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Boeing delivers 95 jets in first two months of 2019

A Boeing logo is pictured during EBACE in Geneva
A Boeing logo is pictured during the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) at Geneva Airport, Switzerland May 28, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

March 12, 2019

(Reuters) – Boeing Co delivered 95 planes during January and February, two higher than a year earlier, with its best-selling 737 MAX jets accounting for nearly half of the deliveries.

The figures disclosed by the company on Tuesday come as a number of countries ground Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft following a deadly crash in Ethiopia on Sunday.

Boeing said it delivered 49 aircraft in February, unchanged from a year earlier. That figure reflects 32 deliveries of its bestselling 737 planes, including older versions, down from 35 last year.

Boeing, the world’s biggest planemaker, won 48 net orders during January and February, beating European rival Airbus SE, which did not report any wins and had 99 cancellations dominated by its widebody A350-900 aircraft and the superjumbo A380.

Airbus delivered 88 aircraft in the January-February period, up from 65 a year earlier.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera and Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Sai Sachin Ravikumar)

Source: OANN

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Ford Motor forecasts $1 billion profit improvement at Michigan truck plant

FILE PHOTO: Ford logo is seen at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan
FILE PHOTO: The Ford logo is seen at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 17, 2019

DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Wednesday a planned shift in production at a Michigan plant to trucks from less profitable cars will lead to an improvement of more than $1 billion in operating earnings.

The increase in earnings, before interest and taxes, in 2021 compared with 2017 is due to the shift at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, from the C-Max hybrids and Focus compact cars to the Ranger mid-sized pickup truck and Bronco SUV, Ford said. The Ranger went on sale in January and the Bronco will be launch next year.

The information was disclosed in slides prepared for a presentation that Ford’s Jim Baumbick, vice president of enterprise product line management, is making at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference in New York on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: OANN

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Manson follower Van Houten gets another chance at parole

Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten is getting another chance at freedom following a yearslong saga that has seen a parole board recommend her for release three times but her ultimately being denied the chance to leave prison.

Van Houten's case is being heard before California's 2nd District Court of Appeal, which will consider whether to overturn a judge's ruling denying her parole last year.

Van Houten's attorney, Rich Pfeiffer, will argue that his 69-year-old client deserves to be released because she has changed, takes responsibility for her actions and has been a model inmate for more than four decades. Prosecutors will continue to vigorously fight Van Houten's release because of the seriousness of the crimes.

Van Houten was 19 when she and fellow members of Manson's cult stabbed Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, to death in 1969. The killings took place a day after other so-called Manson family members killed actress Sharon Tate and four others in crimes that shocked the world.

Van Houten, who is serving life in prison, was only involved in the LaBianca killings. She is not expected at the court hearing Wednesday.

Every year since 2016, a parole board has recommended that Van Houten be released, finding that she's no longer a threat to society.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown twice blocked Van Houten's release, saying she had failed to explain how she transformed from an upstanding teen to a killer and that she laid too much of the blame on Manson.

The parole board's most recent decision on Jan. 30 is undergoing a five-month review process before heading to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal could decide the case after hearing arguments Wednesday, potentially rendering any decision by Newsom unnecessary, or the judges could decide that the case belongs in the governor's hands.

Pfeiffer said he has never been so optimistic that Van Houten will win.

"This has been the best anything has ever looked since I've been on the case," he said. "This is probably the best way out."

But courts can be reluctant to interfere in parole matters, said Samuel Pillsbury, a criminal law professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

"It is highly emotional," Pillsbury said. "The voters have decided the governor should have a veto on this, so the courts would prefer to let this process play out."

If the decision comes down to the governor, Pillsbury said Van Houten has an uphill battle because of the infamy of the Manson murders.

"There's no other case like it in terms of the number of people in California who feel strongly about it, who've lived through it," he said. "The entire state and much of the nation still feel some degree of trauma from that, and it makes it a very different kind of case from an elected official's point of view."

In denying Van Houten parole last year, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Ryan found that she would "pose an unreasonable risk of danger to society," citing the brutal nature of the crimes.

During one of her parole hearings, Van Houten said the killings were the start of what Manson believed was a coming race war that he dubbed "Helter Skelter," after a Beatles song, and that he had the group prepare to fight and learn to can food so they could go underground and live in a hole in the desert.

Van Houten said she was traveling up and down the California coast when acquaintances led her to Manson. She candidly described how she joined several other members of the group in killing the LaBiancas, carving up Leno LaBianca's body and smearing the couple's blood on the walls.

Manson died of natural causes in 2017 at a California hospital while serving a life sentence.

___

Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AmandaLeeAP

Source: Fox News National

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Wisconsin superintendent bans sexist cheerleading awards

The superintendent of a Wisconsin high school district has outlawed cheerleading awards that objectify students' bodies and ordered mandatory staff training on discrimination and harassment.

Dr. Sue Savaglio-Jarvis said in a letter Monday to all principals and administrators in the Kenosha Unified School District that "mock awards of any such kind" are prohibited.

