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Macron looks to build ‘Green front’ ahead of EU elections

FILE PHOTO: Pascal Canfin, head of WWF France, attends the French employer's body MEDEF union summer forum on the campus of the HEC School of Management in Jouy-en-Josas
FILE PHOTO: Pascal Canfin, head of WWF France, attends the French employer's body MEDEF union summer forum on the campus of the HEC School of Management in Jouy-en-Josas, near Paris, France, August 30, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo

March 29, 2019

By Michel Rose

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron has set his sights on the green vote in May’s European elections, aiming to tap into deepening environmental concerns to build as broad a coalition as possible in the EU parliament and increase his party’s influence.

On Wednesday, the French leader’s party announced its list of candidates for the May 26 vote, surprising rivals with the presence of a long-time member of the Green party, Pascal Canfin, in second place.

It was a signal that Macron hopes to capitalize on the renewed surge in environmental activism, especially among the young, evidenced by the success of Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg’s “school strike for climate”.

After the electoral successes of Green parties in Bavaria, Luxembourg and Belgium in recent months, Macron is keen to ensure France’s greens, who usually do better in European elections than national ones, don’t steal a march on his party.

But beyond the purely domestic appeal to environmentally conscious voters, the 41-year-old president is also betting that green names on his list will convince other Green parties in Europe to join a future coalition in Strasbourg.

That coalition — which Macron aims to build with like-minded centrist or “progressive” parties — will be critical in determining whether Macron gains influence in Brussels and ends up at the forefront of shaping legislation and filing key jobs, such as the next European Commission president.

Canfin, a former European lawmaker and minister for development who headed conservation group WWF’s French operation until he was poached by Macron, did not waste time spelling out the goal he has been tasked with.

“We’ll champion a coalition deal and clearly we’ll offer the European Greens the opportunity to join,” he told French radio this week.

Macron has confused many in Brussels with his reluctance to agree to join the liberal-centrist family in the European parliament, known as ALDE, which would seem his natural home.

Partly that is because the word “liberal” in France has long held negative associations with Anglo Saxon-style free market economics, which French officials have mentioned as a branding problem. But the main reason is Macron’s desire to build a broader church, one that, as well as the Greens, might pull in centrist MEPs from the two main groups, the centre-right EPP and the centre-left S&D.

Such a coalition, in which Macron’s potential 20-24 MEPs would likely be the biggest contingent, could put the French leader in the position of kingmaker, since polls show the EPP and the Socialists are both unlikely to win a majority.

“SUPERFICIAL GREEN REPACKAGING”

The biggest prize Macron is hoping to win is Germany’s Greens. Because of the size of the German contingent – the Gruenen currently have 13 MEPs but are likely to increase that number in the election – that could help Macron beef up the ranks of his ‘progressive’ grouping.

Macron’s campaign director, Stéphane Séjourné, named the German Greens in an interview with Reuters last October as one of the parties he was hoping to partner with.

Macron’s call to “make our planet great again” in 2017, and his self-endorsed role as defender of the Paris climate accord, have burnished his green credentials, Séjourné said.

“We’ve put a lot of political capital into European climate diplomacy,” he told Reuters. “This is how we’re identified abroad, the president is identified as a climate leader.”

Séjourné said Germany’s Greens, who are accustomed to the demands of coalition compromises, would be a better fit for Macron’s En Marche than France’s Greens, who are to the left.

But it remains to be seen whether the Gruenen would shake hands with Macron, whose high-profile environment minister quit on him last August, criticizing the former investment banker’s pro-nuclear policies in particular.

In a party that was founded on anti-nuclearism, some German Greens openly express scepticism about the sincerity of Macron’s environmental outreach.

Reinhard Buetikofer, a Gruene European lawmaker and co-chair of the European Green Party, tweeted that Macron was giving his En Marche party an environmental makeover out of simple fear of losing votes to the French Greens.

But a source in the party says the German Greens are divided over Macron. “There are ones that put his pro-Europeanism first and his slight greenness second and therefore are favorable to collaboration with him,” the source said.

“On the other side there are people who see his right-wing economic policies and see him getting cozy with the Greens as ‘greenwashing’ and they don’t really believe it.”

