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Hungry for change, Ukrainians set to elect comedian as next president

FILE PHOTO: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukrainian comic actor and candidate in the upcoming presidential election, takes part in a production process of Servant of the People series in Kiev
FILE PHOTO: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukrainian comic actor and candidate in the upcoming presidential election, takes part in a production of the Servant of the People television series in Kiev, Ukraine March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

April 17, 2019

By Matthias Williams

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainians fed up with entrenched corruption and hungry for change are likely to elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian with no previous political experience, as their next president in a run-off vote on Sunday.

The 41-year-old Zelenskiy, who plays a fictitious president in a popular TV series, has maintained a strong lead since winning nearly twice as many votes as the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in last month’s first round of the election.

An opinion poll by the KIIS research firm on Tuesday showed Zelenskiy with 72 percent of the vote and Poroshenko with 25 percent. Last week a different survey put them on 61 percent and 24 percent respectively.

Zelenskiy’s rise fits a pattern of political insurgency across many parts of the world, from the election of President Donald Trump in the United States, to Brexit, to the Five Star Movement in Italy that was also propelled by a comedian.

His victory would be a drastic departure from previous presidential elections since Ukraine broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991, which were won by experienced politicians including three former prime ministers.

At stake is the leadership of a country on the frontline of the West’s standoff with Russia following the 2014 Maidan protests that caused Poroshenko’s Kremlin-backed predecessor to flee into exile, and Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.

Poroshenko believes he can close the gap on Zelenskiy and there is an outside chance that at the last moment voters will choose a familiar face rather than a leap into the unknown.

Zelenskiy has pledged to keep Ukraine on a pro-Western course and has assured investors that he would push reforms, tackle corruption and keep the economy anchored to an International Monetary Fund loan program.

But while he has begun releasing a policy agenda, he remains something of an unknown quantity and also faces scrutiny over his ties to a powerful oligarch who would like to see Poroshenko out of power.

“The comedian capitalized on a broad rejection of the country’s political elites and Mr Poroshenko’s widespread unpopularity among the electorate,” said Agnese Ortolani, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“Mr Zelenskiy’s policy platform — beyond a focus on anti-corruption issues and a broad, pro-Western agenda — remains unclear,” she said, adding: “Our core forecast is that Mr Zelenskiy will defeat Mr Poroshenko in the second round.”

A 53-year-old confectionary magnate, Poroshenko has portrayed his opponent as a buffoonish populist, unfit to lead a country at war against Kremlin-backed separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed 13,000 people.

That message has resonated with some voters such as Iryna Zaitseva, a pensioner who stitches traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts in her retirement.

“I want my country to be represented by a man who is wise, smart,” she said. “Clowns and buffoons are also needed, but in a circus arena.”

Poroshenko secured visa-free travel for Ukrainians to European Union countries. He implemented some reforms, helped establish a national Orthodox Church independent from Moscow, and successfully lobbied the West to keep sanctions on Russia.

But critics say the pace of change has not matched the expectations of the Maidan protests, named after a central square in Kiev. Poroshenko also did not keep a pledge to end the war in the east within weeks and living standards remain low in Ukraine, which has a population of 42 million and is one of Europe’s poorest countries.

Just 9 percent of Ukrainians have confidence in their national government, the lowest of any electorate in the world, a Gallup poll published in March showed.

Zelenskiy tapped into this anti-establishment mood with an unorthodox campaign packed with jokes, comedy gigs and quirky social media posts to millions of online followers.

His campaign also attracted well-known reformers, including two former ministers who fell out with Poroshenko.

“Poroshenko has not delivered that justice which Maidan was all about,” Aivaras Abromavicius, a former economy minister who became an adviser to Zelenskiy, told Reuters.

“And my main complaint to President Poroshenko is that he gave the hope that the country can be governed differently, and he buried that hope, unfortunately.”

(Additional reporting by Margaryta Chornokondratenko; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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The Latest: France, Germany congratulate Ukraine winner

The Latest on the results of Ukraine's presidential vote in which TV actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy won in a landslide (all times local):

12:20 p.m.

France and Germany, which have led diplomatic efforts to defuse the conflict in eastern Ukraine, are congratulating Volodymyr Zelenskiy on being elected as president.

They are underlining their support for reform and their commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity.

French President Emmanuel Macron's office said Monday that he spoke with Zelenskiy and restated his readiness to work alongside Germany in the so-called "Normandy format," which also involves Ukraine and Russia, to help resolve the conflict between Kiev and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Germany and France brokered a 2015 peace accord with Ukraine and Russia to stop the fighting, but the deal is far from implemented. There has been no recent summit between the four countries' leaders.

In a separate message to Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed her interest in stabilizing Ukraine and a peaceful resolution to the conflict, along with reforms to the judicial system, decentralization of Ukraine and fighting corruption.

___

12 noon

The European Union is congratulating Volodymyr Zelenskiy on his election as Ukrainian president, pledging strong support for his plans to reform the country and fight corruption.

In a joint letter to Zelenskiy on Monday, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council chief Donald Tusk said the political novice can "count on the EU's continued and steadfast support of Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity."

Juncker and Tusk wrote that "you can count on the EU's strong support to Ukraine's reform path, including consolidating the rule of law, fighting corruption, maintaining macro-financial stability and pursuing the essential reform of the energy sector." And they said that further implementation of a Ukraine-EU association agreement could be a "crucial instrument" in achieving that.

Zelenskiy, a TV actor, trounced incumbent Petro Poroshenko in Sunday's election.

___

11:30 p.m.

Even with a landslide win in Ukraine's presidential election to give him a powerful mandate for change, TV actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy has daunting challenges ahead.

The simmering, deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine and the conundrum over Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea are likely to dominate the agenda of the man who up until now has only played the president in a TV sitcom. Zelenskiy, a Russian speaker from central Ukraine has promised to step up efforts to re-integrate the east back into Ukraine's fold but has offered no details on how he is going to do that.

A political novice, 41-year-old Zelenskiy will also have to face off against Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has ruled his country for nearly two decades, if he wants to mend relations with Ukraine's neighbor.

___

10:30 a.m.

With nearly all the votes counted in Ukraine, TV star Volodymyr Zelenskiy is projected to win the country's presidential runoff vote in a landslide.

The Central Election Commission says Monday that Zelenskiy has won 73% of the vote while the incumbent President Petro Poroshenko got just 24% support with more than 96% of the ballots counted.

Unlike in most of the elections in Ukraine's post-Soviet history, Zelenskiy appears to have won both in Ukraine's west and east, areas that have been traditionally polarized. One of the campaign slogans of the popular television comedian who has no previous political experience was to unify Ukraine, which has been torn by bitter debates over its identity as well as the separatist conflict in the east that is fueled by neighboring Russia.

Source: Fox News World

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US must address North Korea's abhorrent human rights record at Trump-Kim summit, report urges

With the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump just days away, some in Washington are advocating a renewed push to ensure that the issue of human rights is front and center.

“There is a clear nexus between human rights and national security: forced labor for the regime – labor that is likely being used as part of the missile and weapons program, and which is likely being used as a guinea pig population to test chemical and biological weapons,” asserted Olivia Enos, policy analyst for The Heritage Foundation and author of a new report titled: “Leveraging U.S. Law to Advocate for Human Rights in Talks with North Korea.”

US COMMANDER: NORTH KOREA HASN'T SLOWED ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM

The report underscored that “diplomacy should be tied not only to concessions on its nuclear program but to human rights improvements,” noting that forced labor serves as a financial resource for the continued development of North Korea’s rogue missile and nuclear program.

Beyond matters of U.S national security, the report also states that the U.S is obligated to enforce its own sanction laws, which were put in place under the guise of human rights concerns.

KIM JONG ALE, ROCKET MAN T-SHIRTS AND TRUMP-THEMED HAIRCUTS: VIETNAM EMBRACES LANDMARK SUMMIT

“The U.S cannot commit to lifting all sanctions if North Korea only denuclearizes and does not address human rights issues,” the report continues. “U.S. law requires Pyongyang to curtail its human rights violations before receiving certain sanctions relief. Furthermore, improvements in human rights can be used as a litmus test to determine North Korea’s sincerity in its commitment to both peace and disarmament.”

NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR ON KIM JONG UN’S 'LIES,' SURVIVING TORTURE, AND SUPPORTING TRUMP POLICY

In particular, the report emphasizes that there are a number of tools already in place that have the potential to substantially ratchet up the Trump team’s pressure on the North Korean regime to make moves in the right direction. For example, the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) in November seized over 10,000 cartons (valued at more than $200,000) of frozen squid that was processed in China, but suspected by being manufactured by North Korean labor.

This picture from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) taken on August 29, 2017 and released on August 30, 2017 shows North Korea's intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 lifting off from the launching pad at an undisclosed location near Pyongyang. (Photo credit STR/AFP/Getty Images)

This picture from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) taken on August 29, 2017 and released on August 30, 2017 shows North Korea's intermediate-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 lifting off from the launching pad at an undisclosed location near Pyongyang. (Photo credit STR/AFP/Getty Images)

The CBP welcomes more such tips for any person with information pertaining to goods imported to the U.S that may have produced under forced and illicit labor practices.

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In order to receive sanctions relief, the U.S must guarantee that North Korea is “taking verified steps to improve living condition in its political prisoners.”

“Given that tools exist and laws mandate that North Korea take steps toward rectifying its human rights record, the U.S. should seek to integrate human rights into dialogue with North Korea,” Enos said. “Shortly before the Singapore Summit, the Trump Administration fell silent on human rights abuses in North Korea. The silence continues. This was shame coming on the heels of significant action – including the release of the three Americans ahead of the summit – should have emboldened U.S negotiators to raise human rights concerns with North Korea.”

According to Enos, now more than ever human rights must remain at the top of the U.S. radar if any de-nuclearization agreement is to move forward.

"What better way to reignite the conversation than to raise those concerns publically in Hanoi? Not a single U.S. sanction issued on human rights grounds can legally be lifted if North Korea only denuclearizes," she added. "Diplomacy with Pyongyang should reflect that reality by pursuing progress on both denuclearization and human rights in tandem."

Source: Fox News World

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In his grandfather’s footsteps, North Korea’s Kim arrives in Vietnam

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces on occasion of the 71st anniversary of the Korean People's Army in Pyongyang
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces on occasion of the 71st anniversary of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Pyongyang, North Korea in this February 8, 2019 KCNA Photo. KCNA via REUTERS

February 26, 2019

By James Pearson and Khanh Vu

HANOI (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un became the first leader of his isolated country to travel to Vietnam since his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, visited in 1964 when he arrived on Tuesday for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Vietnam’s model of reform is being widely touted as the economic path for impoverished North Korea to follow as the United States leads efforts to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program and bring it back to the international fold.

But Vietnam’s transformation has required political change and levels of individual freedoms that would require major reforms for the Kim family, which is afforded godlike status by state propaganda.

In imagery that could have powerful propaganda value at home, Kim Jong Un will mimic aspects of his grandfather’s trip to Vietnam by traveling to some of the same locations visited by the elder Kim, two sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning told Reuters.

“This is legacy politics,” said Christopher Green, a North Korea expert with the International Crisis Group.

“North Korea will want to play up Kim’s succession to the role of his grandfather, who successfully built up North Korea’s international legitimacy after the establishment of the state.”

Even Kim Jong Un’s long train journey through North Korea and thousands of kilometers across China to reach Vietnam is similar to the grand train voyages his grandfather once took.

His armored train is made up of carriages decked out with pink leather chairs and big-screen televisions.

In Vietnam, one of his destinations will be the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh, the sources said. It is home to Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site dotted with steep-sided islands which attracted more than 12 million tourists last year.

Kim Il Sung visited Ha Long Bay in 1964 during his second visit to Vietnam.

RED CARPET, RED RIVER

Kim’s train arrived at the Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang early on Tuesday, where he disembarked to travel the 170 km (105 miles) to Hanoi by car.

Top Vietnamese officials were on hand to receive him at the station with a red-carpet including a guard of honor and North Korean and Vietnamese flags flying.

Kim’s close aide, Kim Chang Son, who has been in Hanoi for several days preparing for the summit, was spotted at the station before Kim’s arrival. His sister, who has emerged as an important aide to Kim and traveled with him from Pyongyang, was spotted getting off the train before he disembarked.

Kim will meet Trump on Wednesday and Thursday.

Over the weekend, Vietnam announced that it will ban traffic on the road from the station to Hanoi on Tuesday.

Kim may be looking to learn from Vietnam’s experience of manufacturing products for international companies, meaning a visit to a factory could also be on the cards.

A source with direct knowledge of the plan said a high level North Korean delegation is scheduled to visit a plant operated by start-up Vietnamese automaker Vinfast in Haiphong province on Wednesday afternoon.

The plan is subject to change.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics operates a massive smartphone factory in Bac Ninh, another province popular with Vietnamese and international manufacturers.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter said Samsung Electronics had not been informed of any visit by Kim, or instructed by Vietnamese authorities to host him.

In Hanoi, North Korean and U.S. flags flew along main thoroughfares and a bridge crossing the Red River into the city.

Trump and Kim are expected to meet for their second summit in Hanoi’s Government Guesthouse, an elegant, colonial-era building in the city center, or at the nearby Metropole Hotel, sources have told Reuters.

Trump will arrive in Vietnam on Tuesday evening.

He will meet Vietnam’s president, who is also general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, on Wednesday morning, the ministry said.

Trump has appeared to play down any hope of a major breakthrough at the two-day summit, saying he would be happy as long as North Korea maintained its pause on weapons testing.

(Reporting by James Pearson and Khanh Vu; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Robert Birsel)

Source: OANN

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Mexican labor bill nabs key Congress vote, spurred by Pelosi warning

FILE PHOTO: Workers of assembly factories cross a street as they rush toward their shift at an industrial park in Reynosa
FILE PHOTO: Workers of assembly factories cross a street as they rush toward their shift at an industrial park in Reynosa, Mexico January 10, 2019. Picture taken January 10, 2019. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo/File Photo

April 11, 2019

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The labor commission in Mexico’s lower house has approved a workers’ rights bill that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi considers key to winning over Democrats wary of a revamped trade pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Pelosi last week called on Mexico to see through the legislation, saying U.S. lawmakers could not even take up the issue unless Mexico put new laws in place to protect workers.

Democratic lawmakers in Washington say the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) must ensure workers in Mexico have the right to organize, a step that would require new Mexican labor laws. They believe a major weakness of NAFTA was that it allowed Mexican wages to stagnate.

The workers’ rights bill was approved by the labor commission in Mexico’s lower house of Congress with 19 votes on Wednesday. One legislator voted against it while another abstained. It was scheduled for a vote in the full house Thursday and could land in the Senate as soon as next week.

After Pelosi’s comments, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he does want to give the United States any motive to reopen negotiations of the pact, which wound up last year.

“It is in our benefit to have this treaty, and for there to be no excuse for opening up negotiations again,” he said in a regular news briefing Thursday.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Miguel Angel Gutierrez; Editing by Tom Brown)

Source: OANN

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Americans would see impeachment as a ‘limp attempt at a soft coup:’ Joe Concha

As the divide widens between Democrats rallying for and against launching impeachment proceedings against President Trump, media reporter Joe Concha argued the party's leadership knows that the ramifications from the American people would not be desirable.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unequivocally denounced impeachment proceedings on Monday, distancing herself from the likes of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Kamala Harris who have all voiced their support for the move. Referencing former President Bill Clinton's impeachment, Concha asserted his belief that should the same happen to Trump, it would make him a sympathetic figure and cast a vindictive light on the Democratic party.

"Nancy Pelosi has seen this, and she knows the ramifications for the party that tries to carry it out," Concha said during an appearance on "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday morning.

PELOSI FACES MOUNTING TRUMP IMPEACHMENT PRESSURE FROM DEM RANKS AFTER MUELLER REPORT

"It will be seen basically by half of the American people as a limp attempt at soft coup at removing a president that they know they don't have the votes for in the Senate," he continued.

Furthermore, those who voted for the Democrats in November want to see them "solve problems, not go down this road," and that the American people "don't have an appetite for it," Concha claimed.

On Monday, Democrat leaders decided against launching impeachment proceedings against the president following a party meeting.

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Pelosi and her leadership team were clear there were no immediate plans to move forward with impeachment, Fox News was told. Well-placed sources said it was a spirited 87-minute call involving more than 170 Democrat members, including House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff and House Oversight Committee Chair Elijah Cummings.

"We have to save our democracy," Pelosi said, according to the sources. "This isn’t about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about saving our democracy. If it is what we need to do to honor our responsibility to the Constitution – if that’s the place the facts take us, that’s the place we have to go."

Pelosi asserted that more investigations were needed: "We don’t have to go to articles of impeachment to obtain the facts, the presentation of facts.”

Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Couple, ages 103 and 100, celebrate birthdays — and 82 years of marriage

Kindness may be the secret to a long-lasting marriage as well as a long life for a North Carolina couple who just celebrated their 100th and 103rd birthdays, which are just seven days apart, according to a local news station.

D.W. Williams, 103, and Willie Williams, 100, have been married for 82 years. Their families threw them a party at a local Baptist church to mark their milestone birthdays, Charlotte's WSOC-TV reported.

GEORGIA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CELEBRATES JANITOR'S 80TH BIRTHDAY 

When asked if she had the secret to a long-lasting marriage, Willie Williams replied, “Just be nice to each other.”

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“They are each other's best friend,” their granddaughter added of the couple.

D.W. Williams joked with a reporter that if they had another 100 years to live they might just “sit around the house.”

And after all the life they’ve lived, it would be earned.

Source: Fox News National

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Logo of the Exxon Mobil Corp is seen at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference in Rio de Janeiro
FILE PHOTO: A logo of the Exxon Mobil Corp is seen at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil September 24, 2018. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp on Friday reported first-quarter profit fell sharply on lower oil and gas prices and weakness in its refining and chemicals businesses that offset modest production gains.

The largest U.S. oil producer’s first quarter earnings fell to $2.35 billion, or 55 cents a share, from $4.65 billion, or $1.09 a share, a year ago.

Analysts had expected Exxon to earn 70 cents per share, according to Refinitiv Eikon estimates.

Shares were trading down about 2.7 percent in premarket trading on Friday.

Exxon’s oil equivalent production rose 2 percent to 4 million barrels per day, up from 3.9 million bpd in the same period the year prior. The company said its output in the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. shale basin, rose 140 percent over a year ago.

(Reporting by Jennifer Hiller; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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A Baha’i advocacy group has expressed concerns over the fate of minority Baha’is at the hands of Yemen’s Houthi rebels ahead of the appeals hearing for one of the community leaders sentenced to death.

The Baha’i International Community said in a statement Friday that the hearing for Hamed bin Haydara, detained in 2013 and sentenced to death last year on espionage and apostasy charges, is due on Tuesday.

The statement quotes Bani Dugal, the Baha’i community representative at the United Nations, as saying the prosecution hasn’t addressed Haydara’s appeal but is instead making “absurd, wide-ranging accusations.”

International rights groups have decried the prosecution of Yemeni Baha’is by the Iran-backed Houthis.

Iran has banned the Baha’i religion, which was founded in 1844 by a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by followers.

Source: Fox News World

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

April 26, 2019

By Rupam Jain and Hameed Farzad

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani encouraged newly-elected lawmakers to participate in the peace process with the Taliban as he opened on Friday the first session of parliament since a controversial election.

Ghani has invited thousands of politicians, religious scholars and rights activists to an assembly known as a loya jirga next week to discuss ways to end the 17-year war.

Several opposition leaders have said they will boycott the four-day assembly in Kabul, saying it was pulled together without their input and is being used by Ghani as he seeks a second term in a September presidential election.

“We have presented the peace plan on a regular basis and we are committed to it,” Ghani said in the first session since parliamentary elections marred by technical problems, militant attacks and accusations of voting fraud last year.

“Based on this plan, there will be no peace deal and negotiation that does not have the green card of the parliament,” he added.

Officials from the United States and the Taliban have held several rounds of talks to end the Afghan war.

U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, has reported some progress toward an accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal and on how the Taliban would prevent extremists from using Afghanistan to launch attacks as al Qaeda did on Sept. 11, 2001.

The insurgents have so far rejected U.S. demands for a ceasefire and talks on the country’s political future that would include Afghan government officials.

The loya jirga, a centuries-old institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups, is an attempt by Ghani to influence the peace talks and cement his position for a second term, Afghan politicians and Western diplomats say.

Amid growing political divisions in Kabul, opposition politicians have demanded that Ghani step down when his mandate ends next month, and give way to an interim government to oversee peace talks with the Taliban. Ghani has ruled that out.

The country’s top court said last week Ghani can stay in office until the presidential election in September.

(Reporting by Hameed Farzad, Rupam Jain, Editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Thursday defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation while slamming former President Barack Obama’s administration for being slow to take action on Russian interference in U.S. elections and ex-FBI Director James Comey for telling Congress the agency was investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“Our nation is safer, elections are more secure, and citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence schemes,” Rosenstein said in a speech to the Armenian Bar Association, marking his first public remarks after the Mueller report was released, reports CBS News.

He also pointed out that the investigation revealed a pattern of computer hacking and the use of social media to undermine elections as “only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration also made “critical decisions,” including choosing not to publicize the full story about Russian hackers and social media trolling, “and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” said Rosenstein.

He noted that the Mueller probe began after Comey disclosed during a hearing before Congress that President Donald Trump “pressured him to close the investigation and the president denied that the conversation occurred.”

Rosenstein said two years ago, when he was confirmed, he was told by a Republican senator that he would be in charge of the probe and that he’d report the results to the American people.

However, he said he didn’t promise to do that, because it is “not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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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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