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U.S. says North Korea diplomacy ‘very much alive,’ but watching rocket site

A satellite image of North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station
A satellite image of North Korea's Sohae Satellite Launching Station (Tongchang-ri) which Washington-based Stimson Center's 38 North says, "Rebuilding continues at the engine test stand" is seen in this image released from Washington, DC, U.S., March 7, 2019. Courtesy Airbus Defence & Space and 38 North, Pleiades © CNES 2019, Distribution Airbus DS/Handout via REUTERS

March 11, 2019

By David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The chief U.S. envoy for North Korea said on Monday that “diplomacy is still very much alive” with Pyongyang despite a failed summit last month, but cautioned that Washington was closely watching activity at a North Korean rocket site and did not know if it might be planning a new launch.

Stephen Biegun told a conference in Washington that although U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un parted on good terms after their Feb. 27-28 summit in Hanoi, big gaps remained between the two sides and North Korea needed to show it was fully committed to giving up its nuclear weapons.

Biegun stressed that U.S.-led sanctions, which Pyongyang wants dropped, would remain in place until North Korea completed the process of denuclearization.

As Biegun spoke at the Carnegie Nuclear Conference, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank issued a new report on activity at North Korea’s Sohae rocket launch site, in which satellite images from Friday showed possible preparations for a launch.

In the course of a nearly a year of diplomatic engagement with the United States, North Korea has maintained a freeze on missile and nuclear tests and space rocket launches in place since 2017 and Trump has repeatedly stressed this as a positive outcome of the diplomacy.

Biegun said Washington did not know what the activity spotted in North Korea meant. He said the Trump administration took it “very seriously” but cautioned against drawing any snap conclusions.

“What Kim Jong will ultimately decide to do may very much be his decision and his decision alone,” Biegun said, adding that Trump had made clear last week he would be “very disappointed” if North Korea were to resume testing.

An authoritative U.S. government source familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments said they did not conclude that a launch was imminent, given North Korea’s apparent desire to keep negotiations going with the United States. However, the source said Pyongyang appeared to want to make clear it retained the capability to resume launches at any moment.

“Diplomacy is still very much alive,” Biegun said, although he offered no specifics on when new talks might be held and did not say whether any talks had taken place since the summit, which collapsed over differences on U.S. demands for Pyongyang’s denuclearization and North Korea’s demand for sanctions relief.

ENGAGEMENT

“It’s certainly our expectation that we will be able to continue our close engagement,” Biegun said.

The State Department has declined say whether there has been any direct engagement between the two sides since the summit.

Trump has said he remains open to more talks with Kim and the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson told the conference she thought there would be another summit, but no date has been set.

Asked if there would be a third meeting, she said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump had “been very clear that they remain open to the dialogue. They haven’t got a date on the calendar but our teams continue to work toward that.”

Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said on Sunday that the president was open to another summit but more time may be needed.

Thompson said it was “incredibly important” that all countries continued to maintain United Nations sanctions on North Korea until it gave up its nuclear weapons.

“We are not letting the foot off the gas. We are going to continue with the pressure campaign.” she said. “We are going to continue to hold those sanctions and we are going to continue to work with the team abroad to make sure those stay in place.”

Trump on Friday stressed again his belief in his personal rapport with Kim.

The CSIS report said commercial satellite images acquired last Wednesday and Friday showed North Korea had continued preparations on the launch pad at its Sohae launch facility and at the engine testing stand there.

“Based on past practices, these activities could be consistent with preparations for the delivery of a rocket to the launch pad or engine to the test stand; or they could be North Korean coercive bargain tactics,” it said.

Trump said after his first summit with Kim in Singapore last June that Kim had promised to dismantle the test stand, a pledge the North Korean leader reiterated and expanded on at a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in September.

Pyongyang has used Sohae to launch satellites into space since 2011, and Washington says its work there has helped develop missile technology. A satellite launch in April 2012 killed off an Obama administration deal for a freeze in North Korean nuclear and missile testing reached weeks earlier.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Mark Hosenball, Matt Spetalnick and Arshad Mohammed; editing by Grant McCool)

Source: OANN

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Trump says he does not have opinion on Assange’s arrest

U.S. President Trump welcomes South Korea’s President Moon to the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump listens to questions as he and first lady Melania Trump meet with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

April 11, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he did not have an opinion about the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who faces the prospect of extradition to the United States over the publishing of secret official information.

