Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Trump: Mexico Gets 1-Year Warning on Border Shutdown Threat

President Donald Trump threatened on Thursday to put tariffs on cars coming from Mexico into the United States if Mexico does not continue to help Washington deal with the immigration and drug situation along the southern U.S. border.

Trump told reporters at the White House he would put tariffs on cars or close the border, but he said he may start with the tariffs. He also said he would give Mexico a year to try to stop the flow of drugs before putting tariffs in place.

"A lot of good things are happening with Mexico. Mexico understands that we're going to close the border, or I'm going to tariff the cars," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump said he would "probably start off with the tariffs - that will be a very powerful incentive."

Trump warned last Friday that he would close the U.S. border with Mexico this week unless Mexico took action to help stop the flow of illegal migrants across the frontier.

Trump said on Thursday that media coverage in recent days has prompted Mexico to make moves to curb the flow of immigrants to the United States and take other action to ease the pressure on U.S. ports of entry.

Separately, Mexican exporters said this week they were looking into sending their goods to the United States by air freight to avoid a five-mile-long line of trucks at the border caused by the Trump administration moving federal agents away from customs checks to immigration duties.

Auto parts and medical equipment makers were among the Mexican companies considering the more expensive air cargo to avoid incurring penalties for late delivery to U.S. clients or factory closures, Luis Aguirre, the president of Mexico's manufacturing industry chamber INDEX, said late on Wednesday.

Source: NewsMax Politics

0 0

McCabe: I don't 'hate' Trump despite his attacks on my wife

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was asked during a television interview Tuesday if he “hates” President Trump, specifically regarding the president's repeated verbal attacks on McCabe's wife.

McCabe alleges that during a phone conversation, the president mocked Jill McCabe’s failed run for a Virginia state Senate seat, asking the then-top FBI official what’s it’s like for her to be a “loser.”

Trump denied that he said “anything bad” about Mrs. McCabe aside from her taking money from Clinton allies during her campaign.

McCabe called Trump’s tweet “absolutely false on so many counts.”

“We don’t have to go far to look at the horrendous, slanderous, and defamatory things that this president has said about my wife going back to October of 2016. There’s a long and illustrious history there,” McCabe told MSNBC's "The Last Word" host Lawrence O’Donnell. “He brought her up in his comments to the press conference he gave at the United Nations. I mean, think about it. Imagine you’re my wife driving home from work and that’s what you hear reported on the news. It’s just been utterly horrible.”

“Do you hate this guy?” O’Donnell asked.

“Wow, that’s a really tough question,” McCabe responded. “I’m going to have to say no. I didn’t think about it that way. I really hated the things he said about my wife, I’m not gonna lie to you. That is incredibly hard to hear, that’s incredibly hard not to react to in the way that any man wants to defend his wife. But honestly, in that moment, I couldn’t give myself the luxury in wallowing in that kind of hate. I had a job and 37,000 employees I was responsible for, whose job is to protect America and to uphold the Constitution. I couldn’t afford to get into an insult-trading match with the president of the United States.”

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Banks ordered to disclose bondholder information to Puerto Rico board

The flag of Puerto Rico flies outside the Capitol building in San Juan
The flag of Puerto Rico flies outside the Capitol building in San Juan, Puerto Rico May 4, 2017. REUTERS/ Alvin Baez

April 18, 2019

SAN JUAN (Reuters) – A judge on Thursday ordered banks to comply with a request from Puerto Rico’s federally created financial oversight board to disclose customer information related to certain debt issued by the bankrupt U.S. commonwealth.

The ruling boosts a potential effort by the board to recover billions of dollars in payments made to bondholders should a federal court hearing Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy cases choose to invalidate disputed debt issued by the government and its agencies.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith Gail Dein’s order said “good cause exists” to grant the board’s motion, which seeks to compel banks to submit bondholder names and addresses along with Puerto Rico debt payments the bondholders received between 2013 and 2017.

