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Fixing Lebanon’s ruinous electricity crisis

Zouk Power Station is seen in Zouk
Zouk Power Station is seen in Zouk, north of Beirut, Lebanon March 27, 2019. Picture taken March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

March 29, 2019

By Angus McDowall

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s electricity crisis has pushed it to the brink of financial ruin, as power cuts hobble the economy and subsidies have racked up one of the world’s largest public debt burdens.

Lebanon has not had capacity to supply 24-hour electricity since its 1975-1990 civil war, leaving many households reliant on their own generators or private neighborhood suppliers who charge hefty fees to keep a few lights on or other appliances running during regular daily cuts that can last several hours.

The largely unregulated neighborhood suppliers, responsible for a web of power cables slung across city streets, are popularly called the “generator mafia” for their supposed political clout. The owners say they simply offer a service that the state can’t.

Ageing power plants run by the state use expensive fuel oil that, along with exhaust from diesel generators, adds to the smog lingering over cities in the nation of 6 million people.

The government has promised change, including improving bill collection to help pay for cleaner, more efficient plants. But it also needs foreign funds, which will mean raising power prices and other reforms that the government has struggled to deliver.

HOW BIG IS THE PROBLEM?

The government, World Bank and International Monetary Fund all say electricity reform is vital to cutting debt, now equivalent to about 150 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The government says net transfers to state power firm Electricite du Liban (EdL) now amount to $1 billion-$1.5 billion a year, most of it spent on fuel oil. This is equivalent to about a quarter of last year’s budget deficit of $4.8 billion.

The accumulated cost of subsidizing EdL amounts to about 40 percent of Lebanon’s entire debt, the IMF said in 2016.

The World Bank says electricity shortages rank second only to political instability in hindering business. The economy has expanded by an annual rate of just 1-2 percent in recent years.

Relying on fuel oil power plants and diesel generators also comes with a health cost: air pollution that can cause respiratory disease. Air pollution in Beirut was three times levels deemed a hazard by the World Health Organization, according to 2014 data.

WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO FIX?

Consumer power prices have not changed since 1996, when oil cost only $23 a barrel. Crude now trades nearer $70. But asking people to pay more when the service is so poor is a tall order.

The main power plants have an average capacity of just over 2,000 megawatts (MW), compared to peak demand of 3,400 MW. For Beirut, the best supplied city, that means daily cuts of three hours a day. Elsewhere, it can mean outages for much of the day.

Lebanon plans new, privately financed, gas-fueled plants. But it does not yet have a regulator that can set prices or arbitrate disputes between government and power producers.

Distribution and revenue collection are also big problems. EdL collects payments for only half the power it produces, with some power lost through creaking transmission network and other supplies siphoned off the system through unauthorized cables.

In 2012, the government appointed private companies to run metering, billing and payment collection for EdL, but it gave them little power to enforce payment.

WHY HASN’T THE GOVERNMENT ACTED BEFORE?

Lebanon has made sporadic attempts to end power shortages for decades, but its efforts have been thwarted by conflict, political instability and the challenge of policy-making in a system of government that depends on a delicate balance of interests across that nation’s fractious sectarian groupings.

Lebanon had no president for two years from 2014-16 and had a caretaker government for nine months until February this year because of political squabbling over cabinet appointments.

Even with a government in place, it has few resources to spend on power infrastructure when nearly half of state revenue is needed to service public debt.

This has led to quick fixes rather than long terms solutions, such as renting floating fuel oil power stations on barges paid for through deficit spending.

Jessica Obeid, a power specialist with the Organisation for Petroleum and Energy Sustainability in Lebanon, said private generator companies did play a role in hindering reform, but maneuvering among rival political parties was also to blame.

IS THERE NEW IMPETUS FOR REFORMS?

The World Bank and other investors have pledged $11 billion to invest in Lebanon’s infrastructure, including electricity. But that money will only come if the government implements reforms, such as laying out a path toward raising power prices.

Energy Minister Nada Boustani has proposed price increases and outlined plans to set up new power generators. But her plans have already brought opposition from other political parties represented in the cabinet.

Still, this time leaders across Lebanon’s political spectrum have said resolving the energy crisis is urgent and have agreed on a policy statement to review tariffs and achieve 24-hour electricity supplies in “the soonest possible time”.

