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Democratic donor Ed Buck sued by family after overdose death: report

The mother of a man who died in the West Hollywood apartment of prominent Democratic Party donor Ed Buck filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Tuesday.

LaTisha Nixon, who reportedly names Buck and the Los Angeles County District Attorney as defendants in the lawsuit, said she grew frustrated after authorities failed to file criminal charges for the 2017 overdose death of her 26-year-old son Gemmel Moore.

Moore, a black male escort, was found by police on July 27, 2017, inside the 63-year-old's apartment. Moore's death was initially classified as an accidental methamphetamine overdose.

Buck, a well-known figure in LGBT political circles, has given more than $500,000 to a range of Democratic groups and candidates — including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

MAN WHO DIED IN DEMOCRATIC MEGADONOR ED BUCK'S HOME CALLED HIM A 'F---ING DEVIL,' REPORT SAYS

According to NBC4, the suit was filed in LA Superior Court and alleges wrongful death, sexual battery, hate violence, drug dealer liability, negligence, infliction of emotional distress, and two violations of civil rights. Nixon also accuses Buck of personally administering the drug that took her son's life.

Buck's attorney Seymour Amster said they did not yet see the lawsuit but vowed to “fight the allegations vigorously,” adding that there’s “more to the story than is being told.”

The District Attorney's Office reportedly declined to comment.

SECOND MAN FOUND DEAD OF OVERDOSE WITH DEMOCRATIC DONOR ED  BUCK WAS NO DRUG ABUSER, FRIENDS SAY

Moore's death was initially considered an accidental drug overdose. After an additional inquiry due to writings in Moore’s journal and pressure from his family, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office concluded that the “admissible evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt” that Buck gave Moore drugs or is responsible for his death.

Last month, a second black man, Timothy Dean, was found dead of an overdose in Buck’s home. Dean, 55, reportedly had a relationship with Buck years before Moore’s death.

Dean reportedly warned his friends to steer clear of Buck and referred to him as a "f---ing devil" and "a horrible, horrible man.”

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Dean is said to have specifically told a friend in the fall that he had no intention of visiting Buck, and that “he didn’t want to end up dead.”

 Hollie McKay and Christopher Carbone contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Setback for Macron as court vetoes key plank of anti-protest law

FILE PHOTO - French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint statement with Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar at the Elysee Palace in Paris
FILE PHOTO - French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint statement with Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

April 4, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron’s crackdown on anti-government protests with tougher police tactics hit a fresh snag on Thursday as France’s Constitutional Court canned one of the central elements of the new rules.

The measures, ushered in to respond to “yellow vest” demonstrations that have descended off and on into violent riots over the past four months, had already caused unease even within Macron’s party and were decried as heavy-handed by opponents.

They include giving police the power to search demonstrators and ban them from covering their faces, two of the more controversial parts of the legislation which have now been approved by the Constitutional Court.

But the court struck down another article, which would have given police the right to ban anyone pre-emptively identified as a troublemaker from demonstrating.

The court said in a statement that the measure had been drafted too loosely, and did not specify that a person would have had to have been especially violent or destructive in a previous protest to be deemed a threat to public order.

Macron himself had joined opposition politicians in asking the court to examine the legislation, in an attempt to placate the left-leaning wing of his parliamentary majority – and highlighting the sensitivity of the new bill and unease in his party ranks over a lurch to the right on issues like security.

The rules were passed by France’s senate and the lower house of parliament, where Macron’s party has a comfortable majority, but an unprecedented number of his lawmakers abstained.

One MP, Matthieu Orphelin, left the ruling party as a result. He welcomed the court’s decision on Thursday, saying that it showed “that our doubts were justified.”

France’s human rights watchdog had also warned in March of a steady erosion of civil liberties, reflected in the police tactics used during the “yellow vest” protests, which erupted last November as a backlash over the high cost of living.

Thousands of protesters have since been arrested and many wounded, drawing scrutiny over the use of crowd control weapons like dispersal “sting-ball” grenades.

Yet the government has also felt the heat for failing to prevent rioting on Paris’ Champs Elysee in mid-March, when stores were ransacked and restaurants were damaged.

One police union said on Thursday it regretted the Constitutional Court’s decision, adding it would hamper the work of security forces.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said he would examine whether and how to follow up on the scrapped measure, but welcomed the court’s green light for the rest of the new rules.

Macron’s approval ratings fell by three percentage points to 28 percent at the start of April, an Elabe poll for Les Echos and Radio Classique found on Thursday.