The Bank of New York Mellon, Bank of America Corp, JP Morgan Chase Bank, and U.S. Bank objected to the board’s request last week, citing concerns over disclosing confidential customer information, as well as the cost and ability to produce a large amount of information by the April 19 deadline set by the board.

The judge ordered the banks and the board to submit a proposed confidentiality agreement by April 23 and set rolling deadlines of April 25, April 30 and May 8 for the banks to submit bondholder information. She rejected requests by the banks to be reimbursed for their costs and for indemnity for claims that could result from compliance with the order.

It was unclear whether the banks will appeal. Attorneys for the banks either declined to comment or could not immediately be reached. 

The quest for bondholder information is related to an attempt by the board and some creditor groups in the bankruptcy to have the federal court void more than $6 billion of defaulted general obligation (GO) bonds sold in 2012 and 2014, as well as debt issued by Puerto Rico’s Public Buildings Authority and bonds sold for the island’s Employees Retirement System.

The board filed bankruptcy for the island in May 2017 to restructure about $120 billion of debt and pension obligations. But it did not seek to void the GO bonds on the basis they were issued in violation of debt limits in the Puerto Rico Constitution until January 2019, just months before the statute of limitations on bringing such actions runs out in early May.

U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain is scheduled to take up the board’s motion to extend that deadline at an April 24 hearing.

(Reporting By Luis Valentin Ortiz in San Juan and Karen Pierog in Chicago; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

Source: OANN

0 0

Senate votes to block Trump emergency

**Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.**

On the roster: Senate votes to block Trump emergency funding - Beto bounces into the race - Pence calls out Biden - As Mueller winds down, top deputy set to exit - Call this one Freedom

SENATE VOTES TO BLOCK TRUMP EMERGENCY
NYT: “The Senate on Thursday easily voted to overturn President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southwestern border, delivering a bipartisan rebuke to what lawmakers in both parties deemed executive overreach by a president determined to build his border wall over Congress’s objections. The 59-41 vote on the House-passed measures set up the first veto of Mr. Trump’s presidency. It was not overwhelming enough to override Mr. Trump’s promised veto, but Congress has now voted to block a presidential emergency declaration for the first time — and on one of the core promises that animated Mr. Trump’s political rise, the vow to build a wall between the United States and Mexico. In an attempt to limit defections ahead of the vote, Mr. Trump had sought to frame the vote publicly as not only a declaration of support for his border security policies but a sign of personal loyalty.”

The twelve Republicans who voted to block Trump - The Hill: “Here is the list of the GOP senators who voted against Trump on the emergency declaration: Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.), Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), Sen. Mike Lee (Utah), Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.).”

The Judge’s Ruling: Power station - This week Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano explains the constitutional powers of Congress when it comes to national emergencies: "The act itself fails to define what constitutes an emergency, but the courts – as is their job where a law is ambiguous – have generally defined an emergency as a sudden and imminent threat to life, liberty and property that cannot be addressed by the exercise of ordinary government powers. … President Donald Trump, in his recent declaration of national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, ordered the departments of Defense and Homeland Security to spend unused but unauthorized money in their budgets on building a 55-mile steel barrier – ‘a big, beautiful wall’ -- along a portion of that border. Because Congress has expressly and explicitly declined to authorize the funds for the construction of such a barrier, we have a constitutional conflict on our hands.” More here.

THE RULEBOOK: HE WAS SURE RIGHT ABOUT THAT ONE
“War between the States, in the first period of their separate existence, would be accompanied with much greater distresses than it commonly is in those countries where regular military establishments have long obtained.” Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 8

