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Haiti police fire rubber pellets at mourners as protests resume

Local residents argue with a policeman while the casket of a man shot dead during anti-government protests lies on the ground in Port-au-Prince
Local residents argue with a policeman while the casket of a man shot dead during anti-government protests lies on the ground in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, February 22, 2019. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado

February 23, 2019

By Anthony Esposito

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Haitian police wary of renewed unrest after days of nationwide protests fired tear gas and rubber pellets on Friday to disperse about 200 protesters and mourners carrying the casket of a man killed last week in anti-government riots.

Police confronted the march near Haiti’s National Palace, scattering wailing relatives and chanting neighbors who left the casket on the ground next to a smoldering gas canister.

At least one man was hit in the arm and neck, where marble-sized welts swelled.

Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Haiti’s main cities since Feb. 7, calling for President Jovenel Moise to step down to take responsibility for ballooning inflation, a weakening currency and allegations of misused funds from a Venezuelan oil subsidy scheme called PetroCaribe.

“Today we lock down the country again,” opposition leader Schiller Louidor told a church full of people who gathered for a memorial for two protesters killed last week, then marched the roughly 1 km (0.6 mile) to the palace to the beat of drums. One man shot a pistol into the air.

The casket of the second man was transported from the church directly to the cemetery.

The two dead were among several people killed in the clashes, protesters say. The government has not given an official death toll.

“We are asking for justice. We are going to continue to protest. Jovenel can kill as many people as he wants, he still has to go,” said Josef Dicles, a cousin of one of the dead men, Onique Gedeus.

Gedeus’ family said the 28-year-old was shot in the head by an unknown assailant on Feb. 13 as he waved the Haitian flag in the middle of the protests.

Partially collapsed buildings, damaged during Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, still line several blocks of downtown Port-au-Prince. People use some to dump their trash or relieve themselves, and one caught fire on Friday, sending a thick cloud of black, acrid smoke into the air.

Haiti, the first nation to be formed by former slaves in 1804, is the poorest country in the Americas, its economic progress stunted by a long history of political instability, disastrous foreign interventions and mismanagement.

It was not immediately clear how many people would heed the opposition’s call to take to the streets again later on Friday. Small crowds were gathered on street corners around the capital, Port-au-Prince, some burning tires.

The size of some of the protests appeared to shrink by early evening Friday, mostly comprised of smaller groups and unable to block off major thoroughfares as had happened in the last round of protests. But discontent with the government, nonetheless, remained strong.

Juan Maria Fontus, 36, complained about a lackluster economy and the challenges of accessing food and clean drinking water. “There is no work in Haiti and the government does nothing to help,” he said.

The injured man, Davidson Metellus, 35, said they would retrieve the casket left behind near the National Palace. “Even if there is only one of us left, we’re going to carry him to his grave,” said Metellus.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Sonya Hepinstall and Leslie Adler)

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Trial delayed for ex-officer charged in neighbor’s death

A judge has delayed the trial for a white former Dallas police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in his own apartment.

Amber Guyger had been scheduled to go on trial for murder in August for last year's killing of her neighbor, Botham Jean. According to the Dallas Morning News , a judge on Monday moved the trial to Sept. 23 because of a scheduling conflict with defense attorneys.

Guyger told authorities that she entered Jean's apartment, thinking it was her own, and fatally shot him. She was initially arrested on a manslaughter charge but a grand jury later indicted her for murder.

Jean was a 26-year-old native of the Caribbean island of St. Lucia who worked in Dallas for an accounting and consulting firm.

Source: Fox News National

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Trump's support for Israel's sovereignty over Golan Heights expected to make waves at UN

President Trump on Thursday tweeted his support for the United States to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, but like his move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Trump's decision is at odds with United Nations resolutions and likely won't bode well with U.S. critics at the world body.

Trump tweeted, “After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!”

Israel captured the strategically important Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. Israeli officials have argued Iran’s growing military footprint and influence in Syria has made the Syrian side of the divide a growing security threat given Tehran’s continued threats to annihilate Israel.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon wrote, "We are at the beginning of a historic moment for the State of Israel. President Trump once again proves the strength of the alliance between the US and Israel. The time has come for the world to recognize that the Golan Heights is an inseparable part of the State of Israel."

A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres responded with no comment when asked for reaction to Trump’s tweet.

Last month Guterres’ Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen was dismissive when asked about a push by Congress to recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli territory. He told reporters, “Obviously the Security Council is very clear that Golan is Syrian territory.”

Under former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law in 1981 that officially annexed the Golan Heights. Begin cited serious security threats from Syria including the threat of missile attacks. Days later the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that condemned the move, adding to its resolution 242 of 1967 that called for the removal of Israeli forces from its recently conquered territory during the Six-Day War.

