arrested. Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste reported that police found rifles, pistols, drones and satellite phones in the group’s vehicle, according to Reuters.

The arrests come after more than a week of violent demonstrations by tens of thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise over skyrocketing prices that have more than doubled for basic goods amid allegations of government corruption.

TRUMP DECLARES ‘SOCIALISM IS DYING’ AMID VENEZUELA ‘CATASTROPHE,’ PROMISES ‘THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN TO US’

Last week, the State Department issued its highest-possible travel advisory for Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation.

“Do not travel to Haiti due to crime and civil unrest,” the department advised Americans in its Level 4 warning. “There are currently widespread, violent, and unpredictable demonstrations in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere in Haiti. ... Protests, tire burning, and road blockages are frequent and unpredictable. Violent crime, such as armed robbery, is common. Local police may lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents, and emergency response, including ambulance service, is limited or non-existent.”

Goods in Haiti have doubled in price in recent weeks: A sack of rice now costs $18 in U.S. dollars and a can of dry beans around $7. In addition, a gallon of cooking oil has gone up to nearly $11 from $7. Inflation has been in the double digits since 2014, and the price hikes are angering many people in Haiti, where about 60 percent of its nearly 10.5 million people struggle to get by on about $2 a day. A recent report by the U.S. Agency for International Development said about half the country is undernourished.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The U.S. government urged Moise’s administration to implement economic reforms and redouble efforts to fight corruption and hold accountable those implicated in the scandal over the Venezuelan subsidized oil program, known as Petrocaribe.

Moise has refused to step down, though his prime minister, Jean-Henry Ceant, said over the weekend that he has agreed to reduce certain government budgets by 30 percent, limit travel of government officials and remove all non-essential privileges they enjoy, including phone cards. Ceant also vowed to investigate alleged misspending tied to Petrocaribe, and said he has requested that a court audit all state-owned enterprises. He also said he would increase the minimum wage and lower the prices of basic goods, although he did not provide specifics.

Fox News’ Nicholas Kalman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

Knowles hires JPMorgan for activist defense: source

FILE PHOTO: JP Morgan Chase & Co. corporate headquarters in New York
FILE PHOTO: A view of the exterior of the JP Morgan Chase & Co. corporate headquarters in New York City May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/Files/File Photo

April 4, 2019

By Shariq Khan and Shivani Singh

(Reuters) – Audio components maker Knowles Corp has hired JPMorgan investment bankers to advise it on its defense against demands by shareholders Caligan Partners LP and Falcon Edge Capital LP to seek a review of its Precision Devices unit, according to a source familiar with discussions between the parties.

The source also said the two funds, which together hold more than 6.7 percent of Knowles and are seeking to nominate two new members to its board, are still prepared to work cooperatively with the company on solutions.

Shares in Knowles have risen about 3 percent since Caligan and Falcon went public with their demands at the end of last week, after settlement talks between the shareholders and the company stalled.

JPMorgan’s involvement in the conflict was first reported earlier on Thursday by Dealreporter.

The source said the funds were unwilling to agree to demands by Knowles that the funds enter a two-year stand-still agreement in return for a single board seat.

After an overwhelming vote in favor of de-staggering the company’s board at its last annual meeting, six of Knowles’ board members will be up for re-election at a 2020 shareholders’ meeting. A two-year standstill agreement would require the activists to vote in favor of all board proposals till 2021.

While Caligan and Falcon were open to settling for one seat instead of two, the stand-still demand, described as “off-market” in the funds’ letter https://thefutureofknowles.com/doc/BoardLetter.pdf dated March 29, was a dealbreaker, the source said.

Caligan and Falcon Edge also posted a presentation https://thefutureofknowles.com/doc/Who%20Knowles%20Intelligent%20Audio%20-%204.3.19.pdf on Wednesday, demanding the company release detailed financials for its struggling Intelligent Audio segment.

The funds said they believe Knowles’ stock could reach at least $28 per share in value by the end of the year if the company listened to their feedback.

JPMorgan, Caligan Partners, Falcon Edge and Knowles Corp declined to comment.

(This story corrects headline to remove reference to legal counsel.)

(Reporting by Shariq Khan and Shivani Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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.

BIDEN VOWS THAT ‘AMERICA IS COMING BACK,’ SPARKING ‘MAGA’ COMPARISONS

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.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who is facing increased calls for her immediate resignation, remains in poor health and is not “lucid” enough to decide whether to step down, her attorney told reporters late Thursday.