TIME OUT: THE UGLY TRUTH
Writer Rebecca Brill with a dispatch from Italy. Paris Review: “In order to become a member of the World Association of Ugly People, you need to be assessed. In the clubhouse of the Association, known by locals as Club dei Brutti, the president, a stocky man named Gianni with a lopsided goatee, produces a card featuring the official Club dei Brutti ugliness rating system: non definita (undefined), insufficiente (insufficient), mediocre, buona (good), ottima (great), straordinaria (extraordinary). Gianni examines my face and body quickly but thoroughly. Then, on a membership card on which he has written my name, he checks off the box marked ‘insufficiente.’ … Gianni signs my card anyway, thereby designating me the 31,310 member of Club dei Brutti. ‘Time makes us all ugly,’ he explains. I have not really come to Piobbico, a small village between two mountains in central Italy, to join the organization. Rather, I’m here for Club dei Brutti’s annual Festival of the Ugly…”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance 
Average approval: 42.4 percent
Average disapproval: 53.2 percent
Net Score: -10.8 points
Change from one week ago: no change  
[Average includes: Monmouth University: 44% approve - 52% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 38% approve - 55% disapprove; Gallup: 43% approve - 54% unapproved; IBD: 41% approve - 53% disapprove; NBC/WSJ: 46% approve - 52% disapprove.]

**and now, for this important commercial message**
Consider yourself an Influencer? Become a trusted advisor in our FOX News community and help guide our brand’s future. Click here to find out how.

Members of Fox News Influencers have the opportunity to be heard, be part of a special network of peers and influence new initiatives. What’s more, you’ll receive updates on how your input has made an impact.

Fill out our qualification survey and join us. Thank you for your continued support in our company’s growth.
**we now return you to our regularly scheduled political palaver**

BETO BOUNCES INTO THE RACE
Dallas Morning News:Beto O'Rourke formally launched a bid for the White House on Thursday morning, announcing his long-anticipated campaign with an online video ahead of a three-day swing through Iowa. ‘I am running to serve you as the next president,’ he says in a 3-minute video that his campaign planned posted online at [7:30 a.m. ET] ‘This is going to be a positive campaign that seeks to bring out the very best from every single one of us, that seeks to unite a very divided country. We saw the power of this in Texas,’ the former three-term congressman from El Paso says, his wife, Amy, seated beside him as he looks into the camera. The announcement ends four months of suspense as O'Rourke seeks to harness the buzz he generated in a near-miss bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz last fall. O'Rourke said he'll hold a kick-off event in El Paso on March 30.”

Pelosi punts on Beto’s accomplishments - Mediaite: “With former Congressman Beto O’Rourke announcing he is running for president on Thursday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was unable to name a significant accomplishment of his while he was in Congress. Pelosi instead pointed to the vitality he brought, his concern for the environment and his committee memberships. ‘Beto brought vitality to Congress…when he came, he came as a real champion for the environment. He got a great deal of support from the environment community in his district, he won a primary on that subject,’ she said. O’Rourke also sat on House Veterans Affairs Committee, which was very important to his district, according to Pelosi. ‘In persevering our planet and protecting our people, they’re at least two areas in addition to his vitality in so many different ways,’ she concluded.”

Is his 2018 performance overrated? - NYT: “[O’Rourke] did better than every Democrat running statewide in Texas in the 2018 midterms. It seems unlikely that many Democrats would have fared as well as he did, and you could argue it bodes well for his chances in a presidential race. But on balance his success was a reflection of deeper trends. Mr. O’Rourke’s close result wasn’t because of an exceptional turnout that will be hard for other Democrats to repeat in 2020. Republican voters, defined as those who have participated in a recent Republican primary, turned out at a higher rate than Democratic ones. Neither the Hispanic nor youth voter share of the electorate was higher than it was in 2016, when President Trump won the state by nine points.”

How he could win - FiveThirtyEight: The collective frisson brought on by O’Rourke isn’t just superficial, though. The ability to capture a media narrative and to build social media followings is key in America’s current politics-as-pop-culture moment. That O’Rourke might be able to command as much attention as, say, President Trump did during the 2016 campaign ain’t nothing. And it might well be that his X-factor charm has brought him attention from several high-profile Democrats. Former President Barack Obama met with O’Rourke after the midterms and spoke of him glowingly. ‘What I liked most about his race was that it didn’t feel constantly poll-tested,’ Obama told David Axelrod in a podcast interview.”