Jon Worth, a German green party member and EU blogger, says the fact party members shape what the party does makes it unlikely they would agree to join Macron’s ranks, especially considering the profile of candidates put forward this time.

“Many of them are quite independent-minded, quite left-wing people,” he said. “I can’t see many Macron-favourable people there on the list.”

(Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Luke Baker and Peter Graff)

Source: OANN

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EU slams Romanian govt for diluting anti-corruption fight

The European Union is appealing to Romania to not to dilute efforts to fight high-level corruption after the government enacted a measure that critics say will exert more political control over the judiciary.

EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Wednesday that Romania needs to "very urgently put the reform process back on track," and abstain "from steps which reverse progress" in fighting corruption.

The Social Democratic government adopted emergency legislation Tuesday including a provision to limit how long top prosecutor agencies can be managed by interim appointees. The measure also removes the prosecutor general's oversight of a unit tasked with investigating magistrates.

President Klaus Iohannis, a government opponent, said the government wants to render the justice system inefficient "for personal interests."

Source: Fox News World

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Mass Grave of 3,500 Found Outside Former ISIS Capital

Syrian authorities have uncovered a mass grave of 3,500 people outside the city of Raqqa, the former capital of the Daesh terrorist group.

The find is by far the largest such site uncovered as Damascus reestablishes control over the country in the civil war that has raged since 2011.

The bodies lay in both a giant mass grave on a plot of farmland and also in individual graves: many are clothed in the orange suits Daesh robes its victims in before executing them.

“These are individual graves, but behind us, by the trees, are the mass graves of those executed by Daesh,” said Asaad Mohammad, a forensic assistant at the site, gesturing to a group of exhumed pits.

“There are some 2,500-3,000 bodies estimated there, plus between 900 and 1,100 bodies in the individual graves, so at least 3,500 total,” Mohammad told AFP.

Paul Joseph Watson urges Westerners not to make the same mistake again.

Syrian authorities first learned of the site last month, in a suburb of the city called al-Fukheikha, AFP noted.

First seized from the Syrian government by the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front in 2013, the city fell the following year to Daesh, a rival Islamist group seeking to establish what it called a new “caliphate” in the Levant. Daesh established the city as the de facto capital of its rogue state in eastern Syria and northern Iraq, but amid heavy attacks by Syrian, Russian, US and Kurdish forces that destroyed much of the city, the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces recaptured Raqqa in October 2017.

Since then, Syrian authorities have discovered at least eight mass grave sites around the city. One found in the Panorama area of Raqqa last October contained at least 1,400 bodies, Sputnik reported.

“These mass graves hold the answers to the fate of people who had been executed by Daesh fighters, who died in coalition air strikes or who have been missing,” Sara Kayyali of Human Rights Watch told AFP.

It’s unclear who exactly is in the mass grave site. Some are undoubtedly execution victims of Daesh, including the city’s Shiite population, whom Daesh declared were not Muslims but apostates. The militant group destroyed the Uwais al-Qarni Mosque, a holy pilgrimage site for Shiite Muslims, shortly after establishing control over Raqqa in 2014.

(Photo by Scott Bobb / Wikimedia Commons)

Others buried could be casualties from the war, including the indiscriminate bombardments carried out by US forces, which have been heavily criticized by human rights groups like Amnesty International.

“It is deplorable that the US-led Coalition continues to ignore its responsibility over carrying out meaningful investigations into the hundreds of civilian deaths it caused in Raqqa and elsewhere — even as it starts to withdraw from Syria,” Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East research director, said in a statement last month. “The Coalition is unashamedly ignoring the devastating legacy of its bombing campaign, adding insult to injury by making clear that it has no intention of offering survivors any form of remedy or compensation.”

Daesh has been steadily pushed back under assault from multiple sides to an enclave on the Euphrates River near the Syrian border with Iraq. On Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US-led coalition was “only hours away” from seizing Daesh’s last stronghold, al-Baghuz Fawqani, Sputnik reported.

“The same thing that happened here will have happened there,” Mohammad said. “Maybe it’s even worse there, because the fighting is more intense, as they’ve got nowhere else to go.”

Faith Goldy and Martina Markota join Alex to break down the globalists’ plot to demoralize patriots.

Source: InfoWars

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Italy court upholds fine on Petrofac CEO for alleged insider trading on Saipem shares

FILE PHOTO: Group Chief Executive of Petrofac Asfari speaks during the Oil & Money conference in London
FILE PHOTO: Group Chief Executive of Petrofac Ayman Asfari speaks during the Oil & Money conference in London October 1, 2013. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/File Photo

March 13, 2019

MILAN (Reuters) – A Rome court has upheld a fine imposed on Petrofac CEO Ayman Asfari by Italian market watchdog Consob for alleged insider trading in Saipem shares, a spokesman for the British oil services company said on Wednesday.

Asfari, who has been CEO at Petrofac since 2002, is alleged to have made a profit on buying shares in the Italian oil contractor just before its then CEO Pietro Franco Tali resigned over a corruption inquiry.

Tali announced he was stepping down as Saipem CEO in a statement issued on Dec. 5, 2012, triggering a share price reaction.

In 2017 https://www.reuters.com/article/petrofac-ceo-fine-italy-idUSI6N1KQ011, Consob fined Asfari 300,000 euros ($339,000) and seized assets worth around 385,000 euros.

The spokesman said Asfari would be appealing the ruling by the Rome court.

“The decision is a total surprise and hugely disappointing. The charge is completely without foundation and merit,” the spokesman said.

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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NHL notebook: Lightning give Cooper multi-year extension

FILE PHOTO: 2017 IIHF World Championship
FILE PHOTO: Ice Hockey - 2017 IIHF World Championship - Quarterfinal - Canada v Germany - Cologne, Germany - 18/5/17 - Canada's head coach Jon Cooper watches the game. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

March 27, 2019

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced a multi-year contract extension Tuesday for coach Jon Cooper amid a record-breaking season for the franchise.

With five games left in the regular season, the Lightning lead the NHL with 122 points — nine more than the previous franchise record set last season.

“I am very pleased to announce Jon’s extension today,” vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois said in a statement. “His ability to forge impactful relationships with everyone from players to staff has been a trademark of his tenure with the organization and he is the absolute best coach for our hockey team.”

Cooper, 51, joined the Lightning in March 2013 and owns a 302-157-44 record. He is the longest-tenured and the winningest coach in franchise history.

–New York Islanders forward Andrew Ladd has a torn left ACL but should be healthy in time for training camp next fall, general manager Lou Lamoriello said.

Ladd, 33, tallied three goals and eight assists in 26 games before getting hurt in Sunday’s 2-0 win against Arizona.

Lamoriello said Ladd’s leadership and his postseason experience — including Stanley Cup championships with Carolina in 2006 and Chicago in 2010 — will be missed. “It’s always difficult to lose a veteran who has experience,” Lamoriello said. “He’s played very well the last few games he’s played, but this, it’s part of the game.”

–Philadelphia announced the signing of left wing Michael Raffl to a two-year, $3.2 million extension, keeping him with the Flyers through the 2020-21 campaign.

The 30-year-old Austrian has played all six seasons of his NHL career with the Flyers and has 70 goals and 62 assists (132 points) in 406 career games. He has six goals and 12 assists in 61 games this season.

“We’re happy to have Michael for the next two years,” Philadelphia general manager Chuck Fletcher said in a statement. “Throughout his six seasons with the Flyers he has played a pivotal role in a variety of positions and situations. His versatility, experience and work ethic will be valuable assets to our team going forward.”

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Obama Border Patrol Head: Crisis Is ‘Worst In The History Of The Country’

Former head of the Border control under President Obama, Mark Morgan, has warned that the migrant crisis on the Southern border is the worst it has ever been and has to be addressed to avoid dire consequences.

“This isn’t just a crisis, this is a crisis like we’ve never experienced in the history of this country since we started tracking numbers,” said Morgan during a Fox Business interview Monday.

“There’s still this very false talking point out there that — ‘well, back in the ’90s, the numbers were higher — over a million.’ Morgan, also a long time FBI official, noted.

“Well, first of all, again, you got to remember they were Mexican adults, we were moving, deporting 90 percent of them.” he continued.

“With the broken asylum laws and other loopholes that are there, we’re seeing 65 to 70 percent increase in family units, and because of those broken laws, we’re allowing them in.” Morgan added.

“This year, we’re expected to hit a million, but we’re going to let 650,000 into the country. That’s driving this crisis, driving our resources, being overwhelmed. We have to address it.” the former Border Patrol chief urged.

Morgan has previously expressed his support for a border wall, saying that “The president is right. The wall works.”

While senior Democrats and candidates for the Democratic nomination continue to suggest that there is no crisis on the border, Morgan isn’t the only former Obama official sounding the alarm on the situation.

Obama’s former head of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has also repeatedly warned that the situation is “a crisis by any measure.”

“This is, in my view, having owned this problem for three years, first, I know what a thousand a day looks like. I saw it myself at border patrol holding stations,” Johnson said last week.

“I cannot begin to imagine what 4,000 a day looks like. It must overwhelm the system.” he added.

“I think we have to get away from Democrat vs. Republican, crisis vs. no crisis.” Johnson continued.

“This is a crisis by any measure, and the solution inevitably is bipartisan. It has to be bipartisan. It requires a change in law,” Johnson urged.

Source: InfoWars

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Democrats to press star witness of Mueller report to repeat performance in Congress

FILE PHOTO: White House Counsel McGahn listens to U.S. President Trump hold a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington
FILE PHOTO: White House Counsel Don McGahn sits behind U.S. President Donald Trump as the president holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S. June 21, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

April 24, 2019

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald McGahn, the former White House counsel described in the Mueller report as repeatedly standing up to President Donald Trump, could become a star witness again if congressional Democrats get their way in their investigation of whether Trump used his office to obstruct justice.

Since the April 18 release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and any ties to Republican Trump’s campaign, Democrats have seen McGahn as someone who could be as important as Mueller himself, according to a source familiar with the matter.

But the Democrats are likely to face Trump’s resistance. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the White House planned to oppose a subpoena by the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee for McGahn to testify.

Mueller’s 448-page partially blacked out report portrayed McGahn as one of the few figures in Trump’s orbit to challenge him when he tried to shut down the investigation that has clouded his more than two years in the White House.

“Mr. McGahn has been touted as a man of integrity and he is a major witness in the Mueller report,” said Sheila Jackson Lee, a member of the judiciary committee.

The White House did not immediately comment on the Washington Post report, which said Trump will claim executive privilege, a legal doctrine allowing the president to withhold information about internal executive branch deliberations from other branches of government.

McGahn’s attorney, William Burck, did not respond to requests for comment.

Democrats are particularly interested in hearing McGahn describe in his own words and in Congress an account in the Mueller report in which McGahn refused Trump’s instructions.

In June 2017 Trump called McGahn to say he should tell Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to remove the special counsel because he had conflicts of interest, the report said.

Trump also failed to get McGahn to dispute media reports that the president tried to fire Mueller, the report said.

“That, in itself, could be an obstruction of justice, as Mr. McGahn would be able to testify – that he was asked to do it and then asked not to tell anyone what he’d been asked to do,” Lee said.

Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, who has subpoenaed the U.S. Department of Justice to provide the unredacted Mueller report and underlying evidence, issued a subpoena on Monday for McGahn to provide the committee with documents by May 7 and testify on May 21.

But it was not clear that McGahn would comply, especially if the White House asserts executive privilege. Nor could Democrats predict how much the former White House counsel would be willing to discuss, even if he does testify.

On Tuesday evening, Nadler said, “The moment for the White House to assert some privilege to prevent this testimony from being heard has long since passed.”

The House of Representatives has the sole power under the U.S. Constitution to impeach the president, and any effort would be led by the judiciary panel.

Mueller’s report concluded that there was not enough evidence to establish that Trump’s campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Moscow. However, the report outlined multiple instances where Trump tried to thwart Mueller’s probe.

Mueller stopped short of concluding whether Trump could be prosecuted for obstruction of justice, a criminal charge that requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

But such a high standard would not apply to Democrats if they decided to bring impeachment proceedings.

In the days following the Mueller report’s release, McGahn came under attack from Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani who called into question the veracity of his statements to Mueller’s team of prosecutors.

“I would ask which of the three versions is McGahn standing by. There are three versions he gives of that account,” Giuliani told CNN over the weekend. “I’m telling you, he’s confused.”

A prominent elections lawyer, McGahn served as Trump’s campaign counsel before being named White House counsel in November 2016.

He played a pivotal role in helping Trump reshape the federal judiciary in a conservative direction and roll back regulations on a range of industries.

(Reporting by David Morgan, Karen Freifeld and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Grant McCool)

Source: OANN

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Sri Lanka's former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake
Sri Lanka’s former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake, Sri Lanka April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

April 26, 2019

By Sanjeev Miglani and Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s former wartime defense chief, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said on Friday he would run for president in elections this year and would stop the spread of Islamist extremism by rebuilding the intelligence service and surveilling citizens.

Gotabaya, as he is popularly known, is the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the two led the country to a crushing defeat of separatist Tamil rebels a decade ago after a 26-year civil war.

More than 250 people were killed in bomb attacks on hotels and churches on Easter Sunday that the government has blamed on Islamist militants and that Islamic State has claimed responsibility for.

Gotabaya said the attacks could have been prevented if the island’s current government had not dismantled the intelligence network and extensive surveillance capabilities that he built up during the war and later on.

“Because the government was not prepared, that’s why you see a panic situation,” he said in an interview with Reuters.

Gotabaya said he would be a candidate “100 percent”, firming up months of speculation that he plans to run in the elections, which are due by December.

He was critical of the government’s response to the bombings. Since the attacks, the government has struggled to provide clear information about how they were staged, who was behind them and how serious the threat is from Islamic State to the country.

“Various people are blaming various people, not giving exactly the details as to what happened, even people expect the names, what organization did this, and how they came up to this level, that explanation was not given,” he said.

On Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena said the government led by premier Ranil Wickremesinghe should take responsibility for the attacks and that prior information warning of attacks was not shared with him.

Wickremesinghe said earlier he was not advised about warnings that came from India’s spy service either, presenting a picture of a government still in disarray since the two leaders fell out last October.

Gotabaya is facing lawsuits in the United States, where he is a dual citizen, over his role in the war and afterwards.

The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project, in partnership with U.S. law firm Hausfeld, filed a civil case in California this month against Gotabaya on behalf of a Tamil torture survivor.

In a separate case, Ahimsa Wickrematunga, the daughter of murdered investigative editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, filed a complaint for damages in the same U.S. District Court in California for allegedly instigating and authorizing the extrajudicial killing of her father.

Gotabaya said the cases were baseless and only a “little distraction” as he prepared for the election campaign. He said he had asked U.S. authorities to renounce his citizenship and that process was nearly done, clearing the way for his candidature.

‘DISMANTLE THE NETWORKS’

He said that if he won, his immediate focus would to be tackle the threat from radical Islam and to rebuild the security set-up.

“It’s a serious problem, you have to go deep into the groups, dismantle the networks,” he said, adding he would give the military a mandate to collect intelligence from the ground and to mount surveillance of groups turning to extremism.

Gotabaya said that a military intelligence cell he had set up in 2011 of 5,000 people, some of them with Arabic language skills and that was tracking the bent towards extremist ideology some of the Islamist groups were taking in eastern Sri Lanka was disbanded by the current government.

“They did not give priority to national security, there was a mix-up. They were talking about ethnic reconciliation, then they were talking about human rights issues, they were talking about individual freedoms,” he said.

President Sirisena’s government sought to forge reconciliation with minority Tamils and close the wounds of the war and launched investigations into allegations of rights abuse and torture against military officers.

Officials said many of these secret intelligence cells were disbanded because they faced allegations of abuse, including torture and extra judicial killings.

Muslims make up nearly 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 22 million, which is predominantly Buddhist.

(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Federal Reserve Board building on Constitution Avenue is pictured in Washington
FILE PHOTO: The Federal Reserve Board building on Constitution Avenue is pictured in Washington, U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

April 26, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve may lower the interest it pays on excess reserves banks leave with it by 5 basis points at its April 30-May 1 policy meeting in a bid to prevent the federal funds rate from drifting higher, Morgan Stanley analysts said on Friday.

This would mark the third such “technical” adjustment on the interest on excess reserves (IOER) following cuts last June and December.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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In response to the news that the U.S. economy rose 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2019, White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said that this “prosperity cycle” will continue if President Trump‘s policies stay in place.

Calling the advance in gross domestic product a “blow-out number,” Kudlow told “America’s Newsroom” Friday that it serves as concrete proof Trump’s measures to grow the economy have been successful.

“I’ll just say, Trump’s policies to rebuild the economy, lower taxes, regulations, opening energy, trade reform. Look, this stuff is working,” he said.

“It tells me, among other things, that the prosperity cycle we have entered into is continuing, it is strong. It has legs and momentum and frankly it is going to go on for quite some time,” he continued. “This is the new Trump economy. Some people don’t like that or they don’t agree with that. I respect the differences but I’ll tell you it’s working.”

STUART VARNEY: THANKS TO TRUMP, AMERICANS ARE FEELING BETTER ABOUT THEIR FINANCES

39 MILLION ADULTS CANNOT AFFORD A SUMMER VACATION

Kudlow added that Trump has “ended the war” on business and success, and is rallying for the small business owners of America.

“The president is rebuilding incentives, he is rebuilding confidence, he the rebuilding optimism,” he said. “He is basically saying you should keep more of what you earn. He is basically saying to small businesses we’ll cut the paperwork back and make it easier for you to start a business and prosper.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Kudlow said the Trump administration is also working with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders to implement bipartisan deals to ensure the continuation of the GDP’s success.

“If the policies and the principles remain in place — and I believe they will — then I believe this new prosperity expansion cycle is going to go on for a whole bunch of more years,” he said.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Tennis - Australian Open - Women's Singles Final
FILE PHOTO: Tennis – Australian Open – Women’s Singles Final – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, January 26, 2019. Japan’s Naomi Osaka attends a news conference after winning her match against Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – World number one Naomi Osaka came from behind in the final set to beat Croatian Donna Vekic 6-3 4-6 7-6(4) on Friday and move into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix semi-finals.

Osaka comfortably won the opening set but was tested by the Croatian, who pushed her to the limit in the second and third. The Japanese made 45 unforced errors as she struggles to get to grips with swapping hard courts for clay.

Osaka was visibly frustrated and trailed 5-1 in the final set but she refused to give up and found her rhythm to break Vekic twice and prevent her from serving for the match.

In the tiebreaker, a confident Osaka upped her baseline game and had two early mini breaks before wrapping up the match in two hours and 18 minutes. An infuriated Vekic even smashed her racket after losing the match.

“I told myself I didn’t want to have any regrets here,” Osaka said. “I was stressed out when I went down 1-5… but this (comeback) was pretty good because I don’t play really well on clay.”

Earlier, world number three Petra Kvitova came back from a set down to beat Anastasija Sevastova 2-6 6-2 6-3 and move into the tournament’s semi-finals for the third time in her career.

Sevastova had a dream start, breaking Kvitova twice to take a 3-0 lead as the Czech struggled with her first serve. Kvitova also made a slew of unforced errors, with many of her returns going long.

Sevastova used the full width of the court to get the better of Kvitova, who played on the back foot for much of the first set as the Latvian gave her little time to catch her breath.

However, Kvitova recovered in the second set and she broke Sevastova’s serve when she was 3-2 up, winning 10 straight points to take a 5-2 lead. Sevastova looked shaken and was broken again to give Kvitova the second set.

Kvitova took command in the final set and broke a visibly upset Sevastova to take a 3-1 lead before easing into the semis.

“In the first set I missed almost everything. I was pretty slow and she just couldn’t miss,” Kvitova said. “In the second set it was very important for me to stay on my serve and the chance to break her came.”

Kiki Bertens plays Angelique Kerber later on Friday and Victoria Azarenka faces Anett Kontaveit in the last quarter-final.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: OANN

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President Donald Trump says he feels “young” and “vibrant” at age 72 and thinks he can beat 76-year-old Joe Biden “easily.”

A reporter asked Trump at the White House on Friday how old is too old to be president of the United States.

Trump said: “I just feel like a young man. I’m so young. I can’t believe it. … I’m a young vibrant man.”

Then he smiled and said he’s not sure about Democratic presidential contender Biden, the second-oldest contender in the race behind Bernie Sanders.

Trump said: “I look at Joe. I don’t know about him.”

Biden, in an interview on ABC’s “The View,” joked in response that if Trump “looks young and vibrant compared to me, I should probably go home.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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