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SEC steps on Tesla ‘reasonable’ to prevent problems: commissioner

FILE PHOTO: Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves Manhattan federal court after a hearing on his fraud settlement with the SEC in New York
FILE PHOTO: Tesla CEO Elon Musk leaves Manhattan federal court after a hearing on his fraud settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in New York City, U.S. April 4, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 8, 2019

By Suzanne Barlyn and Katanga Johnson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. securities watchdog’s request that a federal judge hold Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk in contempt over the billionaire entrepreneur’s use of Twitter was “reasonable,” said a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission official on Monday.

SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson, a Democrat, told reporters at a conference in Washington that the SEC was reasonable in suggesting greater oversight of Musk’s communications, including the threat of new fines if he backslides.

“The idea (is) that we would have future oversight to prevent future problems from recurring,” Jackson said.

The SEC had asked U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan to hold Musk in contempt over a Feb. 19 tweet in which the agency said he had improperly posted material information about Tesla’s vehicle production outlook without seeking approval from its lawyers.

In a Friday order, the judge gave both sides until April 18 to reach a resolution. If they do not, the judge said she would decide whether to hold Musk in contempt. If he is held in contempt, the judge would allow discussions on possible sanctions. “I understand those who are skeptical and who feel that it’s innovative relief – to me it was important relief and I thought enforcement took very reasonable steps, both to the nature of the relief and our oversight of that relief,” added Jackson of the judge’s order.

The SEC, which had sued Tesla, asked the company in September to consider removing Musk. The CEO agreed to step down as Tesla’s chairman in an agreement that also required preapproval of Musk’s written communications that could be material to the company, such as volumes of cars produced or other information likely to change the value of its securities. In a statement by Tesla on Thursday, Musk said “the tweet in question was true, immaterial to shareholders, and in no way a violation of my agreement.”

The SEC said the first of the Feb. 19 tweets conflicted with Tesla’s Jan. 30 outlook, when it targeted annualized Model 3 production exceeding 500,000 as soon as the fourth quarter, and projected 360,000 to 400,000 vehicle deliveries this year.

At the time the SEC also said Musk had violated their agreement by sending a tweet that had not been vetted by Tesla’s lawyers and he should be held in contempt. It did not say what penalties it wanted imposed, raising the question of whether it would again seek his removal or propose less drastic measures.

(Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn and Katanga Johnson; Editing by Richard Chang)

Source: OANN

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EU to push China to open economy at April summit: draft statement

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini in Brussels
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a meeting with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini (not pictured) in Brussels, Belgium March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

March 18, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union will seek Beijing’s agreement for deadlines to open up China’s economy at an April 9 summit in Brussels, according to a draft leaders’ statement, trying to coax it into making good on promises to deepen trade ties.

China and the EU will “agree by summer 2019 on a set of priority market access barriers and requirements facing their operators,” according to a six-page joint communique drafted by the EU, which still requires Chinese approval.

The statement, seen by Reuters, is set to be formally released at the of the summit between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

Source: OANN

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Sen. Warren Proposes Abolishing Electoral College

The Electoral College should be abolished and instead the president chosen by a national vote, Sen. Elizabeth Warren said at a CNN town hall in Jackson, Mississippi on Monday evening.

Warren, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, said the Electoral College disenfranchises voters who live in a state dominated by one of the parties.

"Come a general election, presidential candidates don't come to places like Mississippi, she said. “They also don't come to places like California or Massachusetts, because we're not the battleground states."

The senator stressed that "My view is that every vote matters and the way we can make that happen is that we can have national voting and that means get rid of the Electoral College."

Two times in the past 20 years a Republican won the presidential election while receiving less national votes than his Democratic challenger - in 2000, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore and in 2016 Donald Trump bested Hillary Clinton, The Washington Times reported.

Trump’s victory has spurred momentum for a national popular vote, but the fact that the Electoral College is part of the Constitution makes such a radical change more problematic, according to Politico.

Instead, other alternatives are being pushed attempting to have the same change while officially keeping the Electoral College, such as the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

That idea has member states pledge their Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote. However, according to Politico, the deal only go into effect only if enough states sign on to pledge the 270 electoral votes necessary to win a presidential election. A combined total of 181 Electoral Votes have committed to the pact with the addition of Colorado last week.