2020 hopefuls turn to swing-state Senators for advice - Politico: “As Democrats prepared to dive into the 2020 presidential election, they have sought counsel from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. But they’ve also looked to Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan for advice from the key states that tipped the 2016 election to President Donald Trump. The three Midwestern Democratic senators all won reelection in 2018, and they’ve begun advising 2020 Democrats about how to replicate their success in the heartland next year. In phone calls and informal chats on the Senate floor, they and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) – who last week removed himself from the 2020 race after considering a run – are using their recently tested political clout to influence the primary and steer candidates to their states. … ‘The path to the presidency goes right through Wisconsin. It was Trump's narrow win in this state as well as some neighboring states that solidified the presidency for him,’ Baldwin told [Politico] in an interview.”

PENCE CALLS OUT BIDEN
Fox News:Vice President Pence, in an exclusive ‘Fox & Friends’ interview Thursday, said Joe Biden ‘caved to liberal activists’ when the former vice president backtracked after calling Pence a ‘decent guy.’ Meanwhile, Biden hinted at a 2020 announcement ‘in a few weeks’ on Tuesday during a speech at the annual convention of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) union. … Biden was met with applause and a standing ovation from the audience, but joked: ‘Be careful what you wish for. Be careful what you wish for.’ Sources familiar with his planning told Fox News last week that top advisers to the former vice president are getting their ducks in a row, figuring out a campaign structure and reaching out to veteran Democratic operatives who would be involved. Those sources suggested a campaign launch come April.”

Can Warren win as a wonk? - AP: “More than 1,000 people packed a New York concert venue for an act that wasn’t on guitar and drums. It was Elizabeth Warren, vocalizing hard numbers. The Massachusetts Democratic senator wove data points into a stump speech that riffed on the policy proposals she’s rolled out in her month-old presidential candidacy. ‘I love that you want to get into more detail about the 2 percent wealth tax,’ she said to a man asking whether her economic plan would drive the wealthy to move overseas. Warren’s policy-heavy performance last Friday was a hit with her crowd. And that’s something she’s counting on heavily in her campaign. She has laid down significant markers in a half-dozen different policy areas since the year began, putting pressure on other 2020 presidential contenders while keeping her campaign in the public eye without having to spend a dollar on ads.”

Harris refunds problematic donations - San Jose Mercury News: “Sen. Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign said Wednesday that it had refunded two donations that violated the senator’s pledge not to accept money from lobbyists or agents of foreign governments. Three days after she announced her White House bid in January, Harris received $2,700 from Arthur R. Collins, a lobbyist for the government of Bermuda. Sometime in January or February, Harris also received $2,700 from Vinca LaFleur, a speechwriter for the royal family of Jordan. Both Collins and LaFleur — who are American — reported their donations in government filings required of foreign agents. The Harris campaign refunded the money after the Bay Area News Group asked about the contributions this week. The refunds come as the 2020 Democratic presidential contenders are jostling to show their bona fides on campaign finance and government reform issues. Many of the top candidates, including Harris, have vowed to reject corporate PAC money, lobbyist donations and support from independent Super PACs.”

Candidates applaud Newsom’s move to stop death penalty - Business Insider: “Two high-profile Democratic presidential candidates are lauding California Governor Gavin Newsom's decision to impose a moratorium on executions in his state. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who's focused heavily on criminal justice reform throughout his political career, in a tweet said, ‘Inspired! I applaud @GavinNewsom's decision to impose a moratorium on this immoral and ineffective policy. Because of his leadership and the activism of people across the country, 737 human beings will not be put to death in the name of the people.’ Similarly, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who previously served as the state's attorney general, in a tweet referred to capital punishment as ‘immoral, discriminatory, ineffective, and proven to be unequally applied.’”

