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TSX futures fall on global cues

The Toronto Stock Exchange sing is seen in Toronto
The Toronto Stock Exchange sign is seen in Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

February 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Stock futures for Canada’s main index edged lower on Tuesday, taking cues from world markets, which took a breather after scaling a five-month high.

March futures on the S&P/TSX index inched down 0.02 percent at 7:10 a.m. ET.

World shares took a breather on Tuesday having scaled a five-month high, while Britain’s pound charged to a one-month top on renewed speculation that UK Prime Minister Theresa May was being bundled towards delaying Brexit.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX rose 44.02 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 16,057.03 on Monday.

Dow Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures were down 0.37 percent at 7:10 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures edged down 0.21 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures were down 0.28 percent. [.N]

TOP STORIES [TOP/CAN]

Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-biggest lender, reported a lower-than-expected adjusted quarterly profit on Tuesday, hurt by higher non-interest expenses and lower income from its domestic business.

Bank of Montreal reported a 10 percent increase in first quarter earnings, benefiting from a strong performance at its personal & commercial banking business in the United States.

Thomson Reuters on Tuesday reported a 9 percent rise in quarterly revenue, stripping out the impact of currency, helped by higher sales at its Legal and Tax & Accounting businesses.

ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS [RCH/CA]

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc: RBC raises price target to C$86 from C$80.

George Weston Ltd: RBC raises price target to C$139 from C$138.

Trevali Mining Corp: CIBC cuts rating to neutral from outperformer.

COMMODITIES AT 7:10 a.m. ET [COM/WRAP]

Gold futures: $1,324.3; fell 0.17 percent [GOL/]

US crude: $55.48; was unchanged 0 percent [O/R]

Brent crude: $65.2; rose 0.68 percent [O/R]

U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON TUESDAY

0830 Building permits: number for Dec: Expected 1.290 mln; Prior 1.322 mln

0830 Build permits: change mm for Dec: Prior 4.5 pct

0830 Housing starts number for Dec: Expected 1.250 mln; Prior 1.256 mln

0830 House starts mm: change for Dec: Prior 3.2 pct

0900 Monthly home price mm for Dec: Prior 0.4 pct

0900 Monthly home price yy for Dec: Prior 5.8 pct

0900 Monthly Home Price Index for Dec: Prior 269.2

0900 Caseshiller 20 mm SA for Dec: Expected 0.3 pct; Prior 0.3 pct

0900 Caseshiller 20 mm NSA for Dec: Prior -0.1 pct

0900 Caseshiller 20 yy for Dec: Expected 4.5 pct; Prior 4.7 pct

1000 Consumer Confidence for Feb: Expected 124.7; Prior 120.2

1000 Rich Fed Composite Index for Feb: Prior -2

1000 Rich Fed, Services Index for Feb: Prior 6

1000 Rich Fed Manufacturing Shipments for Feb: Prior -8

1030 Texas Service Sector Outlook for Feb: Prior -4.8

1030 Dallas Fed Services Revenues for Feb: Prior 14.9

(Reporting by Hrithik Kiran Bagade in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)

Source: OANN

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Russian who attended infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting praises ethics of Special Counsel investigators

Russian-American lobbyist Rinat Akhmetshin, who attended a mysterious 2016 meeting between Russians and Donald Trump associates at Trump Tower, said Tuesday the Mueller investigation had taken a "very heavy toll" on him and his family but he nonetheless thought it was "thorough and fair."

“The Special Counsel investigation has taken a very heavy toll on me and my family. It hit me hard financially and has led to baseless personal attacks. As a result, my ability to earn a living has been impaired, my professional standing has been undermined, and my personal relationships have suffered,” he told Fox News in a statement. “To say nothing of the emotional toll on my family.”

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference during the 2016 presidential contest ended Friday and a summary said it concluded there was “no collusion” between Trump and Moscow, but did not determine whether or not there had been obstruction of justice.

ROGER STONE INVOKES 5TH AMENDMENT, REFUSES TO TURN OVER DOCUMENTS FOR TOP DEM'S PROBE

Even though the report itself has not been made public, there is much speculation as to what might be exposed about the much-hyped Trump Tower meeting, which came after music manager Rob Goldstone reached out to Donald Trump Jr. to set up the closed-door gathering, reportedly pledging damaging information on Hillary Clinton, along with discussions regarding the Magnitsky Act, which imposes sanctions on individuals and businesses accused of violating human rights.

Akhmetshin, a Russian-born, former Soviet military officer turned Washington lobbyist attended, along with Goldstone, Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, Trump Jr., Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Despite speculation that further criminal questions could arise, Akhmetshin insisted the investigation itself is a thing of the past.

“I am happy and relieved that it is over. I cooperated with the Special Counsel at every stage. I did everything they asked of me. I also voluntarily and without hesitation produced documents and gave testimony before multiple congressional committees,” he said. “At this point, it is safe to say that I have been exhaustively vetted by the most qualified law enforcement professionals in the country, if not the world.”

Akhmetshin went on to champion the ethics of the Special Counsel.

“Although the process has been an enormous distraction and financial burden, I have nothing but respect for the professional and courteous civil servants who treated me with fairness and dignity,” he continued. “They conducted a thorough and fair investigation and meant me no harm.”

Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and his wife, Ann, depart St. John's Episcopal Church, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 24, 2019.  (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and his wife, Ann, depart St. John's Episcopal Church, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 24, 2019.  (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Nonetheless, his day in court is not over and he is instead taking aim at another noted figure.

“The lingering damage to my reputation comes not from the Special Counsel, or from any congressional investigator, but rather from William Browder,” he charged. “As soon as it became public that I had attended the 2016 Trump Tower meeting, Mr. Browder seized the opportunity to smear my name.  Mr. Browder, not the Special Counsel’s investigation, falsely claimed that I was a Russian spy. That claim is categorically false.”

MOSCOW FEELS VINDICATED IN THE WAKE OF “NO COLLUSION”

Browder, a prominent investor whose firm once held the biggest foreign folio in Russia, was suddenly denied entry to the country in 2005 with the explanation he was a national security threat, although he argued it was due to his exposure of corruption.

After the 2009 death in a Russian prison, of his attorney, Sergei Magnitsky - who had allegedly been investigating a tax fraud and corruption scheme –  Browder took matters into his own hands and launched a campaign to disclose Russian human rights abuses. This brought about the 2012 implementation of the Magnitsky Act, imposing sanctions on those individuals and businesses accused of violating human rights.

However, Akhmetshin has for several years sought to overturn the Act, contending that it was Browder who was involved in tax fraud. Since the Magnitsky Act was put in place, the Russian government has retaliated in various ways, including a halt to U.S citizens adopting Russian orphans.

“Why did Mr. Browder make this false accusation?  I cannot think of any good reason, but assume he defamed me because I dared to question his version of events, to challenge the narrative that led to the passage of the Magnitsky Act.  To be clear, I have never lobbied against the imposition of sanctions for human rights violators,” Akhmetshin said. “Those who commit crimes against human dignity should be brought to justice and punished.  Rather, I lobbied against putting Sergei Magnitsky’s name on the sanctions law; I believe that Mr. Browder’s narrative cannot withstand serious scrutiny.”

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Akhmetshin filed a $1 million civil case against Browder, one of Russian President Putin’s most outspoken critics, in a federal Washington court last July, accusing Browder of consistently defaming him with claims he was a Russian spy.

Browder did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: Fox News Politics

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The Latest: Greek man says he narrowly missed doomed flight

The Latest on Ethiopian Airlines crash (all times local):

5 p.m.

A Greek man who narrowly missed the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed near Addis Ababa on Sunday says he argued with ground staff to try and board after reaching the gate minutes too late.

"I saw the last passengers going through but the gate had already closed. I complained, in the usual way when that kind of thing happens. But they were very kind and placed me on another flight," Antonis Mavropoulos told Greece's private Skai Television, speaking from Nairobi.

Mavropoulos, who runs a recycling company and lives in Athens, was traveling to Kenya to attend an environmental conference.

"I'm slowly coming to terms with what happened and how close it came. On the other hand, I'm also very upset — I'm shattered — for those who were lost," he said in the interview Monday. "To be honest, I didn't get much sleep last night."

Mavropoulos put his survival down to luck.

"I didn't check my suitcase because I knew the gap between connecting flights was tight. If I had checked the bag in, they would have waited for me," he said. "This is a very difficult moment — one that can change your life."

___

4:45 p.m.

Ethiopia's state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate cites the United States ambassador as saying a six-member team of U.S. aviation experts are on their way to the site of Sunday's crash.

Ambassador Michael Raynor visited the crash site on Monday. He told the broadcaster that the experts from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive at the site on Tuesday.

He says that "Boeing and Interpol will also assist the Ethiopian government in the investigation. Interpol will assist in identifying the victims."

The flight data recorder and voice cockpit recorder have been found.

___

4:35 p.m.

Ugandan authorities say a senior police officer is among the dead in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on Sunday.

Ugandan police say they are mourning Christine Alalo, who served as police commissioner under the banner of the African Union mission in Somalia.

The statement calls her "a highly respected member of the force who loved her job."

Alalo was returning from a trip to Italy. She is the lone Ugandan who died in the crash. All 157 on board were killed.

___

4:20 p.m.

A German pastor and an aid worker from Germany are among the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday.

The World Council of Churches says Rev. Norman Tendis was traveling to a U.N. environment summit in Nairobi. The 51-year-old worked in Villach, Austria.

The German development aid organization GIZ confirms that a staffer was on the plane. Spokeswoman Tanja Stumpff tells The Associated Press that the woman was on a business trip.

Germany's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that at least five German citizens died in the crash.

___

4:05 p.m.

Catholic Relief Services announces "with heavy hearts" that four of its Ethiopian colleagues died in Sunday's plane crash outside Addis Ababa.

The aid group in a statement says Sara Chalachew, Getnet Alemayehu, Sintayehu Aymeku, and Mulusew Alemu had been traveling to Nairobi for training.

The four had worked with the organization for as long as a decade. They worked in procurement, logistics and finance.

All 157 people on board were killed. They came from 35 countries.

___

3:30 p.m.

There are scenes of agony as members of an association of Ethiopian airline pilots cry uncontrollably for colleagues killed in Sunday's crash near Addis Ababa.

Framed photographs of seven crew members sit in chairs at the front of a crowded room.

One pilot says he had planned to watch a soccer game between Manchester and Arsenal with the flight's main pilot, Yared Getachew.

It was Getachew who issued a distress call shortly after takeoff and was told to return. But all contact was lost.

Another pilot says he flew with Yared several times and said they even lived together before becoming senior pilots.

___

3:15 p.m.

Pope Francis has sent his condolences to the families of the victims of the plane crash in Ethiopia.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, said in a statement Monday that the pope was sad to learn about the crash and "offers prayers for the deceased from various countries and commends their souls to the mercy of Almighty God."

The statement said, "Pope Francis sends heartfelt condolences to their families, and upon all who mourn this tragic loss he invokes the divine blessings of consolation and strength."

___

3 p.m.

Shares of Boeing are tumbling before the opening of U.S. markets following the crash in Ethiopia of a Boeing 737 Max 8, the second deadly crash since October.

All 157 people on board were killed on Sunday. A Lion Air model of the same plane crashed in Indonesia last year, killing 189 people.

Shares of Boeing Co. plunged more than 9 percent in premarket trading Monday. If that trend holds, it could be one of the company's worst trading days in about a decade.

Indonesia and China have grounded all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. Ethiopian Airlines and Cayman Airways are doing the same.

___

1:35 p.m.

Ethiopia's state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reports that the black box has been found from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane.

An airline official, however, tells The Associated Press that the box is partially damaged and that "we will see what we can retrieve from it."

The official spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to speak to the media.

The plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa on Sunday en route to Nairobi.

___

1:20 p.m.

China says two United Nations workers were among the eight Chinese nationals killed on the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang says the other Chinese passengers included four who were working for a Chinese company and two who had travelled to Ethiopia for "private matters."

All 157 people on board the flight to Nairobi died.

Lu said Chinese President Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders have sent condolence messages to their Ethiopian counterparts. China has extended condolences to victims' families.

China has ordered its airlines to ground their Boeing 737 Max 8 aircrafts by 6 p.m.

___

12:45 p.m.

The United Nations migration agency said that one of its staffers, German citizen Anne-Katrin Feigl, was on the plane en route to a training course in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya and the plane's destination.

Germany's foreign ministry has officially confirmed that five victims of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash that killed 157 people were German citizens.

The ministry said in a statement Monday that it was in contact with the families of the victims. It did not reveal any information on the identity of those who died in the crash Sunday.

All in all, 35 countries had someone among the 157 people who were killed. All people on board died minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa.

___

12 p.m.

The U.N. office in Nairobi is joining Ethiopia in mourning the 157 dead in Sunday's Ethiopian Airlines crash shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa.

A moment of silence and U.N. flags at half-staff marked the deaths that included several workers with U.N. and affiliated organizations.

The U.N. resident coordinator in Nairobi, Siddharth Chatterjee, says that "This has taken us by shock. ... But it also goes to reinforce the mortality of human life and therefore reinforces the need for humanity."

He says U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent "a poignant message of condolences to everybody, not just the U.N. staff but the crew of the flight and all other nationalities which were on the plane."

People from 35 countries died.

___

10 a.m.

A spokesman says Ethiopian Airlines has grounded all its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft as a safety precaution, following the crash of one of its planes in which 157 people were killed.

Asrat Begashaw said Monday that although it is not yet known what caused the crash on Sunday, the airline decided to ground its remaining four 737 Max 8 planes until further notice as "an extra safety precaution." Ethiopian Airlines was using five new 737 Max 8 planes and was awaiting delivery of 25 more.

Begashaw said searching and digging to uncover body parts and aircraft debris will continue. He said forensic experts from Israel have arrived in Ethiopia to help with the investigation.

Source: Fox News World

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White House says US will keep 200 troops in Syria

The White House says the U.S. is keeping 200 American troops in Syria as part of a small peacekeeping force.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Thursday that the small force will remain in Syria "for a period of time."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had harshly criticized Trump's decision to pull U.S. forces out of Syria, is applauding the president's decision to leave a small contingent of American forces in Syria as part of an "international stabilizing force."

He says it will ensure that Turkey will not get into a conflict with U.S.-backed Syrian Defense Forces, which Ankara views as terrorists. Moreover, Graham says leaving a small force in Syria will help curb Iranian ambitions and ensure that Islamic State fighters do not try to return..

Source: Fox News National

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Fate of Venezuelans in US has Trump priorities in conflict

Trump administration officials are grappling with the question of whether to offer new deportation protections to tens of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S. amid ongoing unrest in their country.

Officials are hoping the situation in Venezuela will improve enough to avoid having to decide whether to grant Temporary Protected Status or other protections to more than 70,000 Venezuelans in the U.S.

Some officials at the White House and Department of Homeland Security oppose such a move because it would conflict with the administration's hard-line immigration policies. Those policies are expected to be a key theme in President Donald Trump's re-election bid.

Seven people familiar with the private discussions described them to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Source: Fox News National

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Sanders: Dems Leaving Trump ‘No Choice’ on Border Security

President Donald Trump is "not threatening" to shut down the Mexican border, but is taking his job as commander in chief very seriously when it comes to protecting the American people, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday.

"Democrats in Congress are leaving us no choice," Sanders told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "This is not the path the president wants to take. They're leaving us no choice because they're unwilling to fix the problem. They're too busy playing politics."

Mexico, however, has been taking a "greater sense of responsibility" to help stop people from coming across the border by stopping them in Mexico and offering them asylum there while they wait for their claim to be processed in the United States, said Sanders.

Sanders also discussed a push by House Democrats for the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's unredacted report, saying it shows again what "sore losers" they are.

"They got beaten in 2016 because we had the candidate with a better message," said Sanders. "Now we're seeing they've gotten beat again when it comes to the Mueller report. They were convinced, they went out and lied about what they expected the Mueller report to tell America. They got it wrong. They got it wrong in 2016."

Also on Tuesday, Sanders responded to Trump's comments that there will not be a vote on Obamacare until after the 2020 election.

"The president wants to see healthcare return to the power of the patient," she said. "He wants the people that are receiving the care to get to make decisions about it."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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From skateboards to spying, Assange arrest followed drawn-out dispute with Ecuador

Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno explains in a tweeted video why his country revoked WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's asylum
Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno explains in a tweeted video why his country revoked WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's asylum, in Quito, Ecuador April 11, 2019 in this still image taken from video. @lenin/via REUTERS

April 12, 2019

By Alexandra Valencia and Mark Hosenball

QUITO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ecuador’s decision to abruptly end Julian Assange’s seven-year asylum in its London embassy on Thursday followed a long deterioration in relations, driven in part by suspicions he was secretly fuelling corruption allegations against President Lenin Moreno.

British police on Thursday arrested the WikiLeaks founder, who sought asylum in the Andean nation’s diplomatic mission during the government of former Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa – who saw Assange as a hero for leaking secret U.S. documents.

By contrast, Moreno took a dim view of Assange when he took office in 2017, ordering the Australian hacker to cut back his online political commentary, stop riding his skateboard in the halls of the embassy and clean up after his pet cat.

Moreno’s government accused WikiLeaks of being behind an anonymous website that said Moreno’s brother had created offshore companies that his family used to fund a luxurious lifestyle in Europe while Moreno was a delegate to a U.N. agency.

Moreno denies wrongdoing.

The leaked materials, dubbed the “INA Papers,” contained private photographs of Moreno and his family. After the release of the materials, Moreno said that Assange had no right to “hack private accounts and phones,” without directly accusing him.

WikiLeaks tweeted about the reports but, in messages and statements to Reuters, strongly denied that Assange was responsible for the leaks or had anything to do with their initial publication.

EMBASSY BEHAVIOR

Ecuadorean government figures on Thursday publicly described what they called Assange’s unacceptable and ungrateful behavior in the embassy. The government said it had spent $6.2 million on his upkeep and security between 2012 and 2018.

Foreign Minister Jose Valencia said Assange had been using a mobile phone that was not registered with the embassy and had warned the ambassador in January that he had installed panic buttons that he would activate if he considered his life at risk.

“It’s strange that Mr. Assange has insisted on being the victim,” Valencia told Ecuador’s National Assembly.

The interior minister, Maria Paula Romo, told reporters on Thursday that Assange had been “allowed to do things like put feces on the walls of the embassy and other behaviors of that nature.”

Valencia told the congress that embassy cleaning staff described “improper hygienic conduct” throughout Assange’s stay, adding that a lawyer representing Assange had attributed the issue to “stomach problems.”

Lawyers for Assange did not respond to requests for comment. Vaughan Smith, a friend and founder of London’s press Frontline Club who visited Assange late last week, told Reuters he believed the feces allegation was false.

“Julian has been under stress but seemed in a balanced frame of mind every time I have seen him. It doesn’t seem in character,” Smith said.

STAFFING CHANGE

Friends of Assange who visited him inside the embassy over the last several months say that since Moreno became president, almost the entire embassy staff was replaced.

The foreign ministry named a new ambassador after Moreno took office and fired one official, Fidel Narvaez, seen as close to Assange.

While embassy staffers were friendly to Assange during Correa’s presidency, Moreno’s new diplomats were polite to visitors but hostile to Assange, his friends said.

In early February, according to Ecuadorean government memos released by Assange’s supporters, Ecuador complained to Assange that he had deliberately pointed a studio lamp at a security camera the embassy had installed in a room where Assange was receiving visitors.

Later that month, the ambassador sent Assange a memo complaining that he had “shown once again an unacceptable behavior” by playing a radio loudly while meeting visitors. “This action disturbed the work being carried out by the embassy,” the ambassador said.

Assange had taken refuge in the embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault investigation that was later dropped.

U.S. officials announced after his arrest on Thursday that he had been charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, paving the way for his extradition.

Correa, in an interview with Reuters in Brussels, said Moreno had given Assange “to his executioners.”

Asked whether he had worked with Wikileaks to leak the INA documents, he did not directly respond. He said the documents showed the “rottenness” within Moreno’s family.

“I apologize on behalf of the Ecuadorean people. A government like that – such a treacherous, treacherous president – does not represent us,” Correa said.

Valencia declined to comment on criticisms of Moreno.

Correa is embroiled in a legal battle with prosecutors pursuing a case involving the kidnapping in 2012 of an opposition lawmaker. An court in Ecuador last year ordered him to be imprisoned pending a trial and issued an international arrest warrant. Correa denies the charge.

(Reporting by Alexandria Valencia in Quito and Mark Hosenball in Washington, Additional reporting by Bart Biesemans in Brussels and Carlos Vargas and Helen Murphy in Bogota; Writing by Angus Berwick and Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Rosalba O’Brien)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Naqvi Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the WEF in Davos
FILE PHOTO: Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Arnold

LONDON (Reuters) – A London court case to extradite Arif Naqvi, founder of collapsed private equity firm Abraaj Group, to the United States on fraud charges was adjourned until May 24, a court official said on Friday.

Naqvi was remanded in custody until that date, the official said. A former managing partner of Dubai-based Abraaj, Sev Vettivetpillai, was released on conditional bail to appear again at Westminster Magistrates Court on June 12, the official said.

Under the U.S. charges, both men are accused of defrauding U.S. investors by inflating positions held by Abraaj in order to attract greater funds from them, causing them financial loss, the official said.

Vettivetpillai could not be reached for a comment.

Naqvi, in a statement released through a PR firm, has pleaded innocent.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Naqvi and his firm raised money for the Abraaj Growth Markets Health Fund, collecting more than $100 million over three years from U.S.-based charitable organizations and other U.S. investors.

Naqvi and Vettivetpillai were arrested in Britain earlier this month. Another executive, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood was arrested at a New York hotel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Griswold said at a hearing in Manhattan federal court on April 11.

Abdel-Wadood appeared at the Manhattan hearing and pleaded not guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges.

(Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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Former Vice President Joe Biden announces his 2020 candidacy
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in this still image taken from a video released April 25, 2019. BIDEN CAMPAIGN HANDOUT via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By James Oliphant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in his first interview as a Democratic presidential candidate, said on Friday that he does not believe he treated law professor Anita Hill badly during the 1991 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Biden had joined the burgeoning 2020 Democratic field a day earlier.

Biden’s conduct during those hearings, when he was chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, became a renewed subject of controversy after the New York Times reported that Biden had called Hill earlier this month in the run-up to his presidential bid and that Hill was dissatisfied with Biden’s expression of regret.

Appearing on ABC’s “The View,” Biden largely defended his actions as a senator almost 30 years ago, saying he believed Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment levied at Thomas and tried to derail his confirmation.

Activists have long been unhappy that Hill was questioned in graphic detail by the all-white, all-male committee chaired by Biden.

“I’m sorry she was treated the way she was treated,” Biden said, but later, he asserted, “I don’t think I treated her badly. … How do you stop people from asking inflammatory questions?”

“There were a lot of mistakes made across the board and for those I apologize,” he said.

Biden praised Hill as “remarkable” and said she is “one of the reasons we have the #MeToo movement.”

Asked why he had not reached out to Hill earlier, Biden said he had previously publicly stated he had regrets about her treatment and that he “didn’t want to quote invade her space.”

That seemed to be a reference to another controversy that looms over Biden’s presidential run: allegations by several women that he made them uncomfortable by touching them at political events.

Biden also addressed that criticism, saying he was now more “cognizant” about a woman’s “private space.” But he maintained that he had been “trying to bring solace.”

He suggested he was still trying to sort out the guidelines for his conduct going forward.

“I should be able to read better,” he said. “I have to be more careful.”

Pressed by the show’s panel for an apology to his accusers, Biden would not entirely capitulate.

“So, I invaded your space,” he replied. “I mean, I’m sorry this happened. But I’m not sorry in a sense that I think I did anything that was intentionally designed to do anything wrong or be inappropriate.”

Biden, 76, served as former President Barack Obama’s vice president for two terms. He is competing with 19 others for the Democratic presidential nomination and the chance to likely face President Donald Trump next year in the general election.

His first public event as a presidential candidate is scheduled for Monday in Pittsburgh.

(Reporting by James Oliphant; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei, Taiwan August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla Inc’s stock slumped over 4% on Friday to its lowest price in two years, rounding out a rough week that included worse-than-expected quarterly results and a pitch by Chief Executive Elon Musk on autonomous cars that failed to win over investors.

With investors betting Tesla will soon raise capital, the stock has fallen 13% for the week to its lowest level since January 2017, before the launch of the Model 3 sedan aimed at making the electric car maker profitable.

One positive development for Tesla: a U.S. District Court judge on Friday granted a request by Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission for a second extension to resolve a dispute over Musk’s use of Twitter.

On Wednesday, Tesla posted a worse-than-expected loss of $702 million for the March quarter. Musk said Tesla would return to profit in the third quarter and that there was “some merit” to raising capital.

Musk is still battling to convince investors that demand for the Model 3, the company’s first car aimed at the mass consumer market, is “insanely” high, and that it can be delivered efficiently to customers around the world.

Tesla ended its first quarter with $2.2 billion, down from $3.7 billion in the prior quarter, and the company is planning expansions including a Shanghai factory, an upcoming Model Y SUV, and other projects.

(GRAPHIC: Tesla’s cash – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DyJjX6)

On Monday, Musk hosted a self-driving event, where he predicted Tesla would have over a million autonomous vehicles by next year. Some analysts perceived the presentation as a way to deflect attention from questions about demand, margin pressure, increasing competition and even Musk’s ongoing battle with U.S. regulators.

Tesla’s stock has now fallen 29 percent in 2019 and the company’s market capitalization has declined to $41 billion from $63 billion in mid-December.

(GRAPHIC: Tesla’s declining market cap – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dwd62r)

Analysts now expect Tesla’s revenue to expand 19% in 2019, compared with 83% growth in 2018 and 68% growth in 2017, according to Refinitiv.

Following Tesla’s quarterly report, 12 analysts recommend selling the stock, while 11 recommend buying and eight are neutral. The median analyst price target is $275, up 16% from the stock’s current price of $236. Berenberg analyst Alexander Haissl has the most optimistic price target, at $500, while Cowen and Company’s Jeffrey Osborne has the lowest, at $160, according to Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said Friday that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s rare public criticism of the Obama administration was a “soft” way of accusing the previous administration of covering up Russia’s attempts at hacking the 2016 presidential election.

While speaking Thursday in New York at the Public Servants Dinner of the Armenian Bar Association, Rosenstein said that the Obama administration “chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls and how they relate to Russia’s broader strategy to undermine America.”

During an appearance on “America’s Newsroom” Friday morning, Huckabee called the comments an “unusually candid moment for Rosenstein.”

“I thought it was a soft way of him saying there was a cover-up,” Huckabee said. “They knew the Russians were attempting to influence the election and attempting to hack the election but they didn’t fully disclose that to the American people and certainly didn’t disclose it to the Trump campaign.

SWALWELL NOT CERTAIN TRUMP ISN’T A ‘RUSSIAN ASSET’

“Instead they tried to set a trap for them. It failed. The Trump team did not take the bait. And that’s the one conclusion that we can certainly come away with from the $35 million worth of investigation,” Huckabee continued.

Next week, Attorney General William Barr will testify before Congress and is expected to answer questions about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Trump, which found that there was not adequate evidence to conclude that President Trump and his administration colluded with Russia, though the president could not be exonerated in terms of the possibility that he obstructed justice.

Barr will testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee next Wednesday and to the House Judiciary Committee the following day.

TRUMP ASSESSES 2020 DEMS; TAKES SWIPES AT BIDEN, SANDERS; DISMISSES HARRIS, O’ROURKE; SAYS HE’S ROOTING FOR BUTTIGIEG 

“It is going to be a theater, an absolute show,” Huckabee said of the hearings. “Just like the Kavanaugh hearings were and like everything else is in Congress. We ought to close the curtain on them and can’t come back until after the election. They aren’t doing their job anyway. We aren’t paying them because they’re doing a wonderful service to the country and spare us the hypocrisy of thinking they’re interested in getting to the bottom of the facts,” he continued.

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Ultimately, Huckabee argued, if Americans “took their partisan hats off,” they would see that President Trump was exonerated by the investigation.

Source: Fox News Politics

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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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