That followed three back-to-back months where his popularity gradually recovered from record lows.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Writing by Sarah White, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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Microsoft workers demand it drop $450 million U.S. Army contract

A Microsoft store is pictured in New York City
A Microsoft store is pictured in New York City, New York, U.S., August 21, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

February 22, 2019

By Paresh Dave

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Several Microsoft Corp employees on Friday demanded that the company cancel a $480 million hardware contract with the U.S. Army and stop developing “any and all weapons technologies.”

The organizing effort, described to Reuters by three Microsoft workers, offers the latest example in the last year of tech employees protesting cooperation with governments on emerging technologies.

Microsoft won a contract in November to supply the Army with at least 2,500 prototypes of augmented reality headsets, which digitally displays contextual information in front of a user’s eyes. The government has said the devices would be used on the battlefield and in training to improve soldiers “lethality, mobility and situational awareness.”

In a petition to Microsoft executives, posted on Twitter, workers said they “did not sign up to develop weapons, and we demand a say in how our work is used.” They called on the company to develop “a public-facing acceptable use policy” for its technology and an external review board to publicly enforce it.

Microsoft and the U.S. Army did not immediately respond to requests to comment. Company President Brad Smith said in an October blog post it remained committed to assisting the military.

“We’ll engage not only actively but proactively across the U.S. government to advocate for policies and laws that will ensure that AI and other new technologies are used responsibly and ethically,” Smith wrote.

Though many governments want to better draw upon the expertise of the biggest U.S. tech companies, fresh employee resistance has added a new challenge to already complicated relationships.

Worker pushback led Alphabet Inc last year to announce it would not renew a Pentagon contract in which its artificial intelligence technology is used to analyze drone imagery.

In other cases, employee criticism has invited greater public scrutiny to deals, such as $10 billion cloud computing contract yet to be awarded and various contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

One Microsoft worker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear whether any of the lead petitioners’ work touches the Army contract because the company’s services are intertwined. Another said several organizers work in the company’s cloud computing division, which is competing with rivals Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services to gain more government work.

(Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Richard Chang)

Source: OANN

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A look at the state of the wall on the US-Mexico border

The White House has touted a two-mile stretch of fencing President Donald Trump is visiting Friday as the first section of his proposed border wall to be built.

In reality, the newly fortified structure commemorated with a plaque bearing his name and those of top immigration and homeland security officials was a long-planned replacement for an old barrier.

It is one of a handful of projects that total $1 billion to replace existing barriers and build new ones across the border.

As Trump touts his signature campaign promise as the solution to the recent surge of migrant families crossing the border, here are questions and answers about the various barriers along the border and those that are in the works.

WHAT'S ALREADY THERE?

The southern border is nearly 2,000 miles long and already has about 650 miles of different types of barriers, including short vehicle barricades and tall, steel fences that go up to 30 feet high. Most of the fencing was built during the administration of George W. Bush, and there have been updates and maintenance throughout other administrations.

WHAT HAS TRUMP DONE?

Trump has yet to complete any new mileage of fencing or other barriers anywhere on the border. His administration has only replaced existing fencing, including the section he is touring Friday.

Construction for that small chunk of fencing cost about $18 million, began in February 2018 and was completed in October. Plans to replace that fence date back to 2009, during the beginning of former President Barack Obama's tenure.

Contractors have been doing site and preparation work for 13 miles of barriers in the Rio Grande Valley that will be Trump's first new fencing. The administration said construction could begin as early as this week. The administration is also in the process of replacing 14 miles of fencing around San Diego.

"The wall is under construction, by the way, large sections. We're going to be meeting, I think on Friday, at a piece of the wall that we've completed, a big piece, a lot of it's being built right now," he told reporters Thursday. "It's moving along very nicely. But we need the wall."

WHAT ABOUT THOSE PROTOTYPES?

Early in his term, Trump called for prototypes of border walls that were built in the San Diego area at a cost of about $300,000 to $500,000 each. Eight prototypes went up, and Trump traveled to the border to inspect them last year.

But they were demolished in February. The nearly $3 billion that Congress provided for barriers during the first half of Trump's term requires the money be spent on designs that were in place before May 2017, which meant the prototypes couldn't be used.

The prototypes became a spectacle at various times since Trump took office, drawing tourists, protesters and artists who projected light shows on the walls from Mexico.

WHAT ABOUT THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY?

Trump shut down the federal government for more than a month — the longest shutdown in U.S. history — and later declared a national emergency to free up billions of dollars to build his wall. Congress had voted to block the emergency declaration but Trump vetoed the measure.