U.N Security Council Resolution 497 from 1981 stated in part “that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect.”

Eugene Kontorovich, a professor of international law at George Mason University in Washington, D.C., and director of international law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum, told Fox News the resolution, “is not binding and has no legal force; it was merely a statement of the Council’s opinion. The U.S. has a sovereign right to disagree.”

OPINION: TRUMP'S SUPPORT OF GOLAN HEIGHTS SOVEREIGNTY, NETANYAHU VISIT CONTINUE AMERICA'S SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL

Kontorovich, who has advised senior members of the U.S. administration on the Golan Heights, praised what he described as Trump’s courage. “Only a clear statement that the Golan is part of Israel can deter Iranian and Syrian attempts to challenge Israel’s control. While American politicians of all stripes claim they support Israel’s control of the Golan, most lacked the courage to translate this into the necessary diplomatic language of sovereignty - until Pres. Trump.”

In February, Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas were joined by Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin as the lawmakers introduced bills in both chambers that would establish Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights as official U.S. policy. In a joint statement Thursday, the lawmakers applauded Trump’s tweet while warning of the serious security threats posed by Iran.

"At a time when Israel's northern border is threatened by Iranian forces and their proxies in Lebanon and Syria, including by Hezbollah's rockets, armed drones, and newly discovered terror tunnels, this recognition will be great news for our ally and its right to self-defense. More work remains to be done to align American policy with today's recognition. We look forward to advancing our bicameral legislation on the Golan Heights which acknowledges Israel's sovereignty over its territory, streamlines Congressional language, and expands the basis for joint projects on the issue."

A senior Republican congressional staffer scoffed when asked about possible U.N. criticism. “The United Nations operates in a parallel universe where they make things up so they can demonize Israel. That’s nice, but we prefer to exist in actual reality, and anyway the United States makes our own decisions with respect to issues of sovereignty. We didn't care when the U.N. threw their temper tantrum over recognizing the reality of Israel's capital of Jerusalem and we're not going to care when they have fainting spells this time either.”

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Trump’s tweet came ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned visit next week to the White House.

In January, Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari blamed the Security Council for its inaction on what he said was Israeli aggression against his country. He noted that his country would work to restore its sovereignty by “all means possible.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Defense boss Shanahan opens 2nd review of Niger ambush that killed 4 US soldiers

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told lawmakers Tuesday that a second review of the deadly October 2017 ambush in Niger that left four American soldiers dead was underway, with the goal of achieving "appropriate accountability."

The probe was convened after another fact-finding investigation ordered by former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was already in place. The final report for that review has not been released.

“When I came into this role, the recommendation was brought to me that Secretary Mattis, he had convened a review. … I did not find that sufficient,” he said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. “So, I convened my own review so I can ensure from top to bottom as to the appropriate accountability. I don’t know when that will be complete, but I have to assume that much of the work that’s been done to date can be used.”

Shanahan said a new inquiry should shed light on the incident but did not provide a timeline for when his review will be completed, the Army Times reported.

Islamic State militants killed Army Sgt. La David Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens, Fla.; Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, 35, of Puyallup, Wash.; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson, 39, of Springboro, Ohio; and Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, 29, of Lyons, Ga.

The soldiers, including two Army Green Berets, were killed following an overnight mission.

NIGER AMBUSH RESULTED FROM MULTIPLE FAILURES, PENTAGON SAYS

U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a Marine Corps veteran, has raised concerns that blame could be placed on junior officers while ignoring senior leaders, according to Stars and Stripes.

“It seems to me we’re going to be placing blame on junior officers and we’re just going to let colonels and general officers just get off the hook,” Gallego said.

Shanahan said holding senior leaders accountable was the “fundamental reason” for the second review. Matthis was reportedly upset with top military officials for placing all the blame on the Niger mission’s team leader.

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In a statement after the hearing, Gallego demanded answers from the Pentagon.

“I will continue to push for overdue reports and for details on this apparently ‘new’ review of the issues surrounding the Niger ambush. The Pentagon should not be allowed to sweep the details of the issue under the rug, especially not to protect the careers of senior officials who screwed up and got people killed. Our duty to the Soldiers who were killed and to their surviving comrades and families demands no less.”

In May, the United States Africa Command found widespread problems across the military operation, which focused on the actions of junior officers, the New York Times reported. The Army has since punished officers and enlisted soldiers involved in the battle.

The move by Shanahan caught several senior officials by surprise and has raised concerns among Army officers and Special Operations Forces. They argue that no evidence of criminality was found in various investigations, CNN reported.