AS MUELLER WINDS DOWN, TOP DEPUTY SET TO EXIT
NPR: “One of the most prominent members of special counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating Russia's attack on the 2016 presidential election will soon leave the office and the Justice Department, two sources close to the matter tell NPR. Andrew Weissmann, the architect of the case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, will study and teach at New York University and work on a variety of public service projects, including his longstanding interest in preventing wrongful convictions by shoring up forensic science standards used in courts, the sources added. The departure is the strongest sign yet that Mueller and his team have all but concluded their work. Manafort has been sentenced to about 7 1/2 years in federal prison following two cases that stemmed from Mueller's investigation, although neither case involved alleged collusion with the Russians who interfered in the election. Weissmann has borne the brunt of attacks from critics such as Rush Limbaugh and conservative legal interest groups.”

Overwhelming bipartisan House vote to release Mueller report - NYT: “House Republicans joined Democrats on Thursday to overwhelmingly demand the Department of Justice release to Congress and the public the full findings of the special counsel’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and the possible involvement of President Trump’s campaign. Though the resolution is nonbinding and cannot force the Justice Department to take a particular action, Democrats who put it on the House floor are trying to build public pressure on Attorney General William P. Barr in advance of the investigation’s anticipated conclusion to share what Robert S. Mueller III produces. Far from standing in the way, Republicans joined Democrats en masse. On the 420-0 vote, four Republicans voted present.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
R.I.P. Birch Bayh, beloved Indiana senator and governor who left his mark on the Constitution, dead at 91 - Politico

Citing Paula Jones precedent, judge allows suit by female former contestant on Trump game show to proceed - WaPo  

Democrats in Rep. Ilian Omar’s district consider a bid against her in 2020 primary - The Hill

AUDIBLE: YOLO
“It’s like guys, political careers can only last so long. Let’s do this.” – Freshman Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, before launching into an irreverent, uproarious speech at the Washington Press Club Foundation dinner Wednesday night that kept the audience laughing with bipartisan barbs.

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

CALL THIS ONE FREEDOM
WaPo: “An injured bald eagle suffered some fractures to its right wing and landed along Metrorail tracks in Maryland, experts said, and will undergo a fuller examination. Dan Rauch, the District’s wildlife biologist, said Thursday morning that the eagle rescued by animal experts on the tracks near the Morgan Boulevard station in Prince George’s County during the Wednesday evening rush hour was not Liberty or Justice, two bald eagles that have become well-known for their eagle cam at a nest in a tree at the D.C. Police Academy grounds in Southwest Washington. … Train traffic was fully restored in both directions just after 7 p.m. For their part, Metro riders seemed to understand — even, in some cases, applaud — having to endure a delay for the sake of the bald eagle’s welfare.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“Today, however, there is a second reason a peace agreement is impossible: the supreme instability of the entire Middle East.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) in the Washington Post on March 19, 2015. 

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Liz Friden contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Sheriff’s deputy fatally shot, cop injured in Washington State

A sheriff’s deputy was killed in the line of duty and a police officer was injured Tuesday evening while exchanging gunfire with a suspect in Washington state, authorities said in a press release.

The officers, responding to a driving complaint, attempted to stop a vehicle around 7:42 p.m., the release said. The suspect failed to stop, leading to a pursuit in Kittitas – a city about 115 miles southeast of Seattle.

The vehicle eventually came to a stop at the end of a street. The suspect exited the vehicle and opened fire at the officers, who by this point were being aided by back up, the release said.

A Kittitas County sheriff’s deputy was shot and rushed to Kittitas Valley Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the release. A Kittitas police officer suffered a gunshot and was airlifted to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center. His condition was not immediately clear.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The suspect was also shot amid the gunfire and takento KVH to be treated for his injury. Authorities said they will not release the names of the officers until their families are notified. The Kittitas County Sheriff’s office has requested that the Ellensburg Police Department take over the investigation, the release said.

