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Exclusive: China to invite European diplomats to Xinjiang in new diplomatic push

Red flags flutter outside the Great Hall of the People during the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing
Red flags flutter outside the Great Hall of the People during the closing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing, China March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

March 20, 2019

By Ben Blanchard and Robin Emmott

BEIJING/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – China will invite Beijing-based European diplomats to visit its far western region of Xinjiang, the foreign ministry told Reuters, furthering its outreach to fend off criticism about a de-radicalization program.

The visit would be the first by a large group of Western diplomats to the region as China faces growing opprobrium from Western capitals and rights groups for setting up facilities that U.N. experts describe as detention centers holding more than one million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims.

Several diplomatic sources said the invitation to visit by the end of March had been issued informally, specifically to ambassadors, with one source describing it as a “sounding out” of interest, and the government had not explicitly said who they would meet or where they would go.

It is also not clear if the Europeans would accept the invitation, or how many of their diplomats or ambassadors would go.

Last year, more than a dozen ambassadors from Western countries, including France, Britain, Germany and the EU’s envoy in Beijing, wrote to the government to seek a meeting with Xinjiang’s top official, Communist Party chief Chen Quanguo, to discuss their concerns about the rights situation.

Diplomats say the government never responded to that letter, aside from publicly denouncing it as a violation of diplomatic norms.

It was not clear if a meeting with Chen would be on the agenda.

“In order to increase the European side’s understanding of Xinjiang’s achievements at economic and social development, and promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation, China plans in the near term to invite European envoys based in China to visit Xinjiang,” the foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters.

The date and other details were still being worked it, the ministry added.

“Hearing something for a hundred times is not as good as seeing it for yourself,” the ministry’s statement said.

The European Union’s mission in Beijing declined to comment.

Chinese President Xi Jinping travels to Europe on Thursday for a state visit to Italy, Monaco and France.

‘HAPPY LIVES’

Beijing has been ramping up its efforts in defense of its measures in Xinjiang, which it says are aimed at stemming the threat of Islamist militancy. It calls the camps vocational training centers.

China “believes that through this trip, European envoys based in China will be able to personally experience the real situation of Xinjiang’s calm, order and peace and the happy lives of all its people”, the ministry said.

Last week, the U.S. State Department said China’s treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang marked the worst human rights abuses “since the 1930s”.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has weighed sanctions against senior Chinese officials in Xinjiang, including Chen.

Some diplomats briefed on the situation said there was concern the European diplomats could be used for propaganda purposes, pointing to pictures taken by and stories in state media about recent visits by other foreign envoys to Xinjiang.

“There’s no point in going if we’re just going to be portrayed as supporting the camps,” said one diplomat.

EU foreign ministers raised the issue of the Uighurs with the government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, on Monday at a lunch in Brussels, sources told Reuters.

While Wang was keen to focus on a list of issues of cooperation and agreement, EU ministers underlined the issue of human rights and the Uighurs, asking for explanations about why the people were being held and on reports of crackdowns on Muslims, sources said.

One EU diplomat said Wang’s reply was “not satisfactory”.

Wang said China was a big country with a lot of people so it could not be avoided that some individuals complain about treatment, and China was a developing country and measures were not against Uighurs but against extremists, the diplomat said.

“He was puzzled about why we are worried about it,” the diplomat said.

The foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wang’s Xinjiang discussions in Brussels.

Premier Li Keqiang will visit Brussels next month for a China-EU summit.

There have been two visits by groups including European diplomats to Xinjiang this year. One was a small group of EU diplomats, and the other by a group of diplomats from several countries, including EU members Hungary and Greece.

There have also been at least two other trips to Xinjiang for foreign diplomats.

A diplomat who has been on a government-organized trip to Xinjiang, said during the entire program reporters from state media accompanied them, taking pictures and trying to interview the envoys.

“It was impossible to avoid them,” the diplomat said.

There is also concern that the European envoys would be taken to the same camps and sites that previous foreign visitors have been taken to on tightly controlled and carefully choreographed trips, including one Reuters went on in January, the sources said.

“There’s no point in going just to see the same places,” said another diplomat familiar with the invitation.

All the diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity.

China’s diplomatic efforts have included a briefing in Beijing late last month, where two former camp inmates spoke in front of envoys to describe how they had been rescued from radical Islam, people who attended the briefing told Reuters.

China has strongly defended the camps.

Xinjiang governor Shohrat Zakir told reporters in Beijing last week the facilities were “boarding schools” and not concentration camps.

Beijing says it must tackle radical Islam in Xinjiang, where hundreds have been killed in violence in recent years blamed by the government on militants and separatists.

Reuters last year reported on conditions inside the camps and took pictures of guard towers and barbed wire surrounding some. (https://tinyurl.com/y9zzouss)

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Robin Emmott; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: OANN

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NY Post: NYC Dangerously Close to Bankruptcy, Experts Say

Here is an inconvenient projection for politicians from Democratic-controlled New York City: It is spiraling toward bankruptcy, according to the New York Post.

With Mayor Bill de Blasio planning to add as much as $3 billion to the $89.2B budget, amid outward migration in high-tax states caused by tax reform, a U.S. economic recession puts NYC "perilously near total fiscal disaster," according to the report.

"New York City could go bankrupt, absolutely," American Institute for Economic Research economist Peter C. Earle told the Post. "In that case, the city would get temporary protection from its creditors, but it would be very difficult for the city to take on new debt."

Already, New York state is ranked No. 1 nationwide in state and local tax burden, and the top 1 percent of New York City earners pay some 50 percent of Big Apple income tax revenue, per the Post. If businesses continue to flee to lower tax states while NYC spending increases, it could be doomsday, economists warn.


"The city is running a deficit and could be in a real difficult spot if we had a recession, or a further flight of individuals because of tax reform," Vested's chief economist Milton Ezrati told the post.

"New York is already in a difficult financial spot, but it would be in an impossible situation if we had any kind of setback."

Source: NewsMax America

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Chevron says Dutch Supreme Court rejects Ecuador’s $9.5 billion claim

FILE PHOTO: File photo of a Chevron gas station sign in Del Mar, California
FILE PHOTO: A Chevron gas station sign is seen in Del Mar, California, in this April 25, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 16, 2019

(Reuters) – The Supreme Court of the Netherlands dismissed Ecuador’s attempts to annul decisions of an international arbitral tribunal that ordered Ecuador to prevent enforcement of a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron Corp anywhere in the world, the U.S. oil major said on Tuesday.

Chevron said the Dutch court’s decision upholds rulings of two Dutch lower courts which rejected Ecuador’s attempts to annul those awards.

“The Dutch supreme court found that the challenged arbitral awards are consistent with public policy and justified to prevent irreversible harm to Chevron,” the company said.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Canada had dismissed claims attempting to force Chevron’s Canadian unit to pay the $9.5 billion judgment handed down in Ecuador against the company over pollution in the Andean country.

Residents of Ecuador’s Lago Agrio region have been trying to force Chevron to pay for water and soil contamination caused from 1964 to 1992 by Texaco, which Chevron acquired in 2001.

The villagers obtained a judgment against Chevron in Ecuador in 2011.

The latest decision adds to several court victories that Chevron has won against the plaintiffs and its legal team in this case.

(Reporting by Philip George and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

Source: OANN

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Pelosi reaffirms U.S. support for Ireland amid Brexit impasse

U.S. House Speaker Pelosi visits Dublin
Ireland's Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar welcomes U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Government Buildings in Dublin, Ireland April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

April 17, 2019

By Padraic Halpin and Graham Fahy

DUBLIN (Reuters) – The United States would not agree to any trade deal with Britain if future Brexit arrangements undermine peace in Ireland, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday during a visit to Dublin.

Reaffirming a message of U.S. solidarity with Ireland first delivered in a speech on Monday in London, Pelosi said it was vital to keep a “seamless border” between the Irish Republic and British-ruled Northern Ireland after the UK exits the European Union.

Her comments are likely to irk some members of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party whose insistence on a ‘clean’ break with the EU’s customs union and single market have raised the prospect of new border controls on the island of Ireland. They also want a new trade deal with the United States.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we must ensure that nothing happens in the Brexit discussions that imperils the Good Friday accord, including, but not limited to, the seamless border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland,” Pelosi told a special joint sitting of Ireland’s parliament.

“Let me be clear, if the Brexit deal undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be no chance of a U.S/UK trade agreement. As you face the challenges posed by Brexit, know that the United States Congress, Democrats and Republicans in the House and in the Senate, stand with you.”

Pelosi is leading a Congressional delegation to Europe.

How to keep EU-member Ireland’s 500km (350 mile) border with Northern Ireland open after Brexit is proving the most intractable issue in Britain’s tortuous efforts to leave the EU.

May’s government is now in talks with the opposition Labour Party to build support for her divorce deal that parliament has already rejected three times, forcing a delay of at least six months in the UK’s departure date.

Much of the opposition to May’s deal within her own party is centered on fears that it would not provide a clean enough break to allow the United Kingdom to forge new trade deals around the world, especially with the United States.

Democratic congressman Brendan Boyle told the Irish Times newspaper that pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers the Congressional delegation had met in London this week “were not exactly pleased with what they heard from the U.S. side”.

Democrat Richard Neal, another visiting member and chairman of the Congressional committee overseeing trade, sounded a similar warning in February when Ireland’s deputy prime minister visited Washington to ask members of Capitol Hill’s powerful Irish-American caucus for their support on Brexit.

The Congressional delegation is due to visit Northern Ireland on Thursday.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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Puerto Rico governor cautions White House: 'If the bully gets close, I'll punch the bully in the mouth'

The governor of Puerto Rico on Thursday reportedly vowed to take a stand, if necessary, against the White House amid recent discussions surrounding disaster aid for the U.S. island territory previously devastated by hurricanes.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s remarks came during an interview with CNN, after being asked whether it “sometimes” felt like he was “dealing with a bully.”

“If the bully gets close, I’ll punch the bully in the mouth,” Rosselló said, adding that “it would be a mistake to confuse courtesy with courage.”

AIR FORCE SAYS IT NEEDS $4.9 BILLION IN DISASTER RELIEF

The governor also told the network that the president treats Puerto Ricans “as second-class citizens.”

“And my consideration is, I just want to have the opportunity to explain to him why the data and information that he’s getting is wrong,” he said. “I don’t think getting into a kicking and screaming match with the president does any good. I don’t think anybody can beat the president on a kicking and screaming match.”

“I think that what I am aiming to do is making sure that reason prevails, that empathy prevails, that equality prevails and that we can have a discussion,” he continued.

FEMA EXPOSED SENSITIVE PRIVATE DATA OF 2.3M SURVIVORS OF 2017 HURRICANES, WILDFIRES

President Trump reportedly expressed his opposition this week to allotting further disaster aid to Puerto Rico, with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., saying the president told Republicans at a closed-door luncheon on Tuesday that aid for the territory "is way out of proportion to what Texas and Florida and others have gotten."

Trump also told reporters on Thursday that Puerto Rico has been well-looked after under his leadership and claimed that $91 billion was allocated to the U.S. territory, a figure which he said was substantially more than what was set aside for Texas or Florida. It’s unclear how he arrived at the number.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

“Puerto Rico has been taken care of better by Donald Trump than by any living human being. And I think the people of Puerto Rico understand it,” he said.

“But you do have a mayor of San Juan that frankly doesn’t know what she’s doing. And the governor … they’ve got to spend the money wisely,” Trump continued. “They don’t know how to spend the money and they’re not spending it wisely. But I’m giving them more money than they've ever got, gotten.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Egypt officials: attack kills 4 police, 2 civilians in Sinai

Egyptian security officials say four policemen and two civilians have been killed in a suicide bombing in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula.

The officials said on Tuesday that the suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint at a market in the town of Sheikh Zuweid.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

A local affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Egypt has for years been battling a long-running insurgency in North Sinai that is now led by an Islamic State affiliate. The fighting intensified in 2013 after the military overthrew an elected but divisive Islamist president.

Authorities heavily restrict access to the northern Sinai, making it difficult to verify claims related to the fighting.

Source: Fox News World

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Death toll in New Zealand mosque massacre upped to 50

The death toll in the massacres at two New Zealand mosques rose to 50 as it turned Sunday in that country, after police found another victim while removing bodies from the crime scenes.

NZ VICTIM'S SHOOTING VICTIM'S LAST WORDS GO VIRAL

Meanwhile, authorities announced they do not believe three people who had been arrested were involved in the shootings allegedly carried out by a young white supremacist.

Police Commissioner Mike Bush also said that 36 people are still hospitalized and that two of them are in critical condition.

New Zealand's stricken residents have been reaching out to Muslims in their neighborhoods and around the country, with a fierce determination to show kindness to a community in pain.

The shootings suspect appeared in court Saturday amid strict security, shackled and wearing all-white prison garb, and showed no emotion when the judge read him one murder charge.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

The judge said "it was reasonable to assume" more such charges would follow.

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: Customers shop in a Sainsbury's store in Redhill
FILE PHOTO: Customers shop in a Sainsbury’s store in Redhill, Britain, March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By James Davey

LONDON (Reuters) – With Sainsbury’s dream of creating Britain’s biggest supermarket group in tatters, its chastened CEO Mike Coupe needs to reassure investors he has the plan to arrest a sales decline when he presents annual results next week.

Britain’s competition regulator blocked Sainsbury’s 7.3 billion pound ($9.4 billion) takeover of Walmart’s Asda on Thursday, saying the deal would increase prices. Sainsbury’s shares fell 5 percent and are down 22 percent over the last three months.

For Sainsbury’s fourth quarter to March 9 analysts are on average forecasting a 1.6 percent fall in like-for-like sales, which would follow 1.1 percent decline over the Christmas period.

Monthly industry data from researcher Kantar has also shown Sainsbury’s as the weakest performer of the big four grocers this year and this month it lost its status as Britain’s No. 2 supermarket group by market share to Asda.

While Sainsbury’s has struggled, market leader Tesco has gained momentum, this month reporting a 34 percent jump in full year profit.

Prohibition of the deal was a major blow to Coupe, its architect and Sainsbury’s boss since 2014.

Martin Scicluna became Sainsbury’s chairman last month and when bedded-in may decide that if the group needs a major shake-up it is best carried out by a new leader.

Much will depend on the attitude of 22 percent shareholder the Qatar Investment Authority, which has so far declined to comment, as well as Coupe’s own appetite to continue after 15 years at the group.

THE RIGHT STRATEGY?

Coupe said on Thursday he was confident Sainsbury’s was pursuing the right strategy.

That was a clear indication that Wednesday’s results statement will not include radical changes to the group’s plans, such as a big margin reset — sacrificing profit to drive sales.

However, sources connected to Sainsbury’s said Coupe would likely acknowledge that more needs to be done on prices, so the supermarket business can better compete with its big four rivals – Tesco, Asda and No. 4 Morrisons – as well as German-owned discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Coupe’s strategy is based on differentiating Sainsbury’s food offer, growing its general merchandise, clothing business and bank, while investing in convenience and online channels.

Some analysts believe major change is needed.

HSBC analyst David McCarthy reckons Sainsbury’s needs a margin reset, should allocate more space for core lines and needs to drive better store standards. He said Sainsbury’s might consider closing down space in some of its larger stores and reducing its non-food offer.

For the full 2018-19 year analysts are on average forecasting a pretax profit of 626 million pounds, up from 589 million pounds in 2017-18 – a second straight year of profit growth. A full year dividend of 10.5 pence per share is forecast versus 10.2 pence last time.

Bank and lawyer fees related to the proposed combination with Asda were 17 million pounds in the first half and have reportedly jumped to around 50 million pounds.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A Canadian dollar coin commonly known as the
FILE PHOTO: A Canadian dollar coin, commonly known as the “Loonie”, is pictured in this illustration picture taken in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, January 23, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File Photo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada posted a budget surplus in the first 11 months of the 2018/19 fiscal year compared to a deficit the year earlier as revenues increased mostly on higher tax incomes, the finance department said on Friday.

The surplus for April-February was C$3.1 billion, compared to a deficit of C$6 billion in the same 2017/18 period. Revenues climbed by 8.5 percent, mainly due to higher tax receipts, while program expenses rose by 4.8 percent.

The surplus for February was C$4.3 billion compared with C$2.8 billion in February 2018. Revenues jumped by 12.2 percent while program expenses posted a more modest 6.9 percent gain.

Last month, the Liberals unveiled their new budget, projecting a C$14.9 billion deficit in 2018/19, with the deficit rising to C$19.8 billion in fiscal 2019/20.

(Reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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President Trump said Friday he would beat Joe Biden “easily” in the 2020 presidential election, suggesting the former vice president could not have enough “energy” to hold the post—taking an apparent swipe at his age.

The president, departing the White House, was asked about Biden’s entrance into the Democratic primary field. Biden announced his presidential bid early Thursday morning, marking his third attempt at the White House.

JOE BIDEN OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES 2020 PRESIDENTIAL BID

“I think we’d beat him easily,” Trump told reporters Friday.

Trump, 72, said he feels “young” and is ready for 2020, and another term for his administration.

“I feel like a young man. I am a young, vibrant man,” Trump said. “I look at Joe, I don’t know about him.”

The president’s comments seemingly were a shot at the age of Biden, who is 76.

BIDEN ENTERS WHITE HOUSE RACE WITHOUT OBAMA’S ENDORSEMENT

“I would never say anyone’s too old,” Trump said. “I know they’re all making me look very young both in terms of age and in terms of energy.”

Biden became the 20th candidate to join the crowded Democratic primary field Thursday. But Biden is not the oldest in the pack. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is 77 and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is 69.

Should Trump be re-elected, he would be 74 on Jan. 20, 2021—Inauguration Day. Should the presidency go to one of the elder Democrats in the field—Biden would be 78; Sanders would be 79; and Warren would be 71.

Meanwhile, in a wide-ranging interview on “Hannity” Thursday night, Trump dismissed Biden’s candidacy, nicknaming him “Sleepy Joe,” and saying he’s “not the brightest bulb.” Trump also said that while the former vice president has name recognition, he won’t “be able to do the job.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas
Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s foreign minister and a Venezuelan judge, according to a statement on the department’s website.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and a judge, Carol Padilla, were targeted over the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, the Treasury Department said, the latest in a list of officials blacklisted by U.S. authorities for their role in President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Makini Brice and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of
Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of “Avengers: Endgame” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Marvel Studios superhero spectacle “Avengers: Endgame” hauled in a record $60 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices during its Thursday night debut, distributor Walt Disney Co said.

Global ticket sales for the film about Iron Man, Hulk and other popular characters reached $305 million for the first two days, Disney said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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