Several organizations brought lawsuits over the declaration, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Democrats also planned on suing to prevent Trump from "stealing" money from federal programs and diverting the money to build a wall.

But the national emergency money has not yet been spent in part because the government has to first spend existing border wall funding. A lawsuit could eventually derail the plan.

Still, various plans for more border barriers are moving along.

Last month, the Department of Homeland Security requested that the defense department build 57 miles of 18-foot fencing near Yuma, Arizona and El Paso, Texas, which have seen enormous increases in the number of border crossers, especially families.

Source: Fox News National

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Watch: Students Recoil at Creepy Joe Groping Footage

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Trump Slams Cohen as Liar

President Donald Trump blasted his former attorney Michael Cohen and called him a “bad lawyer and fraudster."

Trump also claimed Cohen lied during his recent testimony before the House Oversight Committee.

Trump made his comments Friday on Twitter.

He wrote: 

"Bad lawyer and fraudster Michael Cohen said under sworn testimony that he never asked for a Pardon. His lawyers totally contradicted him. He lied! Additionally, he directly asked me for a pardon. I said NO. He lied again! He also badly wanted to work at the White House. He lied!?"

Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, said Cohen had "directed" another lawyer to explore the possibility of a presidential pardon last year.

During his testimony, Cohen said he had never asked for a pardon from Trump.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Exclusive: Go ‘extra step’ to get Brexit deal, UK Labour lawmakers urge Corbyn

British opposition Labour Party leader Corbyn looks at Brexit document in London
British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn holds the Political Declaration, setting out the framework for the future UK-EU relations, at his office in the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain April 2, 2019. Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS

April 4, 2019

By Elizabeth Piper

LONDON (Reuters) – Twenty-five lawmakers in Britain’s opposition Labour Party have urged their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to go the “extra step” if there is a chance of agreeing a Brexit deal in talks with Prime Minister Theresa May.

May, whose deal to leave the European Union has been rejected in parliament three times, has turned to Corbyn in a last-ditch bid to get the support of his Labour Party for an agreement she signed with the bloc’s leaders in November.

Corbyn has welcomed the talks, but the invitation poses a threat for his divided Labour Party – some members and lawmakers are demanding a second referendum on any deal while others fear being blamed for helping pass May’s much-criticized agreement.

The 25 lawmakers, almost all from areas which voted to leave the EU in a 2016 referendum, said the talks “represent a real opportunity” for Corbyn, a way to get a deal which would meet Labour’s demands for a Brexit that protected workers’ rights.

They reminded him in the letter that he had told May Labour would support a “sensible deal” that included “a customs union and no hard border in Ireland”, protected jobs and workers, environmental and consumer standards.

“We believe you are close to achieving that in the coming days,” said the letter whose signatories include Labour’s schools spokesman Mike Kane and three lawmakers who last week voted in favor of May’s deal: Rosie Cooper, Caroline Flint and Kevin Barron.

“At the general election, we were clear about respecting the 2016 vote, and about securing those Labour goals. Therefore, we feel if compromise is necessary to achieve this deal and avoid fighting the European elections, we should go the extra step to secure this.”

Corbyn, a long-standing critic of the EU, has long said he wants Britain to leave the bloc with a deal, respecting the 2016 referendum when 52 percent of voters backed leaving the bloc in Britain’s biggest shift in policy since World War Two.

But the opposition leader has been content to watch the governing Conservative Party take on Brexit, a move that has not only divided the country, but has all but redrawn the political landscape by widening rifts in the main parties.

In a last gamble, May announced she would bring Corbyn into talks to try to find a way to break the deadlock in parliament, which has voted against leaving the bloc without an agreement.

Corbyn is pressing his desire for a “permanent customs union” and alignment with the EU’s single market in the talks – red lines for a prime minister who had made controlling immigration one of the key stones of her Brexit policy.

But the Labour leader is under growing pressure to make any agreement with May conditional on holding a confirmatory referendum on the deal, or asking the public to back it in another vote.

The 25 lawmakers said such a vote was not part of Labour policy.

“Our policy, agreed by members, accepts that the public voted to leave the EU and seeks a deal that secure jobs and rights at work. It does not require a confirmatory ballot on any deal that meets those conditions,” the letter said.

“Delaying for many months in the hope of a second referendum will simply divide the country further and add uncertainty for business. A second referendum would be exploited by the far right, damage the trust of many core Labour voters and reduce our chances of winning a general election.”

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

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.

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

April 26, 2019

By Amit Dave and Mayank Bhardwaj

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By P.J. Huffstutter and Shradha Singh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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