They have yet to specify a date to achieve this.

(Reporting by Angus McDowall; Editing by Edmund Blair/David Evans)

Source: OANN

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Jared Kushner speaks on Mueller report, border crisis in Fox exclusive; Biden 2020 over before it really begins?

Welcome to Fox News First. Not signed up yet? Click here.
 
Developing now, Tuesday, April 2, 2019

FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: JARED KUSHNER SPEAKS OUT - In an exclusive interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, addressed Special Counsel Robert Mueller's findings in the Russia investigation, his coverage in the mainstream media and the president's threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border ... Kushner said any further attempts by Democrats to pursue a Russia collusion investigation would be "not productive" and "an embarrassment to our democracy" and that he's willing to testify on Capitol Hill about Russia.

Kushner said Trump's threats to close the U.S.-Mexico border are a way "to pressure everybody" into taking action to limit illegal immigration. Click on the videos above to watch Laura Ingraham's interview with Jared Kushner.


CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP.

BIDEN'S BLUES: Joe Biden's potential 2020 candidacy may be in jeopardy before it even begins after a second woman has come forward to accuse former vice president of inappropriate touching ... Amy Lappos, 43, first told the Hartford Courant in an interview published Monday that Biden grabbed her during a $1,000-per-plate October 2009 fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn. Lappos, who was working as an aide for Himes at the time, said Biden's action's weren't sexual, but that he did grab her. Her accusations came on the heels of a similar claim by former Nevada lieutenant governor candidate Lucy Flores, who said Monday she'd still vote for Biden over Trump, despite her claims.

THE BATTLE OVER THE MUELLER REPORT: As House Judiciary Committee Democrats prepare subpoenas seeking the release Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s full report from the Justice Department, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz says Attorney General William Barr is not legally required to make the report public ... In an interview on "Hannity" Monday night, Dershowitz used the “shoe on the other foot” test to demonstrate that the Trump administration doesn’t have to comply with the Democrats' demands. Click on the video above to watch Dershowitz's interview.

CONFERENCE FEATURING 2020 DEMS HIGHLIGHTS FUGITIVE COP-KILLER: A conference featuring eight prominent 2020 Democrat presidential hopefuls kicked off in Washington, D.C. on Monday with the fiery rallying cry of a fugitive cop-killer ... Jamal Watkins, vice president of civic engagement at the NAACP, began by telling the audience at the We the People conference that he would invoke the words of Assata Shakur (aka Joanne Chesimard), who was convicted of the 1973 murder of a New Jersey state trooper when she was in the Black Liberation Army.

Among the groups in attendance were the Sierra Club, MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, SEIU and Communications Workers of America. Speakers included 2020 Democratic White House contenders Cory Booker, Julián Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jay Inslee, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

REPORT: SAUDIS GIVE BLOOD MONEY TO SLAIN ACTIVIST'S FAMILY - Saudi Arabia has given multimillion-dollar homes and monthly five-figure payments to the children of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post writer who was killed in a Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last October, as compensation for their father’s death, according to a report ... The payments to Khashoggi’s two sons and two daughters are part of a long-term arrangement to ensure they refrain from speaking out, the Washington Post reported.

THE SOUNDBITE

COLLUSION BETWEEN DEMS AND MEDIA 'BUDDIES' -  "The Democrats on the left here just want to get their hands on the report so — it’ll probably be classified, there will be a lot of classified information in there so they can leak it to all the bodies in the media, so they can continue on going down rabbit holes of pretending that there is some kind of Russian collusion.”– U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. and ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, on "Outnumbered Overtime," on Democrats' push to have the unredacted Mueller report released to the public. (Click the image above to watch the full video.)

TODAY'S MUST-READS
MSNBC's Ocasio-Cortez Town Hall falls flat, loses to Tucker Carlson in ratings.
Mick Jagger to undergo heart surgery in NYC this week, reports say.
Murdered University of South Carolina student's cause of death revealed.
Nipsey Hussle shooting suspect ID'd by Los Angeles police.

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS
Border shutdown: Here's how U.S. economy could be impacted.
Boeing to submit Max update to FAA in 'coming weeks,' agency says.
Amazon slashing prices at Whole Foods this week.