Authorities will release more details at a press conference at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday at the Kittitas Valley Event Center.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

British Parliament votes in favor of Brexit delay, unclear if EU leaders will accept

U.K. lawmakers in Parliament on Thursday voted in favor of a delay in Britain’s departure from the European Union, just weeks before the U.K. is due to leave -- although it is far from clear if E.U. leaders will agree to such a delay.

Lawmakers voted 412-202 in favor of the motion, which urges Prime Minister’s Theresa May’s government to go to Europe and request an extension past the March 29 deadline.

UK LAWMAKERS REJECT 'NO DEAL' BREXIT, TAKE STEP CLOSER TO DELAYING DEPARTURE

It comes as the culmination of a week of furious votes in Parliament, in which May’s withdrawal agreement was overwhelmingly voted down for the second time on Tuesday, On Wednesday, lawmakers voted to reject a “no deal” Brexit.

Currently Britain is set to leave without a deal, something that May’s government and opposition MPs have warned could be chaotic, but that pro-Brexit MPs have noted would simply revert Britain to World Trade Organization (WTO) terms, and have downplayed the disruption it would cause.

Neither the rejection of “no deal” nor the Thursday vote for an extension are binding, and don’t change the facts on the ground. It is now up to May to go to Europe and see if she can agree to a delay -- a delay she previously said would be short-term and no later than June.

TRUMP BACKS BREXIT BY PROMISING 'LARGE SCALE TRADE DEAL' WITH UK

Calls for such a short delay have been greeted frostily on the continent. French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that E.U. leaders would only agree to an extension “if it is justified by new choices by the British.”

On Thursday, European Council President Donald Tusk said that he would call for E.U. leaders to be open to a “long extension” but that was on the condition that Britain “rethink its Brexit strategy and build consensus around it.”

E.U. leaders may demand that Britain hold a redo of the 2016 referendum as a condition for a delay. But, while the opposition Labour Party and other smaller parties have backed a second referendum, lawmakers are cautious of being seen to back such a radical move before all other options are exhausted.

An amendment on Thursday that called for a delay so as to allow a second referendum was soundly defeated in Parliament, being voted down 334-85 -- suggesting there isn’t an appetite for a second referendum yet.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Meanwhile, the BBC reported that May will make a third attempt next week to get her withdrawal deal through Parliament, warning Brexiteers that that will be the only way to prevent a lengthy Brexit delay.

In Washington, President Trump appeared to try and tempt lawmakers to get on with it by renewing his promise for a "large scale trade deal" between the U.S. and the U.K.

Later on Thursday, in the Oval Office alongside Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, Trump said he was "surprised at how badly it's all gone from the standpoint of a negotiation" and said that May didn't listen to his advice on how to negotiate with the E.U. He also said that a second referendum, that some pro-E.U. politicians are calling for in the U.K., would be "unfair."

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

"I hate to see everything being ripped apart right now, I don't think another vote would be possible because it would be very unfair to the people that won that say: 'What do you mean you're going to take another vote?'" he said. "So that would be tough."

Source: Fox News World

0 0

Mexican cartel gunmen kidnap and beat 11 police officers

Cartel gunmen kidnapped 11 police officers traveling through the Mexican central state of Puebla during the weekend, taking their guns and detaining them for hours, according to reports.

The officers were traveling in two police trucks when their attackers surrounded them, ordering them to get out and forcing them to kneel, reported Mexican news outlets. The gunmen, who had been in three SUVs, took the officers’ weapons and cell phones and beat them, according to the reports.

The officers had finished responding to a call about an attempted theft of gasoline from an oil refinery.

MEXICAN GOVERNMENT APOLOGIZES FOR DEATHS AFTER POLICE HANDED YOUTHS OVER TO RUTHLESS DRUG GANG

The gunmen released the police near a highway in Mexico City, but kept their police trucks, as well as the other items they had taken.

The attackers released the officers after authorities launched a search for them.

22 BUS PASSENGERS KIDNAPPED IN MEXICO MAY BE MIGRANTS 

The area where the police were kidnapped is a high-risk one for kidnapping and other crimes, reported the Mexico News Daily.

Roughly 1,200 people were kidnapped in Mexico in 2017, which has been a problem in the country since criminal organizations began carrying them out in 2006 to get ransoms to finance their illicit activities, said the website Vox. 

Víctor Manuel Sánchez Valdés, a research professor at the Autonomous University of Coahuila, Mexico, was quoted as telling the outlet: “They had to find other sources of income, which gave the hitmen in these groups carte blanche to participate in activities like kidnapping and extortion.”

Last month, an armed gang in Mexico kidnapped 22 passengers who were hauled off a passenger bus.

GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The kidnapping recalled another in 2011, when dozens of passengers were hauled off buses by drug gangs in Tamaulipas, killed and their bodies dumped in mass graves.

Source: Fox News World

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



A worker walks on the roof of a new home under construction in Carlsbad
FILE PHOTO: A worker walks on the roof of a new home under construction in Carlsbad, California September 22, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. economy is growing at a 2.08% annualized pace in the second quarter based on upbeat data on durable goods orders and new home sales in March, the New York Federal Reserve’s Nowcast model showed on Friday.

This was faster than the 1.92% growth rate calculated by the N.Y. Fed model the week before.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Extraordinary European Union leaders summit in Brussels
FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrives at an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels, Belgium April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday he had assured China’s Huawei Technologies that it would not face discrimination in the rollout of Italy’s 5G telecoms network.

Conte was speaking on a visit to China where he said he met Huawei’s chief executive, Ren Zhengfei. The prime minister’s comments were carried in Italy by TV broadcaster Sky Italia.

“I told him that we have adopted some precautions, some measures to protect our interests that demand very high levels of security … not only from Huawei but any company entering into the 5G arena,” he said.

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

(Writing by by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Angelo Amante)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
U.S. President Trump departs for travel to Indianapolis from the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Friday was expected to announce his intention to revoke the United States’ status as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty, which was signed in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama but never ratified by Congress, two U.S. officials said.

Trump was expected to announce the decision in a speech in Indianapolis, to the National Rifle Association, the officials said. The NRA, a powerful gun lobby group, has long been opposed to the treaty, which was negotiated at the United Nations.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
A remote controlled robot for the 'Isotopium: Chernobyl' game is seen at the game's location in Brovary
A remote controlled robot for the ‘Isotopium: Chernobyl’ game is seen at the game’s location in Brovary, Ukraine April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

April 26, 2019

By Margaryta Chornokondratenko

KIEV (Reuters) – A Ukrainian computer game that brings to life a town abandoned after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster may not sound like everyone’s idea of fun but has attracted 60,000 people globally since its launch in October.

Players of “Isotopium: Chernobyl” drive tanks around the ghost town of Prypyat near Chernobyl, knocking out competitors as they search for an energy source called isotopium and collecting points every time they find some.

While the game takes its theme from the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine, which marked its 33rd anniversary on Friday, it was also inspired by the 2009 science fiction film “Avatar”.

Newcomers to the game think they have entered a virtual world when in fact they are controlling a real robot, equipped with a camera and computer, which makes its way around a model of the town rendered down to the tiniest detail.

“When playing our game, for the first 5-10 minutes many players don’t understand that it is not fictional,” said the game’s co-founder Sergey Beskrestnov. “They message us saying: ‘You have cool texture, you have good graphics, your designer is good, well done. You have a cool operating system.’

“People then reply: ‘It is not an operating system, it is real,’ and the player can’t believe it is real,” said Beskrestnov, speaking mid-game from Prypyat city square as he towers over surrounding five-storey buildings.

Kiev-born Beskrestnov was just 12 years old when on April 26, 1986 a botched test at the nuclear plant in the then Soviet Union sent clouds of smoldering nuclear material across large swathes of Europe, forced over 50,000 people, including Beskrestnov’s family, to evacuate and poisoned unknown numbers of workers involved in its clean-up.