British police arrested Assange on Thursday after Ecuador withdrew its asylum that had allowed him to take refuge in the country’s embassy in London for seven years.

“I know nothing about WikiLeaks. It’s not my thing. … I don’t really have any opinion,” Trump said to reporters before a meeting with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in.

On the campaign trail during the 2016 presidential election, Trump repeatedly praised WikiLeaks. Shortly before the election, Trump said, “I love WikiLeaks,” after it released a cache of hacked Democratic Party emails that harmed the candidacy of his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

U.S. prosecutors have charged Assange with conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to access a government computer.

Manning was convicted by court-martial in 2013 of espionage and other crimes for providing more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to Wikileaks, though the final 28 years of her sentence were later commuted by President Barack Obama.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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2020 Dem Presidential Hopeful’s Dad Was a Marxist Professor

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U.S. condemns New Zealand mosque attack as ‘vicious act of hate’

Shattered car window following a shooting at the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch
Shattered car window following a shooting at the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch,New Zealand, March 15, 2019. REUTERS/SNPA/Martin Hunter

March 15, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the “horrible massacre” at two mosques in New Zealand on Friday, a deadly attack that killed 49 people in what the White House called a “vicious act of hate.”

The massacre during Friday prayers wounded more than 40 others in the country’s worst-ever mass shooting, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern condemned as terrorism.

“My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do,” Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

Earlier, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that the United States strongly condemned the attack.

“The United States strongly condemns the attack in Christchurch. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. We stand in solidarity with the people of New Zealand and their government against this vicious act of hate,” Sanders said.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Source: OANN

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Breakdancing among sports given provisional green light for Paris 2024

Bach President of the IOC attends a news conference after an Executive Board meeting in Lausanne
Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) attends a news conference after an Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

March 27, 2019

By Karolos Grohmann

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) – Breakdancing was among four sports given a provisional green light for inclusion in the Paris 2024 Games by the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday, IOC President Thomas Bach said.

The Paris 2024 organizing committee in February proposed surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing as well as breakdancing for inclusion in the Games.

“We decided to recommend the four sports (for ratification) to the IOC session in June in Lausanne,” Bach told a news conference. “It is a provisional inclusion because the final decision should only be taken at the end of 2020.”

Surfing, climbing and skateboarding will be part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and their performance as new sports there will be key for their final inclusion in Paris.

“There will be a meeting in November 2020 and a board meeting in December where the final decision should be taken. In the meantime there is a monitoring program… to see how they perform, to look at governance, integrity of competitions, refereeing and judging system,” Bach said.

The Paris Games organizers have said they want to deliver a program that will be “in keeping with the times and inspire new audiences and attract young people … and which can be played anywhere and anytime in urban and other environments.”

Under new IOC rules first introduced for the Tokyo Games, Olympic host cities can hand-pick sports and propose them for inclusion in those Games if they are popular in that country and add to the Games’ appeal.

The IOC is eager to refresh the Games’ sports program to remain relevant to sponsors, broadcasters and fans.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

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Trump team readies PR offensive on North America trade deal’s economic effects

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico's then-President Enrique Pena Nieto attend the USMCA signing ceremony before the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

April 17, 2019

By David Lawder and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration is readying a public relations offensive over the economic impact of its new North American trade deal to counter a crucial report expected on Thursday that economists see as likely to show minimal gains at best.

Industry sources familiar with the administration’s plans told Reuters the U.S. International Trade Commission’s analysis of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement would be met with a rosier forecast from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.

The three countries agreed last year to the deal to replace the 25-year old North American Free Trade Agreement after President Donald Trump’s relentless criticism of NAFTA, calling it “the worst trade deal ever made” and insisting it be improved or scrapped.

The ITC report has been kept under wraps and is being keenly awaited by U.S. lawmakers to help them decide whether to support USMCA. A report showing little or no gain from the changes would be a setback for the administration and give some Democrats an excuse to deny Trump a major political victory.

The report will measure USMCA’s effects on gross domestic product, income, job creation and specific sectors against a baseline of NAFTA – a trade deal that already has eliminated nearly all tariffs among the three countries.

“You wouldn’t expect big effects compared to the existing NAFTA,” said Laura Baughman, president of Trade Partnership Worldwide LLC, a consulting firm that analyzes the economic impacts of trade actions and policies.

Baughman estimated the overall gain in U.S. GDP in the deal’s 15th year would be barely perceptible at about 0.01 percent and could be negative if the ITC fails to give enough weight to new provisions on digital trade, increased customs efficiency and services.

The ITC report will analyze areas that are more difficult to measure than tariffs, such as new rules of origin, intellectual property protections or elimination of non-scientific food safety barriers.

But people familiar with the matter said the USTR was expected to argue that the ITC analysis fails to adequately capture the full benefits of the trade deal.

The USTR is expected to emphasize how the new rules of origin for autos create incentives for companies to invest in research and development and increase production of auto parts, steel, aluminum and textiles. The trade agency also is expected to emphasize new provisions on digital trade and small parcel shipments, stronger intellectual property protections including those for drug makers, as well as increased dairy and poultry access to Canada.

The deal already faces an uphill battle among Democrats now in control of the House of Representatives, who have voiced concerns about the enforcement of labor rights provisions in Mexico and USMCA’s effect on drug prices. Canada and Mexico are seeking exemption from U.S. tariffs on global metal imports imposed last year.

AUTOS RULES

A major question mark is whether tighter regional content rules for the automotive sector will be a positive or negative in the report.

USMCA requires that 75 percent of a vehicle’s value be made in North America, with 40 to 45 percent produced in high-wage areas paying at least $16 an hour, requiring significant automotive production in the United States and Canada.

The Trump administration had hailed the provision as a centerpiece of USMCA that would stem the flow of automotive jobs to Mexico and incentivize “billions annually in new U.S. vehicle and auto parts production.” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said at one point the deal would bring back “the vast majority” of the 250,000 auto parts jobs lost over the years.

But economists from the International Monetary Fund analyzed the deal using the same economic model used by the ITC and found a negligible impact on U.S. GDP over the medium term, but a slight loss of $794 million in consumption, a broader measure of economic benefit, due to reduced activity in autos and textiles.

“The results show that the tighter rules of origin in the auto sector and the labor value content requirement would not achieve their desired outcomes,” the IMF researchers said in the paper, published in late March. “The new rules lead to a decline in the production of vehicles and parts in all three North-American countries, with shifts toward greater sourcing of both vehicles and parts from outside of the region.”

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office declined to comment on a query about plans for an alternative analysis.

SMALL GAINS FOR TPP

In 2016, the ITC’s report on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal showed that by its 15th year, the reduced tariffs and increased trade among the 12 member countries would boost U.S. GDP by 0.15 percent, or $42.3 billion, compared with no deal.

Employment in the TPP analysis would be higher by about 128,000 full-time equivalent jobs. While automotive exports would increase over the long term, auto imports from Japan would rise in the near term. Trump withdrew from the TPP in 2017 in one of his first actions as president.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also sought to temper the expected impact of the trade commission’s report on USMCA by pointing out that ITC had traditionally focused just on goods tariff reductions.

“In this case, the USMCA eliminates some remaining Canadian barriers facing U.S. dairy and poultry exports, but the bottom line is that there just aren’t many tariffs left to cut,” John Murphy, the Chamber’s senior vice president for international policy, said in a blog posting on Tuesday.

He said members of Congress should keep in mind the bigger picture of NAFTA’s importance to the U.S. economy, with $1.4 trillion in trade among the three countries last year.

Trump has frequently threatened to withdraw from NAFTA if Congress fails to approve USMCA, a scenario that experts have said would lead to widespread economic damage as tariffs among the three countries snap back to 1994 levels, spiking costs for auto production and crippling U.S. agricultural exports.