STAY TUNED

On Fox News:

Fox & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: Special guests include: Howard Schultz, former Starbucks chairman and CEO and potential 2020 presidential candidate; U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Hannity, 9 p.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.

On Fox Business

Mornings with Maria, 6 a.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn.

Varney & Co., 9 a.m. ET: Steve Nelson, Nebraska Farm Bureau president.

Trish Regan Primetime, 8 p.m. ET: U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Kennedy, 9 p.m. ET: An interview with Carter Page, former Trump campaign adviser.

On Fox News Radio:

The Fox News Rundown podcast: "Fox News Speaks to ISIS Bride" - A dozen states have signed onto the "National Popular Vote Interstate Compact" in an attempt to have more control over the Electoral College. John Koza, originator of the National Popular Vote legislation, and Chris Stirewalt, Fox News digital politics editor, discuss what this means for the 2020 presidential campaigns and election. Fox News' Benjamin Hall discusses his interview with Hoda Muthana, an American-born former ISIS bride embroiled in a legal battle with the Trump administration over her attempt to return to the U.S. Plus, commentary by Jessica Tarlov, senior director of research at Bustle.com and Fox News contributor.

Want the Fox News Rundown sent straight to your mobile device? Subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher.

The Brian Kilmeade Show, 9 a.m. ET: President Trump's threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border, the Mueller report and Joe Biden's woes in the 2020 presidential race will be the topics of debate with the following guests: author Ron Kessler; former U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla.; Chris Stirewalt, Fox News digital politics editor. Plus a slew of new book offerings from Ben Shapiro, Susan Page, former New York Mets star Ron Darling, and Taya Kyle.

The Todd Starnes Show, Noon ET: Todd speaks with U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, about President Trump’s threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Tom Shillue Show, 3 p.m. ET: Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief of USA Today and author of "The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty," joins Tom Shillue to discuss Donald Trump's tumultuous relationship with the Bush family and establishment Republicans.

#TheFlashback
2014: At Fort Hood in Texas, three soldiers are killed and 16 others are wounded in a shooting rampage by another soldier, Army Spc. Ivan A. Lopez, who then kills himself.
1992: Mob boss John Gotti is convicted in New York of murder and racketeering; he would be later sentenced to life, and die in prison.
1912: The just-completed RMS Titanic leaves Belfast to begin its sea trials, eight days before the start of its ill-fated maiden voyage.

Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for joining us! Have a good day! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Tuesday morning.

Source: Fox News National

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Take Five: The shape of you – world market themes for the week ahead

Traders work on the floor of the NYSE in New York
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 8, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

March 29, 2019

(Reuters) – Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them.

1/ YIELD CURVEBALLS

Which is it – growth or gloom? With 10-year U.S. bond yields below 3-month T-bill rates for the first time in more than a decade, recession fears are swirling. After all, an inverted yield curve, when longer-dated yields drop below shorter maturities, have proved to be fairly reliable predictors of U.S. recessions in the past. As a result some investors are busy putting cash behind bets the Fed is gearing up for rate cuts.

But there are many who scoff – they point to a world economy chugging along at a decent clip, dovish central banks and company earnings that are still growing, albeit more slowly. So while Treasury yields are down 30 basis points this quarter, world stocks are up more than 10 percent. Recession skeptics may also note that U.S. equities are not far off record highs and credit spreads have retraced most of their December losses.

Also, while past recession discussions have focused on inversions of the 2-year/10-year U.S. curve, that hasn’t reacted so far. Fed policymakers too, such as voting member John Williams, say they are not worried about recession this year or the next. Others such as James Bullard seem to be endorsing the “this time is different” argument, hinting that the curve’s predictive power has weakened.

But policymakers around the world have already taken heed. The ECB has hinted at further rate cut delays and at tiering interest rates to help banks; other central banks, from New Zealand to Canada, are hinting at rate cuts ahead.

Graphic: U.S. yield curve inverts for first time since 2007 – https://tmsnrt.rs/2UNVc1P

2/THE END OF THE ROAD?

No. No. No. No. Parliament’s cold response to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal so far means the manner of Britain’s exit from the European Union – originally scheduled for March 29 – is unknown.