According to a memo described to the network, Shanahan will call for an independent review by a military official with full authority to ensure full accountability, including possible criminal charges or other administrative actions.

An appointment is expected in several days.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Ex-official: Duterte photographed with drug-linked Chinese

A former senior Philippine police official says President Rodrigo Duterte has been photographed with two Chinese men involved in illegal drugs and sent a report to warn him about the two.

Dismissed Senior Superintendent Eduardo Acierto told a news conference late Sunday that he's unaware what government action has been taken after he submitted his report about the Chinese men to top police officials starting in December 2017. Instead, Acierto said he's now facing illegal drugs complaints and has been the target of drug threats that forced him to go into hiding recently.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Aaron Aquino says he received Acierto's report and the allegations against the Chinese are being validated.

Source: Fox News World

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US gives exemptions to sanctions on Iran Revolutionary Guard

The Trump administration on Wednesday granted important exemptions to new sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guard, watering down the effects of the measures while also eliminating an aspect that would have complicated U.S. foreign policy efforts.

Foreign governments and businesses that have dealings with the Revolutionary Guard and its affiliates will not be subject to a ban on U.S. travel under waivers outlined by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in two notices published in the Federal Register.

That weakens the effect of the measures and will frustrate members of Congress backing tough measures against Iran who are already concerned that the Trump administration won't fully enforce sanctions on Iranian oil. But it lifts the threat that those who work with the U.S. in Iraq and Lebanon, where the Guard's many subsidiaries are active, will face the full weight of American penalties.

The waivers leave intact sanctions that apply directly to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and its proxies, which are the first agencies of a foreign government that have ever been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States. The designation, which took effect April 15 , is part of a broader administration effort to increase pressure on Tehran.

Under U.S. immigration law, foreigners found to have provided designated foreign terrorist organizations with "material support" can be banned from the U.S.

When it was announced earlier this month, the designation raised fears that U.S. diplomats and troops might have to end contacts with officials in countries that have ties with Iran or elements of the Guard, a paramilitary organization formed in the wake of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution to defend its clerically overseen government.

Lebanon, where Iran and the Guard are active in their support of the militant Hezbollah movement, and Iraq, where they back Shiite militias and have close ties to the government, are two such countries where the U.S. is heavily engaged on the military and diplomatic fronts.

Pompeo said in the notices that he decided to waive the travel bans in U.S. foreign policy and national security interests.

In one notice, he said the sanctions "shall not apply to any ministry, department, agency, division, or other group or subgroup within any foreign government" unless that entity is covered by existing U.S. sanctions.

In the second notice, he said the sanctions won't apply "to any business, organization, or group, whether public or private, solely based on its provision of material support to any foreign government sub-entity that has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization."

Both notices said Pompeo retains the right to reverse the waivers.

The notices were published just two days after the Republican administration announced that it would not renew sanctions waivers for countries that import Iranian oil. Those waivers, which primarily affect five countries — China and India and U.S. treaty allies Japan, South Korea and Turkey — expire on May 2. The announcement sparked a spike in world oil prices due to concerns that the global supply of crude would be diminished if Iranian exports are cut off.

In the days since, however, concerns have been raised by Iran hawks that the administration may not impose sanctions on those countries if they continue their imports. China and Turkey have severely criticized the decision not to renew the waivers and said they will not bow to U.S. pressure while India has said it will try to comply but is hoping for a work-around.

Under one scenario being considered by the administration, those countries could be allowed to place and pay for future orders of Iranian oil before May 2, essentially front-loading continued imports, according to congressional aides and outside advisers familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Then, the administration could grant them waivers from sanctions to insure, transport and refine the oil that are allowed under the 2012 Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, they said.

That act, passed in the Obama administration, provides legal authority to impose sanctions on Iran's petroleum industry and foreign countries that do business with it. But it also allows for the penalties to be waived.

The State Department declined to comment on the possibility that Iranian oil imports might continue without sanctions.

Source: Fox News National

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The precarious perch of a potential Pentagon chief

With no other candidate emerging as the clear front-runner, expectations inside the Pentagon are that Patrick Shanahan will soon be nominated as the next secretary of defense and that he likely would win Senate confirmation.

Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, would be the first career defense industry executive to serve as defense secretary.

He has been the acting secretary since Jim Mattis left Dec. 31. Since then, Shanahan has avoided public missteps while handling such politically sensitive issues as sending military reinforcements to the U.S.-Mexico border.

Some have questioned whether his background amounts to an inherent conflict of interest for a defense secretary presiding over a multi-billion-dollar procurement budget. But Michael O'Hanlon, an analyst at the Brookings Institution, says that experience in defense industry issues could work to Shanahan's benefit.

Source: Fox News National

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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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