The letter is a response to revelations last month that coaches at Tremper High School were annually giving awards to girls with the largest breasts or buttocks. The high school said it would stop the awards after the details surfaced. But the superintendent's letter is a district-wide order and warns faculty they will be disciplined or fired if they harass students or fail to report harassment.

The awards revelation followed a yearlong investigation by the American Civil Liberties Union in Wisconsin.

Source: Fox News National

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Jury gets case in trial of white cop who killed black teen

A jury began deliberating Friday over whether a white former police officer was "judge, jury and executioner" when he shot an unarmed black teenager in the back, as prosecutors claimed, or was justified in using lethal force to stop a fleeing suspect whom he said he perceived as a threat.

Former East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld fired on 17-year-old Antwon Rose II last summer outside Pittsburgh in a killing that sparked weeks of unrest.

Rosfeld, 30, shot Rose in the back, arm and side of the face after pulling over an unlicensed taxi that had been used in a drive-by shooting. Rosfeld ordered the driver to the ground, but Rose and another passenger got out and began running away.

Jurors saw video of the fatal confrontation, which showed Rose falling to the ground after being hit.

Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Fodi declared in his closing argument Friday that Rosfeld had acted as "judge, jury and executioner."

Rosfeld could have waited for backup or given chase, Fodi said, adding that teenagers sometimes run from police. "Is it foolish? Yes. Does it deserve death? No. Is it reasonable? Absolutely not," Fodi said. "There was no need to use deadly force."

Rosfeld told the jury he thought Rose or the other passenger had a gun. The defense said the shooting was justified because Rosfeld believed he was in danger and couldn't wait for other officers to get there.

"He's a sitting duck," defense attorney Patrick Thomassey told jurors in his closing, asking them to consider "the standard of what a reasonable police officer would do under the circumstances."

Prosecutors charged Rosfeld with an open count of homicide, meaning the jury can convict him of murder or manslaughter.

The defense asked Judge Alexander Bicket to acquit Rosfeld of all charges, but the judge declined.

"We believe the jury has enough information to arrive at the right conclusion: that Antwon Rose was murdered," the family's attorney, S. Lee Merritt, told The Associated Press in a courthouse hallway. Merritt said "it's pretty obvious" Rose was not a threat to Rosfeld.

Rose had been riding in the front seat of the cab when another occupant in the back, Zaijuan Hester, rolled down a window and shot at two men on the street, hitting one in the abdomen. A few minutes later, Rosfeld spotted their car, which had its rear windshield shot out, and pulled it over.

Hester, 18, pleaded guilty last week to aggravated assault and firearms violations. Hester told a judge that he, not Rose, did the shooting.

At the beginning of the trial's fourth day Friday, a defense expert, retired Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Clifford W. Jobe Jr., returned to the stand and repeated his belief that Rosfeld followed his training when he shot Rose.

Under cross-examination, Jobe agreed with Fodi that a police officer can lie, violate the law or be unreasonable. He also agreed with the prosecutor that, in some circumstances, it is reasonable to refrain from shooting or to disengage from a situation.

But Jobe said that Rosfeld was within his rights to use "deadly force" to stop fleeing suspects he thought had been involved in a shooting.

"What did Michael Rosfeld do wrong on June the 19th?" asked Thomassey, the defense attorney.

"I don't think he did anything wrong. He was following his training," Jobe replied.

A day earlier, Rosfeld testified that he thought Rose or the other passenger had pointed a weapon at him. Neither teen was holding a gun at the time, though two guns were later found in the car.

"It happened very quickly," Rosfeld said. "My intent was to end the threat that was made against me."

Prosecutors say Rosfeld has given inconsistent statements about the shooting, including whether he thought Rose was armed.

A prosecution witness has said that after the shooting, he heard Rosfeld say repeatedly, "I don't know why I shot him. I don't know why I fired." Another prosecution witness said he heard the officer ask, "Why did he do that? Why did he take that out of his pocket?"

In his closing, Fodi said the video evidence shows "there was no threat" to Rosfeld, who he said "squared up" on the taxi "with plenty of time to do something about it."

"We don't shoot first and ask questions later," Fodi said.

But Thomassey said prosecutors did not produce a single witness "to say Michael Rosfeld did not do what he was supposed to do. They knew he was doing it by the book."

One juror, a white woman who had taken copious notes, was dismissed from the panel Friday and replaced with a white man. No reason was given for her dismissal. The jury now consists of seven men and five women. There are three black jurors.

Also Friday, Bicket lifted a gag order he imposed on the parties in the case. Thomassey made the request, saying that while he and prosecutors had abided by the judge's order, the attorney for Rose's family had not. Merritt released a letter to the media this week that Rose's mother wrote to prosecutors urging them to show what a "kind, loving and funny" person her son was.

Source: Fox News National

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Worried about nickel supply, China battery maker BYD welcomes JV discussions

FILE PHOTO: Women walk in front of the logo of Chinese car manufacturer BYD Auto stage before the opening of the 15th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition
FILE PHOTO: Women walk in front of the logo of Chinese car manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams) Auto stage before the opening of the 15th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai April 19, 2013. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

April 11, 2019

By Tom Daly

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Securing enough nickel is a major worry for electric vehicle firms, an executive from Chinese electric car and battery maker BYD Co Ltd said on Thursday, adding that the company would welcome joint ventures that help guarantee supply.