Brussels has let Britain delay its departure while May battled to find a way forward but there is little enthusiasm in parliament or the population even for the stripped-down version of May’s twice-defeated deal. But lawmakers have also given the thumbs-down to a series of other amendments, including revoking Brexit, delaying it further or holding another referendum.

Dismayed investors have been avoiding the pound but the resulting shortage in trading volumes just exacerbates price swings. The question now is whether the most hardline Conservative euroskeptics and Northern Ireland’s DUP, the party propping up May’s government, can ever be convinced to back an exit deal before the new April 12 deadline.

If the withdrawal agreement does somehow scrape through, sterling would likely surge above $1.35. For the time being though, the bleak, if unlikely, alternative scenario – a chaotic no-deal departure – persists.

Options markets aren’t optimistic. The price investors are willing to pay for one-month sterling protection – insurance against sterling falls – is at the highest since the 2016 referendum vote.

Graphic: GBP risk reversals – https://tmsnrt.rs/2V1piz2

3/WORKIN’ FOR A LIVIN’

U.S. factory job growth was its weakest in February since the summer of 2017 but still managed to extend the streak of monthly gains to 19, the longest in nearly a quarter century. If, as expected, Friday’s March payrolls report makes it 20 in a row – economists polled by Reuters predict a 10,000 increase – it would mark the longest uninterrupted run of manufacturing employment expansion in a generation, matching the run from January 1983 through August 1984.

But while comparable in length, the current manufacturing renaissance pales in terms of total jobs created. Back then, U.S. factories added 1.34 million workers, more than three times the 417,000 new jobs since the current streak began in August 2017.

For early clues on the jobs data, cast an eye on Monday’s ISM Manufacturing Index. Its employment component is closely correlated with the Labor Department’s manufacturing payrolls series. ISM’s February reading on factory employment, at 52.3, was the weakest in more than two years. Should it drop below 50, the level separating expansion from contraction in the ISM series, it could signal an end to manufacturing employment’s long run. The last time ISM had a sub-50 print was September 2016. That month, U.S. factories cut 3,000 jobs.

Graphic: Manufacturing activity in Asia – https://tmsnrt.rs/2WwFc4R

4/DEAL WITH IT

A month has passed since the United States and China missed an initial deadline to agree a trade deal. The first face-to-face meetings between the two sides since that deadline were apparently “constructive” and “productive”; now Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is to travel to Washington for further talks.

In the meantime though, tariffs on Chinese goods worth $250 billion are in play and that is hurting – China as well as its Asian neighbors who are linked to it through complex supply chains. March Purchasing Managers Indexes are expected to show a further deterioration in sentiment across the region and another source of pressure is the worry of a recession in the United States.

The one thing preventing panic is the hope Beijing will provide enough stimulus to offset slowing trade. Central bankers around Asia have started hinting at interest rate cuts, relieved at the end of the Fed’s policy-tightening campaign. But the upcoming activity data might show how soon they need to act.

Graphic: U.S. manufacturing employment – https://tmsnrt.rs/2CIU20R

5/NO THANKSGIVING FOR THIS TURKEY

Last year’s lira crisis tipped Turkey into a painful recession, ended its credit-fueled economic boom and complicated President Tayyip Erdogan’s task of selling his economic success story to voters. They are headed to the ballot box on Sunday for the first time since last year’s currency meltdown.

Polls suggest Erdogan could lose Ankara, the city from which he has ruled Turkey with an increasingly iron grip since 2003. His AK Party could face a tough race in Istanbul, where Erdogan was once mayor. But policymakers’ efforts shore up the currency before the election have run into trouble and moves to curb offshore lira supply has pushed investors into selling Turkish stocks and bonds.

The question now is how quickly policymakers will normalize their approach to markets. And even if they do, will pressure on the lira ease up and can they win back the trust of investors, some of whom will have taken losses from the recent episode? For an economy that’s already reeling how much damage have these unorthodox measures inflicted? And finally, will the stress percolate to European banks active in Turkey? BBVA, Unicredit, ING, HSBC and BNP Paribas all have varying degrees of exposure.

Graphic: Turkey’s FX reserves fall as lira pressure mounts – https://tmsnrt.rs/2OqMwfq

(Reporting by Dan Burns in New York, Marius Zaharia in Hong Kong; Sujata Rao, Tom Finn and Karin Strohecker in London; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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Beard, Texas Tech ‘smell the roses’ at Final Four

NCAA Basketball: Final Four-Coaches Press Conference
Apr 4, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Chris Beard speaks speaks during the Final Four coaches press conference at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY

April 4, 2019

MINNEAPOLIS – Those who expected a flood of one-and-done talent in Minnesota for the 2019 Final Four might not be ecstatic to see Big 12 co-champion Texas Tech on the scene, a No. 3 seed in the West piloted by a coach not many knew before the Red Raiders bounced Gonzaga last weekend.

“We might have a couple of one-and-done graduate assistants. We had a couple of issues with our breakfast this morning, so …,” Beard said Thursday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

While Gonzaga spent part of the season atop the Top 25 poll and Duke was the No. 1 overall seed thanks to freshman All-Americans Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett, Beard and the defense-wins mantra of Texas Tech are left standing. A similar mindset, and a roster with a familiar makeup, awaits in the national semifinals Saturday in the form of Michigan State. The Spartans ousted Duke in a thriller Sunday.

“We’re looking forward to playing on this stage. In our opinion, Michigan State is one of the best teams in college basketball,” Beard said. “They have great players and a Hall of Fame coach. We have nothing but respect for their program, the things they stand for. We’re in our third year building the program at Tech, and we’re striving to be in the conversation with the Michigan States of the world.

“Simply stated, we feel like we’ll have to play our best game of the year to have some success on Saturday night, but I don’t think that’s much difference than anybody else in this tournament. That’s our objective. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to play well on Saturday.”

Texas Tech lost slashing guard Zhaire Smith, a first-round pick in 2018, after reaching the Elite Eight and losing to eventual champion Villanova. Beard knows about one-and-done talent. He also understands the value in building a team anchored in experience.

“I’ve always seen the value in the one-and-done, too,” Beard said. “I think college basketball is better because of Zhaire Smith playing at Texas Tech. I think in this tournament, I would agree with that, there’s some identities with these four teams. I think that’s what these four teams are — teams. … The identity of each team, I think, is the balance of different players, not just one star player.”

Beard said he watched every Michigan State game played this season. The teams have a few common opponents, most notably Michigan. Texas Tech hammered the Wolverines, holding the No. 2 seed in the West Region to 44 points in Anaheim last week. Michigan State gave up an average of 64 points to their in-state rivals this season.

There’s also some likenesses between the teams and their coaches.

Izzo has come under fire for his demonstrative, chest-to-chest coaching tactics. One such flare-up in Michigan State’s first-round nailbiter against Bradley became the subject of national debate.

Beard can relate.

He was an assistant under Bob Knight at Texas Tech (2001-11) before becoming a head coach at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas.

Knight was of a different era, a breed all his own. Even partial observers admit there are incidents in Knight’s past in which he clearly crossed the so-called line. But Beard believes, in his words, players need to be coached. It’s up to the coach and the player to define the line between coaching and coddling.

Beard said he learned to get there by setting expectations and not asking players to put in more than coaches are willing to give.

“That line is really easy to find. That line is called trust,” Beard said. “We make no bones about it. We do coach our guys hard, but I’ve never coached a good player that didn’t want to be coached hard ever. I think about that all the time. I can’t name one guy that I’ve ever coached who’s an All-Conference player, a pro at any level I’ve coached that didn’t want us to bring it.

“I don’t promise our guys a lot in the recruiting process, but one thing I promise is — I look them right in the face — I will bring it every single day as a coach, and our staff will too. If there’s one day where you don’t think we’re bringing it, you tell me, and the problem will be corrected. I asked this team just the other night, did we keep our word? And they said, yes, you did.”

It’s not all fire and brimstone with the 46-year-old who went to the University of Texas and was a manager for Tom Penders.

Upon arrival at the Final Four, he posted a sign in the locker room that says Smell The Roses.

The message is for players to take time to breathe in the atmosphere, recognize only four teams are still standing in the 2019 NCAA Tournament and then refocus on winning two more games.

“This is our process, and one of our processes has always been balance, enjoying life, like we never want to be the team that just doesn’t enjoy a victory,” Beard said. “So we have a 12-hour rule. We don’t ever want to be the team that doesn’t enjoy the great cities we get to go to. This year we played Duke in Madison Square Garden. We enjoyed New York City. We went and played pickup at Rucker Park. We ate ridiculously priced food. We walked around the skulls of the Garden (to) see all the great performers that played there. We’re going to enjoy life. We’re going to enjoy the ride. It’s who we are.

“But when it’s time to play, it’s time to play, and when it’s time to practice, it’s time to practice. So we just got a two-part mission here. Smell the roses but also be us, and be us is just four letters and two words to mean let’s ride the bus that got us here.”

–By Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Russian trolls blamed for spreading anti-vaccination propaganda

The same Russian social media trolls accused of meddling in the 2016 US election may be to blame for the deadly measles outbreak across Europe last year, according to a new report.

Scientists believe the St. Petersburg troll farm also pumped out anti-vaccination propaganda, contributing to the outbreak that killed 72 people and infected more than 82,000, Radio Free Europe reported.

In a study published by the American Public Health Association in September, researchers examined the trolls’ online messages from July 2014 through September 2017 and concluded that their posts were responsible for “eroding public consensus on vaccination.”

Vaccination hesitancy is now one of the top 10 threats to global health, according to the World Health Organization.

Measles — which was close to being eradicated in many countries — has seen a 30 percent increase globally.

“The reasons for this rise are complex, and not all of these cases are due to vaccine hesitancy,” the WHO noted. “However, some countries that were close to eliminating the disease have seen a resurgence.”

Click here to read more of this story at The New York Post, where it originally appeared. 

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Italy’s Salvini in new migrant boat stand-off

FILE PHOTO: Italian Deputy Prime Minister and right-wing League party leader Matteo Salvini attends a news conference at the Foreign Press Club in Rome
FILE PHOTO: Italian Deputy Prime Minister and right-wing League party leader Matteo Salvini attends a news conference at the Foreign Press Club in Rome, Italy December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

March 19, 2019

By Crispian Balmer

ROME (Reuters) – Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Tuesday he would not let an Italian-flagged charity ship disembark 49 Africans rescued in the Mediterranean, setting up a fresh confrontation with humanitarian groups over migration.

The Mare Jonio picked up the migrants, including 12 minors, on Monday after their rubber boat started to sink in the central Mediterranean, some 42 miles (68 km) off the coast of Libya.

The vessel headed straight for the nearby Italian island of Lampedusa but was not granted permission to dock and is currently sailing close to land, awaiting further instructions.

Salvini, who heads the anti-immigrant League party, has told non-governmental organizations that Italy’s ports are closed to them, accusing them of playing into the hands of human traffickers — which they have denied.

“Italy must not give in to blackmail by a ship run by the social centers,” Salvini said on Twitter, referring to left-wing groups that have helped finance the Mare Jonio.

The collective that organized the sea rescue, “Mediterranea”, said it had operated in accordance with international human rights and maritime law. “Italy must indicate a safe haven,” it said in a statement.

New arrivals to Italy have plummeted since Salvini took office last June, with just 348 migrants coming so far this year, according to official data, down 94 percent on the same period in 2018 and down 98 percent on 2017.

His closed-port policy has helped support for his League party double since March 2018 elections, with Italians backing his uncompromising stance after almost 650,000 migrants came to Italy from North Africa between 2014 and early 2018.

However, humanitarian groups say his actions have driven up deaths at sea and left many migrants languishing in overcrowded, dangerous Libyan detention centers.

Mediterranea said its rescue operation had saved the migrants either from death or from being picked up by Libyan coastguards and “taken back to suffer again the torture and horror from which they were fleeing”.

Earlier this year, Salvini kept a Dutch-flagged vessel, run by a German charity, at sea for more than two weeks with nearly 50 migrants aboard before neighboring Malta agreed to let the ship disembark there.

However, Salvini will struggle to find a similar solution this time because the Mare Jonio is Italian-flagged.

Last August, he blocked an Italian coastguard ship with 150 migrants aboard for almost a week before relenting. Magistrates put him under investigation for abuse of power and kidnapping and have asked parliament to strip him of his immunity from prosecution.

The upper house Senate is due to vote on that on Wednesday, but the request looks certain to be rejected, with Salvini arguing that he acted in the national interest.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: OANN

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The New World Order Has Selected Joe Biden As Its Presidential Candidate

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A man looks out at a flooded residential area in Gatineau
A man looks out at a flooded residential area in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

April 26, 2019

MONTREAL/OTTAWA (Reuters) – Rising waters were prompting further evacuations in central Canada on Thursday, with the mayor of the country’s capital, Ottawa, declaring a state of emergency and Quebec authorities warning that a hydroelectric dam was at risk of breaking.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared the emergency in response to rising water levels along the Ottawa River and weather forecasts that called for significant rainfall on Friday.

In a statement on Twitter, Watson asked for help from the Ontario provincial government and the country’s military.

He warned that “flood levels are currently forecasted to exceed the levels that caused significant damage to numerous properties in the city of Ottawa in 2017.”

Spring flooding had killed one person and forced more than 900 people from their homes in Canada’s Quebec province as of 1 p.m. on Thursday, according to a government website.

Ottawa has received 80 requests for service related to potential flooding such as sandbagging, a city spokeswoman said.

The prospect of more rain over the next 24 to 48 hours triggered concerns on Thursday that the hydroelectric dam at Bell Falls in the western part of Quebec could be at risk of failing because of rising water levels.

Quebec’s provincial police said 250 people were protectively removed from homes in the area as of late afternoon in case the dam on the Rouge River breaks.

The dam is now at its full flow capacity of 980 cubic meters per second of water, said Francis Labbé, a spokesman for the province’s state-owned utility, Hydro Quebec. He said Hydro Quebec expected the flow could rise to 1,200 cubic meters per second of water over the next two days.

“We have to take the worst-case scenario into consideration, since we`re already at the maximum capacity,” Labbé said by phone.

The dam is part of a power station that no longer produces electricity, but is regularly inspected by Hydro Quebec, he said.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Ljunggren and Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Funeral of journalist Lyra McKee in Belfast
FILE PHOTO: Pallbearers carry the coffin of journalist Lyra McKee at her funeral at St. Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

April 26, 2019

BELFAST (Reuters) – Detectives investigating the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Northern Ireland last week suspect the gunman who shot her dead is in his late teens as they made a further appeal to the local community who they believe know his identity.

McKee’s killing by an Irish nationalist militant during a riot in Londonderry has sparked outrage in the province where a 1998 peace deal mostly ended three decades of sectarian violence that cost the lives of some 3,600 people.

The New IRA, one of a small number of groups that oppose the peace accord, has said one of its members shot the 29-year-old reporter dead in the Creggan area of the city on Thursday when opening fire on police during a riot McKee was watching.

The killing, which followed a large car bomb in Londonderry in January that police also blamed on the New IRA, has raised fears that small marginalized militant groups are exploiting a political vacuum in the province and tensions caused by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

Police released footage on Friday of immediately before and after the shooting showing three men who were involved in the rioting and identified one as the gunman who they believe is in his late teens. 

“I believe that the information that can help us to bring those responsible for her murder to justice lies within the community. I need the public to tell me who he is,” Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy told reporters.

Murphy said those involved in the disorder on the night were teenagers or in their early 20s, and that about 100 people were on the ground watching the trouble as it unfolded.

He added that police believed the gun used in the attack was of a similar caliber to those used before in paramilitary type attacks in Creggan. 

“I recognize that people living in Creagan may find it’s difficult to come forward to speak to police. Today, I want to provide a personal reassurance that we are able to deal with those issues sensitively,” Murphy said, echoing similar appeals in recent days.

(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson, editing by Padraic Halpin and Toby Chopra)

Source: OANN

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Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

April 26, 2019

By Sruthi Shankar and Amy Caren Daniel

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were flat on Friday, as investors paused ahead of GDP data, which is expected to show the world’s largest economy maintained a moderate pace of growth in the first quarter.

Gross domestic product probably increased at a 2% annualized rate in the quarter as a burst in exports, strong inventory stockpiling and government investment in public construction projects offset a slowdown in consumer and business spending, according to a Reuters survey of economists.

The Commerce Department report will be published at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The GDP data comes as investors look for fresh catalysts to push the markets higher. The S&P 500 index is about 0.5% below its record high hit in late September, after surging nearly 17% this year.

First-quarter earnings have been largely upbeat, with nearly 78% of the 178 companies that have reported so far surpassing earnings estimates, according to Refinitiv data.

Wall Street now expects S&P 500 earnings to be in line with the year-ago quarter, a sharp improvement from the 2.3% fall expected at the start of April.

Amazon.com Inc rose 0.9% in premarket trading after the e-commerce giant reported quarterly profit that doubled and beat estimates on soaring demand for its cloud and ad services.

Ford Motor Co shares surged 8.5% after the automaker posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings largely due to strong pickup truck sales in its core U.S. market.

Mattel Inc jumped 8% after the toymaker beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly revenue, as a more diverse range of Barbie dolls powered sales in the United States.

At 6:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 35 points, or 0.13%. S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.5 points, or 0.05% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 10.75 points, or 0.14%.

Among decliners, Intel Corp slumped 7.7% after it cut its full-year revenue forecast and missed quarterly sales estimate for its key data center business.

Rival Advanced Micro Devices declined 0.8%.

Oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp are expected to report results later in the day.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

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General view of a destroyed building during World War II is pictured in Warsaw
General view of a destroyed building during World War II is pictured in Warsaw, Poland April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

April 26, 2019

By Joanna Plucinska

WARSAW (Reuters) – Germany could owe Poland more than $850 billion in reparations for damages it incurred during World War Two and the brutal Nazi occupation, a senior ruling party lawmaker said.

Some six million Poles, including three million Polish Jews, were killed during the war and Warsaw was razed to the ground following a 1944 uprising in which about 200,000 civilians died.

Germany, one of Poland’s biggest trade partners and a fellow member of the European Union and NATO, says all financial claims linked to World War Two have been settled.

The right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) has revived calls for compensation since it took power in 2015 and has made the promotion of Poland’s wartime victimhood a central plank of its appeal to nationalism.

PiS has yet to make an official demand for reparations but its combative stance towards Germany has strained relations.

“Poland lost not only millions of its citizens but it was also destroyed in an unusually brutal way,” Arkadiusz Mularczyk, who heads the Polish parliamentary committee on reparations, told Reuters in an interview.

“Many (victims) are still alive and feel deeply wronged.”

His comments come a month before European Parliament elections in which populist and nationalist parties are expected to do well. Poland will also hold national elections later this year, with PiS still well ahead of its rivals in opinion polls.

EU LARGESSE

Mularczyk said the reparations figure could amount to more than 10 times the estimated 100 billion euros ($111 billion) that Poland has received so far in European Union funds since it joined the bloc in 2004.

Germany is the biggest net donor to the EU budget and some Germans regard its contributions as generous compensation to recipient countries like Poland which suffered under Nazi rule.

In 1953 Poland’s then-communist rulers relinquished all claims to war reparations under pressure from the Soviet Union, which wanted to free East Germany, also a Soviet satellite, from any liabilities. PiS says that agreement is invalid because Poland was unable to negotiate fair compensation.

Mularczyk said his committee hoped to complete its report on the reparations issue by Sept. 1, the 80th anniversary of Hitler’s invasion.

Accusing Berlin of playing “diplomatic games” over the issue, he said: “The matter is being swept under the rug (by Germany) … until it’ll be wiped from the memory, from people’s awareness.”

His comments come after the Greek parliament voted this month to seek billions of euros in German reparations for the Nazi occupation of their country.

(Additional reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Editing by Justyna Pawlak and Gareth Jones)

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FILE PHOTO - Otto Frederick Warmbier is taken to North Korea's top court in Pyongyang North Korea
FILE PHOTO – Otto Frederick Warmbier (C), a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea since early January, is taken to North Korea’s top court in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo March 16, 2016. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States did not pay any money to North Korea as it sought the release of comatose American student Otto Warmbier.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump had approved payment of a $2 million bill from North Korea to cover its care of the college student, who died shortly after he was returned to the United States after 17 months in a North Korean prison.

(Reporting by Makini Brice and Susan Heavey)

Source: OANN

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