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Source: NewsMax Politics

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Unpredictable election makes Ukraine’s friends wary

FILE PHOTO: A campaign staff is seen in a pre-election tent of Leader of opposition Batkivshchyna party and presidential candidate Tymoshenko, in central Kiev
FILE PHOTO: A campaign staffer is seen in a pre-election tent for the leader of opposition Batkivshchyna party and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko, in central Kiev, Ukraine March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo

March 26, 2019

By Matthias Williams and Gabriela Baczynska

KIEV/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Ukraine’s Western backers fear the country’s next president may prove unwilling or unable to accelerate reforms they have spent five years investing in, whoever it turns out to be.

The election due on Sunday has boiled down to a three-horse race between President Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian who plays a fictional president in a popular TV series.

Kiev-based Western diplomats said all three left doubt over how effectively they would pass reform, tackle corruption and keep aid flowing.

“We certainly know what we get with Poroshenko,” one diplomat said. “We think we know what we’ll get with Tymoshenko. With Zelenskiy, we have no clue.”

“All of them are flawed,” said another. “There is no candidate where you will sit there and go: ‘Yes!’.”

The country is the nexus of the confrontation between the West and Russia since Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan street protests ejected Poroshenko’s Russia-friendly predecessor and Moscow annexed the Crimea peninsula, triggering Western sanctions.

With its war against Kremlin-backed fighters in the Donbass region into a fifth year, Ukraine has battled to keep its cause high on the international agenda and pushed for membership of the European Union and NATO.

Successive rounds of sanctions on Russia show the West is still willing to stick its neck out for Ukraine, although a desire to prevent Russia from interfering in other former Soviet republics is also in play.

But investors are jittery and Kiev’s patchy performance on reforms – and Europe’s own distractions like Brexit and an assertive China – have made it harder to keep so-called “Ukraine fatigue” at bay.

Ideally, the EU would like to see Ukraine – a large neighbor on its eastern border – as a stable democracy, obeying the rule of law and able to defend itself from Russia.

But the unity behind the sanctions is always fragile, with Italy, Greece, Hungary and other countries closer to Moscow keen to repair economic relations.

A Ukrainian president weak on reforms could tip the balance towards Russia while jeopardizing international funding and ties with a bloc that has given Ukrainians visa-free travel, a right some two million people have exercised in less than two years.

Diplomats also worry a closely-fought contest could be marred by allegations of cheating and protests.

“What Ukraine now risks, is squandering the goodwill and belief it got since 2014,” the second diplomat said. “The government’s calculation is that they’ll be supported no matter what.”

THREE FLAWED CANDIDATES

Poroshenko won praise for keeping Ukraine together in the chaotic aftermath of the Crimea annexation, strengthening the army and passing reforms such as in banking and energy.

But anti-corruption efforts have stuttered and an apparent culture of impunity where top officials are not jailed for alleged embezzlement or bribe-taking has disappointed voters.

For lack of a better choice, the EU has stuck to its principles of insisting on reforms and promoting Ukraine’s pro-Western aspirations rather than leaning towards any candidate.

“Poroshenko has had a very clear line, at least on paper, on resisting Russia and being pro-European. He has not been ideal but we’ve known him, we’ve dealt with him,” said a Brussels-based EU diplomat.

“It is crucial that the next president sticks to the reform agenda because we have invested so much in it. Without that and without an unequivocal line on Russia, the relationship will suffer.”

Zelenskiy by contrast is a puzzle. He tapped into the disillusionment felt since Maidan and his new face and lack of political baggage appeals to voters, especially the young.

But diplomats worry about his lack of experience and whether he is beholden to Ihor Kolomoisky, an oligarch on whose channel Zelenskiy’s show airs. The two deny being in cahoots.

A Zelenskiy victory would raise concerns about the fate of PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest lender, which the government wrested from Kolomoisky in 2016 and then shored up with billions of dollars.

The government wants to recover money it says was siphoned out while Kolomoisky owned it. Kolomoisky denies any wrongdoing and says the bank was forcibly nationalized without proper justification.

“Is he (Zelenskiy) only a puppet? I don’t think so,” said one Western diplomat. “Would he end up redoubling efforts to prosecute the PrivatBank case in every jurisdiction available? You’d have to wonder about that.”

At a meeting with European ambassadors in February, Zelenskiy acquitted himself reasonably well, according to three diplomats present, playing down his career as a comedian and talking up his effectiveness as a producer and manager.