“Looking at USMCA against a baseline of no NAFTA, it’s a big gain,” said Gary Hufbauer a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

(Reporting by David Lawder and David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Chris Prentice in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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Trump fails to end ‘Apprentice’ contestant’s defamation lawsuit

Summer Zervos listens as her attorney Gloria Allred speaks during a news conference announcing the filing of a lawsuit against President-elect Donald Trump in Los Angeles
Summer Zervos listens as her attorney Gloria Allred speaks during a news conference announcing the filing of a lawsuit against President-elect Donald Trump in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake

March 14, 2019

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York state appeals court rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s effort to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on his television show “The Apprentice,” or delay it until after he leaves the White House.

In a 3-2 decision on Thursday, the Appellate Division in Manhattan said the U.S. Constitution did not strip state courts of power to decide cases arising under state constitutions, even if they involved sitting presidents.

Despite suggesting he embodies the executive branch and has significant responsibilities, “the President is still a person, and he is not above the law,” Justice Dianne Renwick wrote.

The dissenting judges said the lawsuit would interfere with Trump’s job as president, and should wait until he left office.

Trump’s lawyer Marc Kasowitz said Trump will appeal to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, “which we expect will agree with the dissent.”

The decision affirmed a lower court ruling from last March.

Zervos’ lawyers are hoping to question Trump under oath about whether he defamed her by calling her a liar after she accused him of sexual misconduct.

“We look forward to proving to a jury that Ms. Zervos told the truth about defendant’s unwanted sexual groping and holding him accountable for his malicious lies,” Zervos’ lawyer Mariann Wang said.

Trump has denied Zervos’ claims and called her case politically motivated. Several other women have also accused Trump of improper sexual conduct.

Zervos, an “Apprentice” contestant in 2005, accused Trump of kissing her against her will at a 2007 meeting in New York, and later groping her at a Beverly Hills hotel.

She came forward in October 2016, the month before Trump was elected, after an “Access Hollywood” recording showed Trump speaking in vulgar terms about women. Trump also republished on Twitter a post calling Zervos’ accusations a “hoax.”

The appeals court called Zervos’ case “materially indistinguishable” from former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones’s lawsuit accusing then-President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment.

In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court let Jones’ case go forward. That paved the way for Clinton’s impeachment the following year.

Justice Angela Mazzarelli, one of Thursday’s dissenters, said the “all-consuming nature of the Presidency creates a constitutional barrier” against Zervos’ lawsuit.

All five justices found Zervos’ defamation claim legally sufficient, without ruling on its merits.

Trump also faced a defamation claim by adult film actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit over a hush money agreement. That lawsuit was dismissed on March 7.

The case is Zervos v Trump, New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, No. 7610.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

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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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes
FILE PHOTO: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s lawyers on Friday are set to ask a Florida judge to toss out hidden-camera videos that prosecutors say show the 77-year-old billionaire receiving sexual favors for money inside a Florida massage parlor.

The owner of the reigning Super Bowl champions plans wants the video to not be used as evidence against him as he contests two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Spa in Jupiter, Florida, along with some two dozen other men.

His legal team is fresh off a win on Tuesday, when they successfully persuaded Palm Beach County Judge Leonard Hanser to block prosecutors from releasing the hidden-camera footage to media outlets, which had requested copies under the state’s robust open records law.

Kraft, who has owned the franchise since 1994, pleaded not guilty, but has issued a public apology for his actions.

His attorneys have argued in court papers that the surreptitious videotaping of customers, including Kraft, inside a massage parlor was governmental overreach and the result of an illegally obtained search warrant.

The warrant, Kraft’s lawyers claim, was secured under false pretenses because police officers cited human trafficking as a potential crime in their application. Prosecutors have since acknowledged that the investigation yielded no evidence of trafficking.

Palm Beach County prosecutors in a court filing on Wednesday said Kraft’s motion should be rejected because he could not have had any expectation of privacy while visiting a commercial establishment to engage in criminal activity.

That prompted an indignant response from Kraft’s attorneys, who said the prosecution’s position on privacy was “unhinged.”

“It should go without saying that Mr. Kraft and everyone else in the United States have a reasonable expectation that the government will not secretly spy on them while they undress behind closed doors,” they wrote.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by G Crosse)

Source: OANN

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