Nickel is one of several metals that are key components of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. A shift in battery chemistry toward higher nickel content, which would allow cars to go further on a single charge, is expected to boost demand further.

“The supply of nickel going forward is a big concern in everybody’s mind,” said Coco Liu, procurement director at BYD, at the Fastmarkets Battery Materials conference. BYD counts Warren Buffet among its investors and is also German automaker Daimler AG’s partner in China.

Analysts had earlier told the conference that the market would be short of nickel if Chinese-led projects in Indonesia fail to deliver.

BYD looks not only for suppliers who can provide high-quality products but also those who have experience in setting up joint ventures covering the whole EV value chain from upstream mining to precursor battery materials and finished products, Liu said.

Joint ventures are “a good way to go forward” and can save costs, she said, adding that BYD prefers to have diversity in its supplier base to reduce risks.

Liu said buying shares in a mine requires a large investment and entails risks, despite a potential rise in demand for raw materials for battery.

“We hope despite the volatility we can have a secure, stable supply with a relatively steady price. Then it will help with our final product sales and development,” she said.

(Reporting by Tom Daly; editing by Christian Schmollinger)

Source: OANN

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Mirjana Markovic, widow of Serbia’s late strongman Milosevic, dies aged 76

FILE PHOTO: MIRJANA MARKOVIC WIFE OF FORMER YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT SLOBODAN MILOSEVICGESTURES DURING NEWS ...
FILE PHOTO: Mirjana Markovic, the leader of Yugoslav Left (JUL) and Slobodan Milosevic's wife gestures during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Belgrade April 17, 2002. Markovic died on Sunday in a Moscow hospital aged 76. REUTERS/Ivan Milutinovic - RP3DRIBBKJAA/File Photo

April 15, 2019

By Aleksandar Vasovic

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Mirjana Markovic, the widow of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic who played a key role in her husband’s policies during the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, has died in Russia aged 76, state-run RTS TV reported.

Markovic, seen by critics as a Lady Macbeth figure goading her husband on to crush his enemies and defy the West, died in a hospital in Moscow, where she had lived in exile since fleeing Serbia in 2003 to evade prosecution on abuse of office charges.

A family friend, Dragoljub Kocovic, said Markovic had died of complications related to pneumonia. No other details were immediately available.

There was no official reaction from Serbia’s government to the news of her death, but Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin, a former member of Markovic’s now-defunct Yugoslav Left Party, said he was in mourning “especially because she did not spend her last days in Serbia … (which) she loved so much”.

“I hope she will find the peace that people took away from her,” state TV quoted Vulin as saying.

Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, head of the Socialist Party that Milosevic led in the 1990s, also sent condolences to her family and offered the party’s help in organizing Markovic’s funeral, state TV said.

“Maybe we did not always share the same views … but I respected her as Slobodan Milosevic’s wife and as a scientist,” Dacic said.

CONFIDANTE

Markovic, a former sociology professor at Belgrade University, was a close political confidante of her husband, who swept to power on a wave of Serbia nationalism in 1990.

She stood by him during the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia and NATO’s 1999 aerial bombing campaign that aimed to end Serbian forces’ crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists in the Serbian province of Kosovo.

Milosevic lost power in 2000 in a popular uprising and was extradited to The Hague a year later to face war crimes charges. He was found dead in his cell in The Hague on March 11, 2006.

In her diaries, published in the-then pro-government newspapers in the 1990s, she would often predict Milosevic’s future moves.

Markovic was born on July 23, 1942, the daughter of communist partisans fighting the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia.

Her mother, Vera Miletic, was captured by the Gestapo and allegedly under torture revealed sensitive information that led to arrests of Communist resistance fighters. She was later executed by the Germans in Belgrade.

Markovic and Milosevic were childhood sweethearts and became inseparable. Though she owed her political influence to her role as his closest adviser and confidante, she also built up her own power base in the neo-communist Yugoslav United Left.

She did not return from her Russian exile to attend Milosevic’s funeral in Serbia for fear of being arrested, both on charges of having abused her position as first lady to procure apartments for family members and on suspicion of possible involvement in the 1999 death of a newspaper editor.

Markovic is survived by son Marko and daughter Marija.

(Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Gareth Jones)

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)

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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)

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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.

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.”

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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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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.

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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

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Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations has blasted the United State and the European Union for imposing sanctions on his country, describing them as “economic terrorism.”

Bashar Ja’afari made his comments Friday in the Kazakh capital of Astana where Russia, Turkey and Iran held a new round of talks with the Syrian government and the opposition on steps to bring peace to the country.

His comments came as government-held parts of Syria are witnessing widespread fuel shortages that are largely the result of Western sanctions on Syria and its key ally Iran.

Ja’afari says: “This is economic terrorism that is escalating through unilateral economic measures.”

A final statement issued at the end of Astana’s 12th round rejected President Donald Trump’s formal recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over Syria’s occupied Golan Heights.

Source: Fox News World

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