Nevertheless, he left an impression of being light on substance, one diplomat said. The optimistic view, the diplomat added, was Zelenskiy would surround himself with reformers who treat him as a blank page to imprint their vision.

“You can’t expect much from a person with no political experience,” said another. “He looked quite sincere but we can only judge from the results.”

“Did he provide answers in the way others did? Perhaps not, but I don’t think you can dismiss him,” said a third, adding Zelenskiy was clearly intelligent but did not articulate a policy or vision.

Even if his heart is in the right place, Zelenskiy might struggle to get reforms through a hostile parliament where as of now he has no MPs, diplomats said.

In one sense, Poroshenko has become the victim of his own success in keeping the Donbass conflict contained, another diplomat said, emboldening voters to take a chance on Zelenskiy.

“Poroshenko cauterizing the Donbass wound, insulating 90 percent of the country from it, made people feel they can experiment,” the diplomat said. “You have this deceptive calm in the country.”

Tymoshenko, a two-time prime minister, is also a mixed bag for the EU. It came to her side in 2011 when she was jailed by Poroshenko’s predecessor Viktor Yanukovich, but a 2009 gas deal seen as more beneficial to Russia than Ukraine and recent anti-reform rhetoric may have weakened her appeal.

“She has lost the glow of martyrdom somewhat,” a Brussels-based EU official said.

One strength of the election in Western eyes is it is genuinely competitive, making for flattering comparisons with Russia, where the Kremlin-backed candidate dominates the field. But it has been marred by accusations of foul play.

At a March summit in Brussels between Poroshenko and EU leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, Poroshenko said in private he could still win. The EU told Poroshenko to ensure the vote was fair, an EU official said.

Opinion polls show Zelenskiy as the frontrunner, with Poroshenko and Tymoshenko fighting for a place in the April run-off. The fear is a close contest could spark accusations of vote-rigging and street protests.

In a speech on March 5, US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said anyone trying to falsify voting records should be prosecuted and government resources should not be used to target political opponents.

“In short, a country seeking integration with the European Union and NATO should ensure its actions meet Western standards,” she said.

(Editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Source: OANN

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Trump Challenges US Companies to Speed Work on 5G Networks

President Donald Trump challenged U.S. telecommunications companies on Thursday to boost their efforts to build advanced networks and said leadership should come from competition, not by blocking competitors.

“American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind,” Trump said in the first of two morning tweets. “There is no reason that we should be lagging behind on something that is so obviously the future.”

The worldwide mobile industry is racing to deploy advanced 5G networks that promise faster connections, allowing uses such as autonomous vehicles and remote surgery. China has a narrow lead over the U.S. and South Korea, according to research commissioned by CTIA, a Washington-based trade group for mobile carriers.

“I want the United States to win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies,” Trump said in morning tweets.

The tweets suggest Trump won’t immediately sign an expected executive order to block U.S. companies from purchasing Chinese telecommunications equipment, Paul Triolo, who leads global technology studies at the Eurasia Group consultancy, said in a note.

The order is “in limbo” as the two countries engage in trade talks, Triolo said in the note.

“Trump’s tweets today about 5G suggest that he is not going to sign the directive during the trade negotiations, and he may decide not to issue it at all if there is a deal,” Triolo said.

Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies Co. is pushing to take a global leadership position in 5G, but many American officials suspect the company’s products could be used by Beijing to spy on Western governments and companies.

The Trump administration is pressuring allies to keep Huawei gear out of their telecommunications networks, and Congress barred government agencies from buying the provider’s gear.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for more information.

Trump’s tweets came hours after Fox Business Network aired an interview with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, in which host Maria Bartiromo pressed the top U.S. diplomat on whether the administration wants to restrict the use of equipment from Huawei.

“They are creating a real risk for these countries and their systems -- the security of their people,” Pompeo told Bartiromo. “Europeans care deeply about their privacy. The risk to privacy from this technology is very, very real, and we’re out sharing this information.”

Pompeo went on to say that a government’s reliance on Huawei’s 5G technology could mean the U.S. will reconsider having an embassy or military outpost in the country, saying it’s possible “we won’t be able to work alongside them.”

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, in an interview with CBS News on Thursday, says the U.S. is wrong to treat 5G as “an atomic bomb” and said his company will be rolling out “new equipment that is suitable for the United States.”

Nevertheless, the Trump administration is said to be preparing an executive order that could significantly restrict Chinese state-owned telecom companies such as Huawei from operating in the U.S. over national security concerns.