Steve Silverman, speaking outside one of Pugh’s residences which was raided by the FBI and IRS earlier in the day, said the embattled city leader could make a decision as early as next week.

“She is leaning toward making the best decision in the best interest in the citizens of Baltimore City,” he said, adding that Pugh has “several options” to consider.

“She just needs to be physically and mentally sound and lucid enough to make appropriate decisions.”

BALTIMORE MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH, ON LEAVE AMID BOOK PROBE, HAS HOMES AND CITY HALL OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDS

Silverman said Pugh met with a doctor at home Thursday and plans to do so again Friday, the Baltimore Sun reported.

In the latest image-tarnishing scandal for struggling Baltimore, the first-term Democratic mayor faces accusations that she used children’s book deals to cover up kickbacks for favorable treatment as a state lawmaker and city leader that earned her roughly $800,000 over several years.

BALTIMORE’S ACTING MAYOR SAYS HE ‘WOULD HATE TO SEE’ EMBATTLED MAYOR RETURN AFTER BOOK SCANDALS

As a state senator, 69-year-old Pugh sold $500,000 worth of her self-published “Healthy Holly” illustrated paperbacks to the University of Maryland Medical System, a major state employer whose board she sat on for nearly 20 years.

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

UMMS reportedly paid Pugh for 100,000 copies of her books between 2011 and 2018 with the stated intention of distributing the books to schools and day care centers. But some 50,000 copies remain unaccounted for and officials are probing if they were even printed.

Pugh also made $300,000 in bulk sales to other customers including health carriers that did business with the city of Baltimore.

BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL CALLS ON EMBATTLED MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY

The politically isolated Pugh slipped out of sight on April 1 after a hastily organized press conference where she called her no-contract book deals a “regrettable mistake.” That same day, Maryland’s governor called on the state prosecutor to investigate allegations of “self-dealing.”

Pugh took an indefinite leave of absence, citing her health deteriorating intensely after a bout with pneumonia.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide. (Loyd Fox/Baltimore Sun via AP)

On Thursday morning, agents with the FBI and IRS searched her two Baltimore homes, her City Hall offices, and a nonprofit organization she once led. The home of at least one of Pugh’s aides was also scoured.

Silverman said federal agents also served a subpoena at his law firm, retrieving Pugh’s original financial records. They did not seek any attorney-client privileged communications, he said.

Pugh’s attorney said she was “emotionally extremely distraught” following the searches by FBI and IRS agents.

“There was nothing incriminating that came out of her home,” Silverman said.

UMMS spokesman Michael Schwartzberg told reporters that the medical system received a grand jury witness subpoena seeking documents and information related to Pugh.

Other probes against Pugh include a review by the city ethics board and the Maryland Insurance Administration.

BALTIMORE MAYOR’S $500G DEAL FOR ‘HEALTHY HOLLY’ CHILDREN’S BOOKS DRAWS SCRUTINY

In recent weeks, the calls for Pugh’s resignation have intensified with the strongest voice coming from Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who did not mince words after Thursday’s early morning raids.

“Now more than ever, Baltimore City needs strong and responsible leadership. Mayor Pugh has lost the public trust,” he said. “She is clearly not fit to lead. For the good of the city, Mayor Pugh must resign.”

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall.

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun via AP)

Many of her fellow Democrats, including those on Baltimore’s demoralized City Council and state lawmakers, are also insisting that Pugh put the citizens’ interests above any attempt to preserve her political career.

City Council member Brandon Scott called the Thursday raids “an embarrassment to the city.”

However, only a conviction can trigger a mayor’s removal from office, according to the city solicitor. Baltimore’s mayor-friendly City Charter currently provides no options for ousting its executive.

Six of Pugh’s staffers joined her on paid leave earlier this month; three of them were fired this week by the acting mayor.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Pugh came to office in late 2016 after edging out ex-Mayor Sheila Dixon, who had spent much of her tenure fighting corruption charges before being forced to depart office in 2010 as part of a plea deal connected to the misappropriation of about $500 in gift cards meant for needy families.

She would certainly face a bruising 2020 Democratic primary if she were to return and run for reelection. Veteran City Council leader Bernard “Jack” Young, who is serving as acting mayor, said as she went on leave that he would merely be a placeholder. But this week, before the raids, he said “it could be devastating for her” if she tried to return.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist