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Welcome for migrants cools in Mexican town weary of caravans

Central American migrants eat mangoes for breakfast as they walk during their journey towards the United States, in Mapastepec
Central American migrants eat mangoes for breakfast as they walk during their journey towards the United States, in Mapastepec, Mexico April 20, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

April 20, 2019

By Jose Cortes

MAPASTEPEC, Mexico (Reuters) – So many migrants have stopped in the southern Mexican town of Mapastepec in recent months that longstanding public sympathy for Central Americans traveling northward is starting to wane.

Hundreds of migrants have been camped out for weeks in Mapastepec, where locals say six migrant caravans have arrived since last Easter. By far the biggest was a group of thousands in October that drew the anger of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Ana Gabriela Galvan, a local resident who helped to provide food to migrants in the October caravan, told Reuters the small town in the impoverished state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, felt overwhelmed by the number of Central Americans.

“It’s really bad, because they’re pouring onto our land,” she said, noting that some locals were reluctant to leave their homes. “They ask for money, and if you offer food, they don’t want it; they want money and sometimes you don’t have any.”

Following a surge in apprehensions of Central Americans trying to enter the United States, Trump last month threatened to close the U.S.-Mexico border if the Mexican government did not stop illegal immigration right away.

The administration of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has stepped up migrant detentions and tightened access to humanitarian visas, slowing the flow of caravans north and leaving hundreds of people in Mapastepec.

The humanitarian visas allow migrants to stay temporarily and get jobs. The documents also make it easier for them to travel through the country or seek longer residence.

According to government social development agency Coneval, Chiapas in 2015 had the highest poverty rate of Mexico’s 32 regions, at 72.5 percent. Some 20,000 people live in Mapastepec, the seat of a municipality of the same name where poverty levels were fractionally higher than the state average in 2015.

A month ago, a large knot of migrants began forming in Mapastepec when the National Migration Institute closed its main office in the nearby city of Tapachula. The closure prompted hundreds to travel north to the sweltering town on the Pacific coast where the agency has a smaller outpost.

Since then, bedraggled groups of men, women and children have been staying in and around a local sports stadium, hoping to be issued humanitarian visas.

Central Americans today make up the bulk of undocumented migrants arrested on the U.S. border.

Southern Mexico has long sent thousands of migrants north and support for them has traditionally been strong there. Concentrations of Central American migrants on Mexico’s northern border caused tensions in the city of Tijuana when caravans arrived late last year.

CONCERNED MEXICANS

Recent studies show that while Mexicans still have sympathy for migrants, many are concerned that Mexico will not be able to cope with the arrival of thousands of people from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador fleeing violence and poverty at home.

A survey of around 500 adults in February by the Center of Public Opinion at the University of the Valley of Mexico (UVM) found that 83 percent of respondents believed the Central American migrants could cause problems for Mexico.

Rising crime, increased poverty and a decline in social services were the top risks identified by the poll.

Offered a binary choice on what should be done, 62 percent of those polled said Mexico should be stricter with migrants entering its territory. The other 38 percent said Mexico should help to develop Central America, as Lopez Obrador argues.

The study did not publish a margin of error.

Jesus Salvador Quintana, a senior official at the National Human Rights Commission, said in Mapastepec the body had noticed a decrease in assistance from the public but urged people to keep helping the migrants on their often arduous journeys.

“There are children, pregnant women, whole families that sometimes need this humanitarian aid,” he told Reuters.

Anabel Quintero, a young Honduran mother in Mapastepec, said when her caravan passed through the nearby town of Huixtla some shops closed rather than sell to migrants seeking medicine for sick children.

“It’s a bad feeling,” she said. “They told us they didn’t want us sleeping in the park, and we had to leave.”

Residents of Mapastepec are also running out of patience.

Street vendor Brenda Marisol Ballesteros told Reuters it was time for authorities to move the migrants onward.

“Why?,” she said. “Because things are in a real mess.”

(Additional reporting by Roberto Ramirez in Huixtla; Editing by Dave Graham and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: OANN

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Maryland Democratic official takes heat for calls to 'dox' gun rights activists

A Democratic Party leader in Maryland is facing criticism for last month posting on Facebook a call to “dox” gun rights activists.

Maryland Democratic Party Secretary Robbie Leonard took to social media to post photos from a Maryland House Judiciary Committee meeting in late February, where gun rights activists wore “We Will Not Comply” shirts during the hearing on additional gun control measures, along with a message calling the advocates “homegrown terrorists” and calling on his followers to “dox” them.

“I hope the FBI runs the name of every witness who is wearing a t-shirt that says ‘We Will Not Comply,’ Leonard said in one Facebook message. “They’re a bunch of terrorists in the making.”

CALIFORNIA DEMS FLEX NEW SUPERMAJORITY, WITH PLANS TO PURSUE GUN TAX AND MORE

In another message, Leonard posted a photo of a protestor along with the comment: “Time to dox some homegrown terrorists.”

Doxing is a practice of researching and broadcasting over the Internet the personal and private information of an individual or organization, normally with malicious intent.

Gun rights groups and lobbyists were quick to condemn Leonard for his comments on social media, pointing out that Maryland’s criminal code prohibits doxing and that the gun rights activists are protected under the First Amendment.

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“The bizarre posts offer a glimpse into the fevered mind of the gun control advocate,” the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action said in a post. “Revealing a severe dearth of knowledge regarding the Bill of Rights, in Leonard’s view, federal law enforcement should be employed to intimidate his political enemies for conduct expressly protected under the First Amendment.”

The Maryland Democratic Party did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Diver who helped rescue Thai soccer team missing in cave

An expert diver who helped save the team of young Thai soccer players last summer has gone missing inside a Tennessee cave.

Authorities are preparing to send a rescuer inside the underwater cave east of Nashville in search of highly experienced British diver Josh Bratchley, who was reported missing Wednesday at about 1:17 a.m, said the Jackson County Emergency Management Agency.

Josh Bratchley was honored by British Prime Minister Theresa May for his role in last year's Thai cave rescue

Josh Bratchley was honored by British Prime Minister Theresa May for his role in last year's Thai cave rescue (Twitter/@joshbratchley)

According to ABC News, he was part of the elite team of international divers that plunged into a dark, underwater cave network in Thailand to rescue 12 young soccer players and their coach who were trapped there in July 2018.

Recently, he’d traveled to the US with a group from the UK specifically to explore the cave near Tennessee Tech University. The team of five had mapped the cave and identified air pockets prior to the expedition, Jackson County EMA Public Information Officer Derek Woolbright told reporters Wednesday.

Click for more from the New York Post.

Source: Fox News National

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NZ On Edge: Festival Evacuated Over ‘Far-Right’ Tattoo; Crime To Download, Distribute Manifesto

New Zealand is on edge following the March 15 terror attacks at two Christchurch mosques that left 50 dead.

On Saturday, around 5,000 concertgoers were evacuated from the Homegrown Music Festival in Wellington because a festival worker reported someone with a ‘far-right’ tattoo.

After the roughly 30 minute evacuation, the tattoo was discovered to be “traditional” instead, according to the New Zealand Herald (h/t Cassandra Fairbanks of Gateway Pundit)

“Some of the Homegrown crew identified a person that they were concerned about and police made the call that person needed to be found,” said Homegrown spokeswoman Kelly Wright, adding that the incident was an “innocent misunderstanding.”

“It all happened at the change-over of the music so people were moving around and police couldn’t spot the person immediately so they made the call to evacuate the stage. The person was found and it turned out that is was a completely innocent misunderstanding and everyone was allowed to return.”

Illegal manifesto

According to New Zealand’s Chief Censor David Shanks, a so-called manifesto attributed to suspected gunman Brenton Tarrant was ruled “objectionable” on Saturday, making it a crime to possess or distribute it anywhere in the country.

People who have downloaded this document, or printed it, should destroy any copies,” said Shanks.

There is an important distinction to be made between ‘hate speech,’ which may be rejected by many right-thinking people but which is legal to express, and this type of publication, which is deliberately constructed to inspire further murder and terrorism,” said Shanks, adding “It crosses the line.”

Prosecutors have also gone after people who shared that video.

As of Thursday, at least two people had been charged with sharing the video via social media, under a law that forbids dissemination or possession of material depicting extreme violence and terrorism.

Others could face related charges in connection with publicizing the terrorist attack, under a human rights law that forbids incitement of racial disharmony. –NYT

“It promotes, encourages and justifies acts of murder and terrorist violence against identified groups of people,” said Shanks. “It identifies specific places for potential attack in New Zealand, and refers to the means by which other types of attack may be carried out. It contains justifications for acts of tremendous cruelty, such as the deliberate killing of children.”

As far as ‘hate speech’ which is ‘legal to express,’ Shanks may want to touch base with police in Masterton, who announced that they were charging a 28-year-old woman with ‘inciting racial disharmony‘ over a Facebook post which contained an “upsetting” message related to “the events in Christchurch and this person’s views on what had occurred.”

Senior Sergeant Jennifer Hansen

“We were made aware that this post had been put up on Facebook which had upset a number of people to the point that they felt uncomfortable taking kids to school because of the comments that had been made,” said Sergeant Jennifer Hansen.

Meanwhile, several Kiwis who have shared videos of the Christchurch massacre at work have been fired.

Last week, New Zealand authorities have reminded citizens that they face up to 10 years in prison for “knowingly” possessing a copy of the New Zealand mosque shooting video – and up to 14 years in prison for sharing it. Corporations (such as web hosts) face an additional $200,000 ($137,000 US) fine under the same law.

Free speech advocates, however, are concerned with Ardern’s censorship-heavy approach.

“People are more confident of each other and their leaders when there is no room left for conspiracy theories, when nothing is hidden,” Stephen Franks, a constitutional lawyer and spokesman for the Free Speech Coalition, told AP.

“The damage and risks are greater from suppressing these things than they are from trusting people to form their own conclusions and to see evil or madness for what it is.”

Speaking about Tarrant’s first-person-shooter-style video, counterterrorism expert Jennifer Breedon told RT that banning such videos does nothing to prevent future attacks.

“We need to stop putting band-aids on gunshot wounds,” she said. “We’re spending so much time talking about ‘we can’t have videos like this’…rather than answering questions that need to be asked.”

Into the memory hole

Meanwhile, journalist Nick Monroe noted that New Zealand news outlet Stuff has deleted an article in which a 30-year-old New Zealand resident converted to Islam and was “introduced to radical Islam at the Al-Noor mosque in Christchurch.”

New Zealand has also banned books by author Jordan Peterson

In short, “never let a good crisis go to waste” applies in New Zealand.

Source: InfoWars

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Pentagon Chief: 'We Won't Do Cost Plus 50 Percent'

Acting Secretary of Defense Pat Shanahan said Thursday the Pentagon has no plans to charge foreign countries 150 percent of the cost for U.S. troops stationed there, contrasting a White House proposal.

Shanahan answered questions from the Senate Armed Forces Committee and was asked about the plan, dubbed the "cost plus 50" formula, being floated by President Donald Trump.

"Senator, we won't do cost plus 50 percent," Shanahan told Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. "We're not going to run a business. We're not going to run a charity.

"Not everyone can contribute. But it is not about cost plus 50 percent."

Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Kathryn Wheelbarger said Wednesday the plan has not been raised with America's European allies.

The formula, according to Bloomberg, could lead to allies paying the U.S. five or six times what they currently pay to host U.S. military forces on their soil.

Source: NewsMax America

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Pelosi’s office sought to sabotage ‘Medicare-for-all’ push: report

An adviser to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reportedly urged health policy groups to raise their concerns about “Medicare-for-all” proposals, just as the plan was beginning to be embraced by top 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Politico reported that Wendell Primus, Pelosi’s health policy adviser, told a private meeting of policy groups on Nov. 30 that the push for the radical, single-player goal risked diverting from the party’s main health care message.

NANCY PELOSI: JOE BIDEN IS NOT 'DISQUALIFIED FROM BEING PRESIDENT' BY RECENT ALLEGATIONS OF INAPPROPRIATE TOUCHING

Most top 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have backed a Medicare-for-all plan, with some proponents like Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., embracing the possibility that it would end most private insurance plans.

But while Democratic leaders have pushed for further health care reform, Pelosi has shied away from a full embrace of a Medicare-for-all plan. In an interview with Rolling Stone in February, she said that it would not be “as good a benefit as the Affordable Care Act.”

“It doesn’t have catastrophic [coverage] -- you have to go buy it. It doesn’t have dental. It’s not as good as the plans that you can buy under the Affordable Care Act. So I say to them, come in with your ideas, but understand that we’re either gonna have to improve Medicare — for all, including seniors — or else people are not gonna get what they think they’re gonna get,” she said. “And by the way, how’s it gonna be paid for?”

As to the broader concept of a single-payer plan, she put the cost at $30 trillion and asked: “Now, how do you pay for that?”

According to Politico, Primus called Medicare-for-all an unhelpful distraction and expressed a need for more scrutiny of the policy implications. Some who attended the meeting said it left them with the impression that Democratic leadership wanted them to undermine the proposal.

DEM LEADERS DEFEND HOUSE CAMPAIGN ARM AFTER ATTACKS FROM OCASIO-CORTEZ, ALLIES

“It came across as, we need this so we can get on with our agenda,” one person present told the outlet. “Can you help us point out the problems?”

A Pelosi spokesman disputed that Primus was looking for a “one-sided analysis” of the proposal.

“Wendell absolutely did not ask for any kind of one-sided analysis of Medicare for All, and anyone who says otherwise wasn’t actually listening,” spokesman Henry Connelly said. “As Democrats, across the entire spectrum, we believe in legislating based on facts, data and honest analysis.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who had introduced her own Medicare-for-all bill in the House, told Politico that if true, the remarks were disappointing.

“I will take it up with our leadership to make sure we’re not undermining members’ bills,” she said.

The revelation is likely to only fuel the division between the more centrist Democratic leadership and the growing far-left wing of Democratic freshmen, presidential candidates and other lawmakers.

Pelosi has in the past expressed doubt about liberal proposals such as the Green New Deal -- which she called “Green dream or whatever they call it,” although she has since praised the enthusiasm behind the ambitious push to tackle income inequality and climate change.

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That tension was on display this week when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., criticized a policy by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to blacklist political firms that work against sitting members of Congress.

Ocasio-Cortez called it “extremely divisive & harmful to the party” and recommended a pause in all donations to the DCCC.

Fox News' Stephen Sorace and Judson Berger contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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US Judge in Washington State Blocks New Trump Abortion Rule

A U.S. judge in Washington state Thursday blocked new Trump administration rules that would provide additional hurdles for women seeking abortions, including by banning taxpayer-funded clinics from making abortion referrals.

Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima granted the preliminary injunction in cases brought by the state and abortion rights groups, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said. The new rules were due to take effect May 3.

"Today's ruling ensures that clinics across the nation can remain open and continue to provide quality, unbiased healthcare to women," Ferguson, a Democrat, said in an emailed statement.

The ruling came two days after a federal judge in Oregon, hearing a separate challenge by 20 states, said he intended to at least partially block the rules. That judge, Michael McShane, suggested he was reluctant to issue a nationwide injunction, but said the administration's new policy was motivated by "an arrogant assumption that the government is better suited to direct women's health care than their providers."

Title X is a 1970 law designed to improve access to family planning services, especially for low-income women and those in rural areas, but abortion opponents and religious conservatives say it has long been used to indirectly subsidize abortion providers.

Abortion is a legal medical procedure, but federal laws prohibit the use of Title X or other taxpayer funds to pay for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the woman.

Clinics that receive money under Title X provide a wide array of services, including birth control and screening for diabetes, sexually transmitted diseases and cancer. The program serves 4 million patients, about 1.6 million of whom obtain services through Planned Parenthood.

In addition to banning abortion referrals by taxpayer-funded clinics, the changes would prohibit clinics that receive federal money from sharing office space with abortion providers — a rule critics said would force many to find new locations, undergo expensive remodels or shut down.

"All over the country, there are Title X providers looking at their patient schedules and wondering what they were going to do," said Clare Coleman, president of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, which sued. "Now we know that everyone can continue to do their care as they have been doing for the past 50 years."

The judge made his ruling from the bench and said he would issue a written opinion early next week, Coleman said.

The Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment, citing a policy of not commenting on litigation.

While the new rules would permit clinic staff to discuss abortion with clients, they would no longer be required to do so. If patients ask for an abortion referral, staff would be required to give a list of primary care providers with no indication as to which provide abortions.

The list would have to include providers who do not offer abortions, and it could not include clinics or organizations that aren't primary care providers, such as Planned Parenthood.

Supporters of the changes say they return Title X's regulations back to their original legislative intent that "none of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning."

"We're extremely disappointed that a district judge made a ruling — a wrong ruling — that affects the entire nation," said Mark Miloscia, executive director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington, which was not involved in the case. "We support family planning, but not giving it through agencies that kill the unborn."

The legal challenges argue that the changes violate a requirement that patients receive pregnancy counseling that is not weighted for or against abortion, and that it violates the Affordable Care Act's prohibition on regulations that impose "unreasonable barriers to the ability of individuals to obtain appropriate medical care."

Some 98,000 patients in Washington were expected to receive care through Title X this year, Ferguson said.

Source: NewsMax America

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FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei’s factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain must get to the bottom of the leak of confidential discussions during a top-level security meeting about the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains, British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

News that Britain’s National Security Council, attended by senior ministers and spy chiefs, had agreed on Tuesday to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core elements was leaked to a national newspaper.

The leak of secret discussions has sparked anger in parliament and amongst Britain’s intelligence community. Britain’s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill has launched an inquiry and written to ministers who were at the meeting.

“My understanding from London (is) that an investigation has been announced into apparent leaks from the NSC meeting earlier this week,” said Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

“To my knowledge there has never been a leak from a National Security Council meeting before and therefore I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here,” he told Reuters in a pooled interview.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation. The majority of the ministers at the NSC meeting have said they were not involved, according to media reports.

Hammond said he was unaware of any previous leak from a meeting of the NSC.

“It’s not about the substance of what was apparently leaked. It’s not earth-shattering information. But it is important that we protect the principle that nothing that goes on in national security council meetings must ever be repeated outside the room.”

Allowing Huawei a reduced role in building its 5G network puts Britain at odds with the United States which has told allies not to use its technology at all because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

There have been concerns that the NSC’s conclusion, which sources confirmed to Reuters, could upset other allies in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network – the Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, British ministers and intelligence officials have said any final decision on 5G would not put critical national infrastructure at risk. Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber center of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon
Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon, South Korea, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 26, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – K-pop and drama star Park Yu-chun was arrested on Friday on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, a court said, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.

Suwon District Court approved the arrest warrant for Park, 32, due to concerns over possible destruction of evidence and flight risk, a court spokesman told Reuters.

Park is suspected of having bought about 1.5 grams of methamphetamine with his former girlfriend earlier this year and using the drug around five times, an official at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said.

Park has denied wrongdoing, saying he had never taken drugs, and he again denied the charges in court, Yonhap news agency said.

Park’s contract with his management agency had been canceled and he would leave the entertainment industry, Park’s management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, said on Wednesday.

Park was a member of boyband TVXQ between 2003 and 2009 before leaving the group with two other members, forming the group JYJ.

A scandal involving sex tapes, prostitutes and secret chat about rape led at least four other K-pop stars to quit the industry earlier this year.

The cases sparked a nationwide drugs bust and investigations into tax evasion and police collusion at night clubs and other nightlife spots.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight taxis after landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington
FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight from Los Angeles taxis after landing at Reagan National Airport shortly after an announcement was made by the FAA that the planes were being grounded by the United States over safety issues in Washington, U.S. March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – American Airlines Group Inc cut its 2019 profit forecast on Friday, saying it expected to take a $350 million hit from the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX planes after cancelling 1,200 flights in the first quarter.

The company said it now expects its 2019 adjusted profit to be between $4.00 per share and $6.00 per share.

Analysts on average had expected 2019 earnings of $5.63 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

The No. 1 U.S. airline by passenger traffic said net income rose to $185 million, or 41 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $159 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.

Total operating revenue rose 2 percent to $10.58 billion.

(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

April 26, 2019

By James Oliphant

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Reuters) – Four years ago, Donald Trump campaigned in small towns like Marshalltown, Iowa, vowing to restore economic prosperity to the U.S. heartland.

In his bid to replace Trump in the White House, Pete Buttigieg is taking a similar tack. The difference, he says, is that he can point to a model of success: South Bend, Indiana, the revitalized city where he has been mayor since 2012.

The Democratic presidential contender has vaulted to the congested field’s top tier in recent weeks, drawing media and donor attention for his youth, history-making status as the first openly gay major presidential candidate and a resume that includes military service in Afghanistan.

But Buttigieg’s main argument for his candidacy is that he is a turnaround artist in the mold of Trump, although the Democrat does not expressly invoke the comparison with the Republican president.

“I’m not going around saying we’ve fixed every problem we’ve got,” Buttigieg, 37, said after a house party with voters in Marshalltown. “But I’m proud of what we have done together, and I think it’s a very powerful story.”

Critics argue improving the fortunes of a Midwestern city of 100,000 people does not qualify Buttigieg, who has never held national office, for the presidency of a country of 330 million. Others say South Bend still has pockets of despair and that minorities, in particular, have failed to benefit from its growth.

Buttigieg has told crowds in Iowa and elsewhere that his experience in reviving a struggling Rust Belt community allows him to make a case to voters that other Democratic candidates cannot. That may give him the means to win back some of the disaffected Democratic voters who turned their backs on Hillary Clinton in 2016 to vote for Trump.

Watching Buttigieg at a union hall in Des Moines last week, Rick Ryan, 45, a member of the United Steelworkers, lamented how many of his fellow union workers voted for Trump. The president turned in the best performance by a Republican among union households since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Ryan said he hoped someone like Buttigieg could return them to the Democratic fold.

“He’s aware of the decline in the labor force in America, not just in Indiana or Des Moines or anywhere else,” Ryan said. “Jobs are going overseas. We need a find to way to bring that back.”

Randy Tucker, 56, of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said Trump appealed to union members “desperate for somebody to reach out to them, to help them, to listen to their voice.”

Buttigieg could do the same, he said. “In my heart right now, he’s No. 1.”

PAST VS. FUTURE

Buttigieg stresses a key difference in his and Trump’s approaches.

Trump, he tells crowds, is mired in the past, promising to rebuild the 20th century industrial economy. Buttigieg argues the pledge is misleading and unrealistic.

Buttigieg says his focus is on the future, and he often talks about what the country might look like decades from now.

“The only way that we can cultivate what makes America great is to look to the future and not be afraid of it,” Buttigieg said in Marshalltown.

Buttigieg knows his sexual preference may be a barrier to winning some blue-collar voters. But he notes that after he came out as gay in 2015, he won a second term as mayor with 80 percent of the vote in conservative Indiana.

Earlier this month, he announced his presidential bid at the hulking plant in South Bend that stopped making Studebaker autos more than 50 years ago. After lying dormant for decades, the building is being transformed into a high-tech hub after Buttigieg and other city leaders realized it would never again attract a large-scale industrial company.

“That building sat as a powerful reminder. We hoped we would get back that major employer that would fix our economy,” said Jeff Rea, president of the regional Chamber of Commerce.

Buttigieg is praised locally for spurring more than $100 million in downtown investment. During his two terms, unemployment has fallen to 4.1 percent from 11.8 percent.

But a study released in 2017 by the nonprofit group Prosperity Now said not all of the city’s residents had shared in its rebound. The median income for African-Americans remained half that of whites, while the unemployment rate for blacks was double.

Regina Williams-Preston, a city councilor running to replace Buttigieg as mayor, credits him for the revitalized downtown. But she said he had a “blind spot” when it came to focusing on troubled neighborhoods like the one she represents and only grew more engaged after community pressure.

“He understands it now,” she said. “The next step is figuring out how to open the doors of opportunity for everyone.”

‘ONE OF US’

Trump touts the fact that the United States added almost 300,000 manufacturing jobs last year as evidence he made good on his promise to restore the industrial sector. But that growth still left the country with fewer manufacturing jobs than in 2008.

The robust U.S. economy is likely the president’s greatest asset in his re-election bid, particularly in states he carried in 2016 such as Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He won Buttigieg’s home state by 19 points over Clinton in 2016.

Sean Bagniewski, chairman of the Democratic Party in Polk County, Iowa, said Buttigieg would be well positioned to compete with Trump in the Midwest.

“People love the fact that he’s a mayor,” said Bagniewski, who has not endorsed a candidate in the nominating contest. “If you can talk about a positive future, and if you actually have experience that can do it, that’s a compelling vision in Iowa.”

Nan Whaley, the mayor of Dayton, Ohio, which faces many of the same challenges as South Bend, agreed.

“He’s one of us,” Whaley said. “That helps.”

(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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A man looks out at a flooded residential area in Gatineau
A man looks out at a flooded residential area in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

April 26, 2019

MONTREAL/OTTAWA (Reuters) – Rising waters were prompting further evacuations in central Canada on Thursday, with the mayor of the country’s capital, Ottawa, declaring a state of emergency and Quebec authorities warning that a hydroelectric dam was at risk of breaking.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared the emergency in response to rising water levels along the Ottawa River and weather forecasts that called for significant rainfall on Friday.

In a statement on Twitter, Watson asked for help from the Ontario provincial government and the country’s military.

He warned that “flood levels are currently forecasted to exceed the levels that caused significant damage to numerous properties in the city of Ottawa in 2017.”

Spring flooding had killed one person and forced more than 900 people from their homes in Canada’s Quebec province as of 1 p.m. on Thursday, according to a government website.

Ottawa has received 80 requests for service related to potential flooding such as sandbagging, a city spokeswoman said.

The prospect of more rain over the next 24 to 48 hours triggered concerns on Thursday that the hydroelectric dam at Bell Falls in the western part of Quebec could be at risk of failing because of rising water levels.

Quebec’s provincial police said 250 people were protectively removed from homes in the area as of late afternoon in case the dam on the Rouge River breaks.

The dam is now at its full flow capacity of 980 cubic meters per second of water, said Francis Labbé, a spokesman for the province’s state-owned utility, Hydro Quebec. He said Hydro Quebec expected the flow could rise to 1,200 cubic meters per second of water over the next two days.

“We have to take the worst-case scenario into consideration, since we`re already at the maximum capacity,” Labbé said by phone.

The dam is part of a power station that no longer produces electricity, but is regularly inspected by Hydro Quebec, he said.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Ljunggren and Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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