“We share the president’s commitment to leading the world in next-generation 5G wireless,” the trade group CTIA said in an emailed statement Thursday. “With the administration’s continued backing, the U.S. wireless industry can bring more robust 5G networks to more communities faster.”

CTIA represents companies including AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.

Source: NewsMax America

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Cooking up Alien Atmospheres on Earth

Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are cooking up an alien atmosphere right here on Earth.

In a new study, JPL scientists used a high-temperature “oven” to heat a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide to more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,100 Celsius), about the temperature of molten lava. The aim was to simulate conditions that might be found in the atmospheres of a special class of exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) called “hot Jupiters.”

Hot Jupiters are gas giants that orbit very close to their parent star, unlike any of the planets in our solar system. While Earth takes 365 days to orbit the Sun, hot Jupiters orbit their stars in less than 10 days. Their close proximity to a star means their temperatures can range from 1,000 to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (530 to 2,800 degrees Celsius) or even hotter. By comparison, a hot day on the surface of Mercury (which takes 88 days to orbit the Sun) reaches about 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius).

“Though it is impossible to exactly simulate in the laboratory these harsh exoplanet environments, we can come very close,” said JPL principal scientist Murthy Gudipati, who leads the group that conducted the new study, published last month in the Astrophysical Journal.

The team started with a simple chemical mixture of mostly hydrogen gas and 0.3 percent carbon monoxide gas. These molecules are extremely common in the universe and in early solar systems, and they could reasonably compose the atmosphere of a hot Jupiter. Then the team heated the mixture to between 620 and 2,240 degrees Fahrenheit (330 and 1,230 Celsius).

The team also exposed the laboratory brew to a high dose of ultraviolet radiation — similar to what a hot Jupiter would experience orbiting so close to its parent star. The UV light proved to be a potent ingredient. It was largely responsible for some of the study’s more surprising results about the chemistry that might be taking place in these toasty atmospheres.

Hot Jupiters are large by planet standards, and they radiate more light than cooler planets. Such factors have allowed astronomers to gather more information about their atmospheres than most other types of exoplanets. Those observations reveal that many hot Jupiter atmospheres are opaque at high altitudes. Although clouds might explain the opacity, they become less and less sustainable as the pressure decreases, and the opacity has been observed where the atmospheric pressure is very low.

Scientists have been looking for potential explanations other than clouds, and aerosols — solid particles suspended in the atmosphere — could be one. However, according to the JPL researchers, scientists were previously unaware of how aerosols might develop in hot Jupiter atmospheres. In the new experiment, adding UV light to the hot chemical mix did the trick.

“This result changes the way we interpret those hazy hot Jupiter atmospheres,” said Benjamin Fleury, a JPL research scientist and lead author of the study. “Going forward, we want to study the properties of these aerosols. We want to better understand how they form, how they absorb light and how they respond to changes in the environment. All that information can help astronomers understand what they’re seeing when they observe these planets.”

The study yielded another surprise: The chemical reactions produced significant amounts of carbon dioxide and water. While water vapor has been found in hot Jupiter atmospheres, scientists for the most part expect this precious molecule to form only when there is more oxygen than carbon. The new study shows that water can form when carbon and oxygen are present in equal amounts. (Carbon monoxide contains one carbon atom and one oxygen atom.) And while some carbon dioxide (one carbon and two oxygen atoms) formed without the addition of UV radiation, the reactions accelerated with the addition of simulated starlight.

“These new results are immediately useful for interpreting what we see in hot Jupiter atmospheres,” said JPL exoplanet scientist Mark Swain, a study coauthor. “We’ve assumed that temperature dominates the chemistry in these atmospheres, but this shows we need to look at how radiation plays a role.”

With next-generation tools like NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, set to launch in 2021, scientists might produce the first detailed chemical profiles of exoplanet atmospheres, and it’s possible that some of those first subjects will be hot Jupiters. These studies will help scientists learn how other solar systems form and how similar or different they are to our own.

For the JPL researchers, the work has just begun. Unlike a typical oven, theirs seals the gas in tightly to prevent leaks or contamination, and it allows the researchers to control the pressure of the gas as the temperature rises. With this hardware, they can now simulate exoplanet atmospheres at even higher temperatures: close to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,600 degrees Celsius).

“It’s been an ongoing challenge figuring out how to design and operate this system successfully, since most standard components such as glass or aluminum melt at these temperatures,” said JPL research scientist Bryana Henderson, a coauthor of the study. “We’re still learning how to push these boundaries while safely handling these chemical processes in the lab. But at the end of the day, the exciting results that come out of these experiments is worth all the extra effort.”



Alex Jones exposes the massive push around the globe to use corporate media to smear pro-liberty movements.

Source: InfoWars

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Pence in Colombia Announces New Sanctions on Maduro

The Trump administration announced new sanctions Monday on allies of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro as it struggles to find new ways to boost his opponent after an effort to deliver humanitarian aid to the economically devastated nation faltered amid strong resistance from security forces loyal to the socialist leader.

Vice President Mike Pence arrived in the Colombian capital for an emergency summit of regional leaders to discuss the deepening crisis and immediately met with Juan Guaido, the opposition leader the U.S. and 50 other nations recognize as Venezuela's rightful president.

In a speech, Pence urged regional partners to freeze oil assets controlled by Maduro, transfer the proceeds to Guaido and restrict visas for Maduro's inner circle. He said the U.S. was imposing more sanctions on four pro-government governors, including a close Maduro ally who negotiated the release of an American jailed for more than two years.

"It's time to do more," Pence said. "The day is coming soon when Venezuela's long nightmare will end, when Venezuela will once more be free, when her people will see a new birth of freedom, in a nation reborn to libertad."

Pence's appearance before the Lima Group comes at an important crossroads for the coalition of mostly conservative Latin American nations and Canada that has joined forces to pressure Maduro. A month after Guaido declared himself interim president at an outdoor rally, hopes that support for Maduro inside the military would quickly crumble have faded.

Over the weekend, security forces on the borders with Colombia and Brazil fired tear gas and buckshot on activists waving Venezuelan flags while escorting trucks with emergency medical and food kits. Four people were killed and at least 300 wounded, although only a few were hospitalized.

While Colombian authorities said more than 160 soldiers deserted their posts and sought refuge across the border over the weekend, the highest-ranking among them was a National Guard major. No battalion or division commanders have come forward to challenge Maduro despite almost-daily calls by Guaido and the U.S. to do so.

That's left many asking what Guaido and the U.S. can do to break the stalemate.

The Lima Group, in an 18-point declaration signed by 10 nations and Guaido, reiterated their call on the Venezuelan military to recognize the opposition leader as their commander in chief, urged the International Criminal Court to declare Maduro's aid blockade a crime against humanity and pressed the United Nations to play a bigger role in resolving the crisis.

For now, the U.S. is showing no signs it is considering a military intervention to remove Maduro.

During his visit, Pence repeated President Donald Trump's threat that "all options are on the table" but gingerly avoided talking about the potential for military action.

Instead, he stuck to traditional policy tools that so far have only hardened Maduro's resolve. Foremost among them was the addition of four governors to a growing list of more than 50 Venezuelan officials under sanctions and blocked from doing business or having accounts in the U.S.

The most prominent target was Rafael Lacava, the governor of central Carabobo state who played a key role negotiating the release last year of Joshua Holt, a Utah man jailed without a trial for two years on what were seen as trumped-up weapons charges.

Pence also said the U.S. would continue to search for places to pre-position aid for eventual delivery to Venezuela, and announced $56 million in new assistance to countries in the region helping to absorb an exodus of more than 3 million Venezuelans who have fled hyperinflation and shortages in recent years.

"In the days ahead, the United States will announce even stronger sanctions on the regime's corrupt financial networks. We will find every last dollar they have stolen and return that money to the Venezuelan people," he said.

Guaido, in his visit to the Colombian capital, was afforded all the trappings of a head of state. He posed for selfies with well-wishers upon arriving for the summit and stood before a pile of aid boxes stamped with the U.S. flag as he and Pence greeted a group of Venezuelan migrants, including an elderly man who wept as he shook hands with the U.S. vice president and pleaded for help.

But Guaido's speech to the diplomats was short on specifics despite speculation he would request a military intervention as close ally Julio Borges, the opposition ambassador to the Lima Group, suggested on Sunday.

"Being permissive with the usurpation of power would be a threat to democracy in all of America," Guaido said.

Meanwhile, the Lima Group, which has been staunchly behind Guaido, rejected the use of force.

"Let's hope that the pressure of the international community, dialogue and prudence will prevail," said Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, who likened the crisis in Venezuela to the one his country faced in the run-up to the 1989 U.S. invasion to remove dictator Manuel Noriega. "Although the circumstances are similar, we must have the capacity to find a solution different than the one used back then."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in interviews on "Fox News Sunday" and CNN's "State of the Union," did not rule out U.S. military force but said "there are more sanctions to be had."

Any additional sanctions will increase the suffering of the Venezuelan people and may lead to more political violence, said Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, who advocates a negotiated end to the political crisis.

"The 'humanitarian aid' this weekend was a public relations stunt, since the aid was just a tiny fraction of the food and medicine that they are depriving Venezuelans of with the sanctions," Weisbrot said. "As the Trump administration admitted, it was an attempt to get the Venezuelan military to disobey Maduro. It was a farce, and it failed."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta
Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta, Cyprus, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Stefanos Kouratzis

April 26, 2019

NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cypriot police searched on Friday for more victims of a suspected serial killer, in a case which has shocked the Mediterranean island and exposed the authorities to charges of “criminal indifference” because the dead women were foreigners.

The main opposition party, the left-wing AKEL, called for the resignation of Cyprus’s justice minister and police chief.

Police were combing three different locations west of the capital Nicosia for victims of the suspected killer, a 35-year-old army officer who has been in detention for a week.

The bodies of three women, including two thought to be from the Philippines, have been recovered. Police sources said the suspect had indicated the location of the third body, found on Thursday, and had said the person was “either Indian or Nepali”.

Police said they were searching for a further four people, including two children, based on the suspect’s testimony.

“These women came here to earn a living, to help their families. They lived away from their families. And the earth swallowed them, nobody was interested,” AKEL lawmaker Irene Charalambides told Reuters.

“This killer will be judged by the court but the other big question is the criminal indifference shown by the others when the reports first surfaced. I believe, as does my party, that the justice minister and the police chief should resign. They are irrevocably exposed.”

Police have said they will investigate any perceived shortcomings in their handling of the case.

One person who did attempt to alert the authorities over the disappearances, a 70-year-old Cypriot citizen, said his motives were questioned by police.

The bodies of the two Filipino women reported missing in May and August 2018 were found in an abandoned mine shaft this month. Police discovered the body of the third woman at an army firing range about 14 km (9 miles) from the mine shaft.

Police are now searching for the six-year-old daughter of the first victim found, a Romanian mother who disappeared with her eight-year-old child in 2016, and a woman from the Phillipines who vanished in Dec. 2017.

The suspect has not been publicly named, in line with Cypriot legal practice.

A public vigil for the missing was planned later on Friday.

(Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard
FILE PHOTO: An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard, Britain December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 26, 2019

LONDON, April 26 – British factories stockpiled raw materials and goods ahead of Brexit at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s, and they were increasingly downbeat about their prospects, a survey showed on Friday.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly survey of the manufacturing industry showed expectations for export orders in the next three months fell to their lowest level since mid-2009, when Britain was reeling from the global financial crisis.

The record pace of stockpiling recorded by the CBI was mirrored by the closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index published earlier this month.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

Source: OANN

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo

April 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.

The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.

Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.

But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.

Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.

High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.

It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.

Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.

“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.

The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.

Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.

Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.

Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.

Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.

This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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The German share price index DAX graph at the stock exchange in Frankfurt
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Staff

April 26, 2019

By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh

(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Friday after losses in heavyweight banks and Glencore outweighed gains in healthcare and auto stocks, while investors remained on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data for the first quarter.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent by 0935 GMT, eyeing a modest loss at the end of a holiday-shortened week. Banks-heavy Italian and Spanish indices were laggards.

The banking index fell for a fourth day, at the end of a heavy earnings week for lenders.

Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after posting lower first quarter profit, hurt by intensifying competition and Brexit uncertainty, while its investment bank also registered poor returns.

Weakness in investment banking also dented Deutsche Bank’s quarterly trading revenue and sent its shares lower a day after the German bank abandoned merger talks with smaller rival Commerzbank.

“The current interest rate environment makes it challenging for banks to make proper earnings because of their intermediary function,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist eurozone, at Rabobank.

Since the start of April, all country indexes were on pace to rise between 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, their fourth month of gains, while Germany was strongly outperforming with 6 percent growth.

“For now the current sentiment is very cautious as markets wait for the first estimates of the U.S. GDP growth which could see a surprise,” Mevissen said.

U.S. economic data for the first-quarter is due at 1230 GMT. Growth worries outside the United States resurfaced this week after South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted at the start of the year and weak German business sentiment data for April also disappointed.

Among the biggest drags on the benchmark index in Europe were the basic resources sector and the oil and gas sector, weighed down by Britain’s Glencore and France’s Total, respectively.

Glencore dropped after reports that U.S authorities were investigating whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the commodity exchange act.

Energy major Total said its net profit for the first three months of the year fell compared with a year ago due to volatile oil prices and debt costs.

Chip stocks in the region including Siltronic, Ams and STMicroelectronics lost more than 1 percent after Intel Corp reduced its full-year revenue forecast, adding to concerns that an industry-wide slowdown could persist until the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, healthcare, which is also seen as a defensive sector, was a bright spot. It was helped by French drugmaker Sanofi after it returned to growth with higher profits and revenues for the first-quarter.

Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES led media stocks higher after it maintained its full-year outlook on the back of the company’s Networks division.

Automakers in the region rose 0.4 percent, led by Valeo’s 6 percent jump as the French parts maker said its performance would improve in the second half of the year.

Continental AG advanced after it backed its outlook for the year despite reporting a fall in first-quarter earnings.

Renault rose more than 3 percent as it clung to full-year targets and pursues merger talks with its Japanese partner Nissan.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones and Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

By Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan

(Reuters) – The “i word” – impeachment – is swirling around the U.S. Congress since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted Russia report, which painted a picture of lies, threats and confusion in Donald Trump’s White House.

Some Democrats say trying to remove Trump from office would be a waste of time because his fellow Republicans still have majority control of the Senate. Other Democrats argue they have a moral obligation at least to try to impeach, even though Mueller did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election or with obstruction of justice.

Whether or not the Democrats decide to go down this risky path, here is how the impeachment process works.

WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?

The U.S. Constitution says the president can be removed from office by Congress for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Exactly what that means is unclear.

Before he became president in 1974, replacing Republican Richard Nixon who resigned over the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”

Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and author of a forthcoming book on the history of impeachment, said Congress could look beyond criminal laws in defining “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Historically, it can encompass corruption and other abuses, including trying to obstruct judicial proceedings.

HOW DOES IMPEACHMENT PLAY OUT?

The term impeachment is often interpreted as simply removing a president from office, but that is not strictly accurate.

Impeachment technically refers to the 435-member House of Representatives approving formal charges against a president.

The House effectively acts as accuser – voting on whether to bring specific charges. An impeachment resolution, known as “articles of impeachment,” is like an indictment in a criminal case. A simple majority vote is needed in the House to impeach.

The Senate then conducts a trial. House members act as the prosecutors, with senators as the jurors. The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides over the trial. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the 100-member Senate to convict and remove a president from office.

No president has ever been removed from office as a direct result of an impeachment and conviction by Congress.

Nixon quit in 1974 rather than face impeachment. Presidents Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were impeached by the House, but both stayed in office after the Senate acquitted them.

Obstruction of justice was one charge against Clinton, who faced allegations of lying under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Obstruction was also included in the articles of impeachment against Nixon.

CAN THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN?

No.

Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene if Democrats tried to impeach him. But America’s founders explicitly rejected making a Senate conviction appealable to the federal judiciary, Bowman said.

“They quite plainly decided this is a political process and it is ultimately a political judgment,” Bowman said.

“So when Trump suggests there is any judicial remedy for impeachment, he is just wrong.”

PROOF OF WRONGDOING?

In a typical criminal court case, jurors are told to convict only if there is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” a fairly stringent standard.

Impeachment proceedings are different. The House and Senate “can decide on whatever burden of proof they want,” Bowman said. “There is no agreement on what the burden should be.”

PARTY BREAKDOWN IN CONGRESS?

Right now, there are 235 Democrats, 197 Republicans and three vacancies in the House. As a result, the Democratic majority could vote to impeach Trump without any Republican votes.

In 1998, when Republicans had a House majority, the chamber voted largely along party lines to impeach Clinton, a Democrat.

The Senate now has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with Democrats. Conviction and removal of a president would requires 67 votes. So that means for Trump to be impeached, at least 20 Republicans and all the Democrats and independents would have to vote against him.

WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED?

A Senate conviction removing Trump from office would elevate Vice President Mike Pence to the presidency to fill out Trump’s term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2021.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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