Beskrestnov and his partner Alexey Fateyev used Google maps and hundreds of pictures from the Chernobyl area to recreate Prypyat landmarks, including residential buildings, a hotel, concert hall, amusement park and a stadium.

The game’s real-scale model occupies a 180 square meter (1,938 sq. ft) basement of a residential building in the Ukraine city of Brovary, just 150 km (93 miles) from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and 30 km east of Kiev.

Miniature radioactivity warning signs, graffiti on the walls of abandoned buildings and tables and chairs left scattered inside a small cafe all add to the creepy atmosphere of a once lively town.

“It’s a really neat concept …,” Shaun Prescott wrote in a review of the game published by PC Gamer magazine in January. “Controlling the tanks is kinda cumbersome, but they are tanks, after all.”

An attentive player will notice at least one inaccuracy – the real Chernobyl nuclear power plant is not located in town as it is in the game.

It costs $9 to immerse in the atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic town for an hour but only 20 people at a time can play simultaneously. Beskrestnov’s company, Remote Games, said 62,615 people around the world have registered to play the game, including around 15,000 in France and 10,000 in the United States.

A camera fixed on top of a moving tank broadcasts high quality signal in real time, allowing players from as far apart as Australia and Canada enjoy the game without facing any time delay in delivering video signals.

Its creators next ambition is to devise a game featuring the colonization of Mars in which 1,000 people will be able to simultaneously control robots on different missions involved in the operation.

“Many people advise us to contact Elon Musk directly because it resonates his dreams and ideas,” Beskrestnov jokes.    

(Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks sign is show on one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California
FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks sign is show on one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 19,2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Initial optimism over first-quarter results from Starbucks Corp was waning fast on Wall Street on Friday, as analysts questioned the longer-term prospects of its new sales push given subdued overall customer traffic numbers especially in China.

The company on Thursday beat brokerage estimates for quarterly same-store sales on the back of demand for its new Cloud Macchiato, Matcha tea and cold brews in the United States.

However, BTIG’s Peter Saleh was one of a number of sector analysts who said while customers forking out for higher-priced new drinks had helped drive growth in same-store sales, “anemic” traffic at cafes remained a concern.

He and others pointed to a 1 percent decline in footfall at cafes in the Chinese market, viewed as crucial to the chain’s growth for the foreseeable future.

More broadly, transaction numbers, the substitute analysts use for customer traffic, were unchanged in all three of the company’s global regions.

Shares in the company, which hit a record high after the results on Thursday, fell 1 percent in morning trade.

“We remain cautious given near-term headwinds surrounding China, including cannibalization, increasing competition (and) a slowing economy,” Wedbush analyst Nick Setyan said.

Starbucks has also poured money into beefing up its delivery network in China as it battles with local startup Luckin Coffee, whose speedy growth led it to file for an IPO in the United States earlier this week.

New menu items and partnerships with delivery services, the heart of the company’s strategy to win back customers lost to artisanal coffee shops and cheaper fast-food rivals, did help Starbucks’ sales in its home market.

However, analysts said growth in China may continue to be subdued.

Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog said she expects store expansion in China to take priority over comparable sales growth.

She downgraded her rating on Starbucks’ to “market perform” from “outperform”, arguing that the company facing tough sales comparisons later on in 2019 from last year and the current rich valuation of shares meant the stock had limited room to rise.

“Investors will be hesitant to invest new money in a stock with a topline that, while still strong, is unlikely to meaningfully accelerate,” Herzog said.

Still, the company’s solid same-store growth in the United States, improving profit margins and a lower tax rate for the rest of the year led at least 6 Wall Street brokerages to raise their price targets on the stock to as high as $81.

11 of 29 brokerages rate Starbucks “buy” or higher, 17 “hold” and 1 “sell” or lower. Their median price target is $75.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist