Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am


Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

House vote to stop Trump's border plan unlikely to succeed

President Donald Trump is nearing a victory over Democrats as the House tries overriding his first veto, a vote that seems certain to fail and would let stand his declaration of a national emergency at the Mexican border.

Tuesday's vote would keep the border emergency intact, which for now would let him shift an additional $3.6 billion from military construction projects to work on a barrier along the southwest boundary. Building the wall was one of his most oft-repeated campaign promises, though he claimed the money would come from Mexico, not taxpayers.

Trump's emergency declaration drew unanimous opposition from congressional Democrats and opposition from some Republicans, especially in the Senate, where lawmakers objected that he was abusing presidential powers.

But while Congress approved a resolution voiding Trump's move, the margins by which the House and Senate passed the measure fell well short of the two-thirds majorities that will be needed to override the veto. That's expected to happen again when the House votes Tuesday.

"The president will be fine in the House," said Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in a brief interview. "The veto will not be overridden."

Even with his veto remaining intact, Trump may not be able to spend the money for barriers quickly because of lawsuits that might take years to resolve.

Tuesday's vote was coming as Trump claimed a different political triumph after Attorney General William Barr said special counsel Robert Mueller had ended his two-year investigation without evidence of collusion by Trump's 2016 campaign with the Russian government.

Democrats were hoping to use the border emergency battle in upcoming campaigns, both to symbolize Trump's harsh immigration stance and claim he was hurting congressional districts around the country.

The Pentagon sent lawmakers a list last week of hundreds of military construction projects that might be cut to pay for barrier work. Though the list was tentative, Democrats were asserting that GOP lawmakers were endangering local bases to pay for the wall.

Congress, to which the Constitution assigned control over spending, voted weeks ago to provide less than $1.4 billion for barriers. Opponents warned that besides usurping Congress' role in making spending decisions, Trump was inviting future Democratic presidents to circumvent lawmakers by declaring emergencies to finance their own favored initiatives.

Trump supporters said he was simply acting under a 1976 law that lets presidents declare national emergencies. Trump's declaration was the 60th presidential emergency under that statute, but the first aimed at spending that Congress explicitly denied, according to New York University's Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks the law.

The House approved the resolution blocking Trump's emergency by 245-182 in February. On Tuesday, Trump opponents will need to reach 288 votes to prevail.

Just 13 Republicans opposed Trump in February, around 1 in 15. Another 30 would have to defect to override his veto.

This month, the GOP-led Senate rebuked Trump with a 59-41 vote blocking his declaration after the failure of a Republican effort to reach a compromise with the White House. Republicans were hoping to avoid a confrontation with him for fear of alienating pro-Trump voters.

Twelve GOP senators, nearly 1 in 4, ended up opposing him.

If the House vote fails, the Senate won't attempt its own override and the veto will stand.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

When it comes to disclosing sponsors, your Google Assistant may be mute

FILE PHOTO: An illuminated Google logo is seen inside an office building in Zurich
FILE PHOTO: An illuminated Google logo is seen inside an office building in Zurich, Switzerland December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

April 1, 2019

By Paresh Dave

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – On stage at an investor conference last month, Google’s Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler identified a vexing challenge for the company’s most prized app: its virtual assistant.

Responding to user searches out loud through Google Assistant is not ideal for generating revenue, Schindler suggested.

When results are visible, not merely oral, “you have room for advertising, of course,” said Schindler, whose company grosses an estimated $70 billion annually through ads above search results.

The Alphabet Inc company declined to elaborate on Schindler’s remarks. But Google’s conundrum is one facing several big tech companies whose users increasingly seek help from voice-enabled speakers and gadgets: how to deliver greater convenience while still generating the ad revenue that traditionally has funded free searches.

The question is most acute for Google, which holds the world’s biggest search advertising business.

So far, consumers generally get a brief answer from virtual assistants without the disturbance of ads. And tech companies have not shown how they would include the “Sponsored” or “Ad” disclaimers that regulators in the United States and elsewhere require with paid-for search results.

One Google Assistant feature already is close to violating disclosure rules, according to five advertising attorneys contacted by Reuters. Google contends it is in compliance.

The feature recommends plumbers and other local home service providers without disclosing that the results draw from a curated database mainly composed of companies that joined a Google marketing program.

“It’s not a completely clean recommendation,” said Michelle Cohen, an attorney with expertise in marketing rules at Ifrah Law in Washington, D.C. “If there’s a financial commitment, you’re supposed to disclose it.”

Conversing with assistants is routine for millions of people globally, whether on bedside alarm clocks, car audio systems or even high-end headphones. More than 1 billion such devices have Google Assistant, 100 million Amazon.com Inc’s Alexa and at least 1 billion Apple Inc’s Siri, according to the companies and estimates.

Regulators avoid stifling new technologies, said Richard Lawson, partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and former consumer protection director in Florida’s attorney general’s office. But he said, authorities will still ask, “How do you convey meaningful disclosures?”

At the conference, Schindler said ads on Google Assistant would be more “interesting” when responses are shown on a nearby screen, like a TV, smartphone, laptop or smart speaker with a display.

“Then we’re exactly in the world that we deeply understand,” Schindler said, with moneymaking options “very similar” to traditional search.

NEW SEARCH TECHNOLOGIES

The Federal Trade Commission, which regulates deceptive business practices in the United States, has long required search engines to inform users in a “noticeable and understandable” fashion when results are connected to financial relationships. That is why consumers see “Ad” or “Sponsored” labels next to the first few Google results on screens.

New search services that “talk” to consumers are not exempt from “the long-standing principle of making advertising distinguishable,” the FTC said in letters to Google and other companies in 2013.

Consumers often complain to the commission about potential violations, and it prods companies into changing practices by threatening fines if the issues persist.

The FTC has not received complaints about ads on Google Assistant, according to results from a Freedom of Information Act request. And the agency declined to comment on whether it is scrutinizing any virtual assistants, though last year it charged a small search engine for prospective college students that included paid results without warning.

GOOGLE’S CHALLENGE

Google users have come to expect results from any relevant source on the web, except when using specialized tools like Google News or Google Flights that have a narrowed set of sources.

In 2017, Google Assistant adopted a specialty tool, Local Services, which offers only vetted businesses when U.S. users search for domestic help such as plumbers and locksmiths.

Results come from a marketing program, known as Google Guarantee, in which members are licensed, insured and clear of legal issues, according to Google. It refunds consumers up to $2,000 if members botch a job.

Membership is free, but businesses need it to buy Local Services search ads from Google. And guaranteed businesses largely do buy those for queries like “plumber,” Reuters found.

Google gets paid when users contact providers through the ads, which are labeled “Sponsored” on Google.com.

But when Google Assistant responds to “plumber” queries with the same “Google Guaranteed” options, the assistant does not offer any disclaimer or further explanation.

Google said in a statement that the results are not labeled as ads “because Google isn’t paid for these results” when delivered on the Assistant rather than Google.com.

The advertising attorneys said users should be informed that Google Assistant results, even if not paid for, stem from a filtered database in which many businesses landed because they wanted to buy ads.

“Disclosing ‘many of the recommended providers may participate in our referral network’…would be relevant and appropriate,” said Cohen, the Washington, D.C., attorney.

In some cities, Google Assistant includes businesses vetted by partner search services HomeAdvisor and Porch. It does not mention that those services charge some businesses for customer leads.

Disclaimers vary in other types of searches, depending on how they are delivered. Google.com answers “flight to Los Angeles” with upcoming flights labeled as “Sponsored,” and users who click on the label would learn that Google “may be compensated” by some of its data sources.

But Google Assistant’s “Sponsored” label does not link to additional information. On smart speakers, the assistant reads only the lowest price without naming an airline.

It says nothing about sponsors.

(Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Greg Mitchell, Marla Dickerson and Julie Marquis)

Source: OANN

0 0

Paralympics: IPC lays down strict criteria for Russia reinstatement

Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Paralympics
FILE PHOTO: Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Paralympics - Closing Ceremony - Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium - Pyeongchang, South Korea - March 18, 2018 - President of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons speaks during the closing ceremony. REUTERS/Carl Recine

March 15, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has set down a long list of conditions Russia must meet for the next four years to avoid having a doping-related suspension reinstated.

Russia’s Paralympic Committee (RPC) was officially welcomed back into the fold on Friday after a 30-month suspension imposed over allegations of state-sponsored doping was lifted.

But it was left in no doubt that the lifting of the suspension would be revoked should the RPC be found in breach of anti-doping rules until December, 2022.

“We are looking forward to welcoming the RPC back as an IPC member,” IPC President Andrew Parsons said in a statement.

“The organization should be under no illusions, however, that should it at any stage not meet the post-reinstatement criteria, the IPC Governing Board can reconsider its membership status. This could include the IPC revoking the conditional reinstatement.”

Conditions the RPC must satisfy include remaining compliant with all the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Program (including, in particular, the World Anti-Doping Code) and the IPC Anti-Doping Code.

Russia’s Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) must also avoid being declared “non-compliant” while Russian para athletes will only be allowed to compete in selected events if they have met minimum testing requirements for the prior six months.

In reinstating the RPC, the IPC said it had met 69 of the 70 criteria outlined in 2016 after it was suspended.

“It is now a much-improved organization from the time when it was suspended,” Parsons said.

The RPC has been barred from international competitions since August, 2016, following a two-part WADA-commissioned report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren in 2016 found evidence of a state-sponsored doping schemes across several sports and at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi.

It meant Russian athletes were absent from the Rio Olympics in 2016 and last year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

The lifting of the ban clears the way for the Russian paralympic team to compete at next year’s Tokyo Games.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: OANN

0 0

John Sununu on pushing for Trump impeachment: “Democrats are going to make a serious, serious mistake”

President George H.W. Bush's  White House Chief of Staff John Sununu called Democrats’ push for a potential impeachment of President Trump a “serious, serious mistake.”

“I'm making the case that it would be a gift to the Republicans if they failed to let it go and move on. I think it will be a very dumb political move for the Democrats,” said Sununu on “America’s Newsroom” on Monday.

He added, “I think the Democrats are going to make a serious, serious mistake because I think the court of opinion is going to move strongly in the president's favor as people find out the legal malice that was in Volume Two.”

DEMS PLAN CONFERENCE CALL MONDAY TO DEBATE MUELLER REPORT'S IMPLICATIONS

“I think the more you read that, the more you understand that was Andrew Weissmann doing unethical legal malfeasance once again, the Republicans can point that out,” said Sununu who served as chief of staff from 1989-1991.

“I think when Lindsey Graham starts his investigation on the Clinton side of the issue, they will have a difficult time with dealing that. And the more and more they get into the weeds, the more and more the American public is going to understand how political they are.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is scheduled to hold a private conference call Monday with fellow Democrats in which the topic of the potential impeachment will be raised.

The planned call comes as the issue continues to divide progressive Democrats -- who want Trump to face impeachment proceedings -- and party leaders who warn of its political risks and backlash going into the 2020 presidential election, Bloomberg reported. The renewed push comes on the heels of Mueller's report into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

MUELLER REPORT IGNITES NEW DEM BATTLE OVER IMPEACHMENT

Pelosi last month said she opposed impeachment, calling the process divisive and saying of Trump, “He’s just not worth it."

“I think her mind is made up that she’s not going to go down that track,” said Sununu.

He added: “They’re going to get into the summer doldrums and there’s just going to be no way they’re going to find traction on this, they’re going to get burned.”

GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“When Biden gets into the race, the Republican line will be ‘Why did the Obama/Biden team not do anything about Russian meddling in 14 and 15?’ This is all quicksand for the Democrats. They might not see it yet but I think Nancy Pelosi might be seeing it,” Sununu said.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

CNN Ratings Fall to All-Year Low – Overtaken by Hallmark Channel!

CNN has hit an all-year ratings low, according to Nielsen Media Research, and the network is especially hurting during prime time hours when it seems more Americans would rather watch Hallmark movies.

The network, which experienced a ratings boost thanks to Russiagate, is now shedding viewers after the Mueller probe fizzled away without the bombshell revelations the network’s viewers likely anticipated.

CNN had its lowest-rated week of the year in prime time, while MSNBC had its second lowest-rated week of the year in the 25-54 demo and its third lowest among total viewers in prime time,” reported TVNewser. “Yes, Fox News and MSNBC are consistently the two-most-watched basic cable networks, but they, along with CNN, are losing viewers relative to 2018.”

“In prime time, Fox News was -8% in total viewers, MSNBC was -28% in total viewers, while CNN was -47% vs. the comparable week in 2018.

Like CNN, the Rachel Maddow Show, hosted by MSNBC, also suffered a massive ratings drop after the wind-down of Mueller probe.

CNN is currently ranked #15 among cable channels during prime time, according to data released by Nielsen, which shows that the network, interestingly enough, got beat out by the Hallmark Channel.

Some of the Hallmark Channel’s nightly programming includes original movies such as Bottled With Love, A Ring by Spring, and Campfire Kiss, but it’s actually not surprising that more Americans are switching over to the non-political flair of the Hallmark Channel after getting burnt out by the constant negativity of cable news.

During the day, however, CNN fares a bit better; it’s currently ranked at #9, although still behind the Hallmark Channel.

It appears like they might have a difficult time bouncing back after investing two years of heavy coverage on the investigation into the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with the Kremlin,” reported the Daily Caller.



Norm Pattis joins Alex Jones and Paul Joseph Watson to give his take on the recent arrest of Julian Assange.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Parents sue Planned Parenthood for failed abortion of their son, who just turned two

Spread the love

February 22, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Imagine the following scenario. You are a happy boy, growing up in a middle-class home with your two siblings. You enjoy playing outdoors with them, school is going well, and you think the world of your parents. Your dad is your hero, and you love your mom more than anyone in the world. 

But one day, you Google your family’s name for a school assignment. Your teacher has assigned the class a project that has each student researching their family tree. And that is when you discover a series of news articles that appear to discuss your family. It seems a man and a woman with the same names as your father and your mother sued an abortion clinic after giving birth to a baby they had tried, unsuccessfully, to abort. 

The articles mention that there were already two children in the family, and it was the third baby they had tried to get rid of. With horror, you try to fight off an inescapable realization: You are the third and youngest child. If the parents in the articles are your parents, it means they traveled more than 700 miles from your home in Idaho to New Mexico to get an abortion. What is an abortion? You Google the word, and horrifying pictures of bloody, broken babies show up on the screen. The pictures blur as you sit and stare until your eyes water.

As unlikely as that story might sound, it may one day be true. Multiple media outlets reported this week that Bianca Coons and Cristobal Ruiz traveled from Idaho to the Planned Parenthood in Albuquerque in February 2016 when they discovered they were expecting their third child. They decided they could not afford another baby, and so they headed to New Mexico where they could escape the mandated waiting period in their home state that would have resulted in the baby being further along at the time of the abortion. Coons and Ruiz now claim they used all of their remaining resources to pay for the trip and the abortion, which cost $400.

The abortion failed, and their little son is now two-years-old. We know this because Coons and Ruiz are suing Planned Parenthood for failing to abort their baby boy, demanding that the abortion organization pay for the cost of raising him because “medical negligence” resulted in him being born alive in the first place. Additionally, they are suing for breach of contract—after all, they paid Planned Parenthood to kill him, and uncharacteristically, Planned Parenthood failed. The abortion clinic had offered them a medication abortion, and Coons had taken one pill at the clinic and one a day later. The first pill caused extreme dizziness and nausea.

But when Coons checked into a local emergency room back in Boise, Idaho, the physicians there told the dismayed mother that her baby was perfectly healthy despite having taken the first pill. The Planned Parenthood staff advised her to take the second pill, anyway. Perhaps that would kill the baby. But no such luck: Another round of blood work indicated that Coons’ son was a fighter, and he was still alive and well despite the best efforts of his parents and the abortion clinic staff. Coons and Ruiz felt betrayed. This, after all, was not what they had paid for.

Planned Parenthood offered her a follow-up abortion back in New Mexico, but the little boy’s parents couldn’t afford to go back and try again, and they said they couldn’t afford a home-turf abortion in Idaho, either. And so Coons reluctantly gave birth, and the couple is now suing Planned Parenthood for $765,000 for the cost of raising “an additional unplanned child.” The lawsuit states that, “the defendant’s failure to properly supervise and administer the abortion service directly resulted in the failure of the pregnancy termination which resulted in injury to plaintiffs’ interests in family planning and their interests in financial planning for the future of their family.”

Someday, this toddler will grow up. Someday, he will find out that his parents tried to abort him, and then resented raising him so much after that failed that they sued the abortion clinic that had failed to kill him for the cost of his life with them. When he does, he will be devastated. He will realize that his parents are sick people, that this is a sick culture, and that legal abortion has poisoned everything. That realization will be gut-wrenching, just as it has for each of us who have confronted this awful reality in one way or another in this growing culture of death.

0 0

Yellow vest protesters try to keep up momentum on week 15

French yellow vest protest organizers are trying to tamp down violence and anti-Semitism in the movement's ranks as they launch a 15th straight weekend of demonstrations.

Hundreds of people gathered Saturday at the Arc de Triomphe monument for a march through well-off neighborhoods to protest government policies they see as favoring the rich. It was among multiple actions planned Saturday around Paris and in other cities.

Support for the movement has ebbed in recent weeks as it has splintered and outbreaks of violence continue. Online announcements for Saturday's marches appealed for peaceful action, and one of the weekend protests aims to stand up against anti-Semitism.

Extremist views of some protesters have erupted in a torrent of anti-Semitic insults at a noted philosopher on the sidelines of last weekend's Paris protest.

Source: Fox News World

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Liberty #MAGAOne Mix

Via MAGA One Mix

6:00 am 8:00 am



An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard
FILE PHOTO: An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard, Britain December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 26, 2019

LONDON, April 26 – British factories stockpiled raw materials and goods ahead of Brexit at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s, and they were increasingly downbeat about their prospects, a survey showed on Friday.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly survey of the manufacturing industry showed expectations for export orders in the next three months fell to their lowest level since mid-2009, when Britain was reeling from the global financial crisis.

The record pace of stockpiling recorded by the CBI was mirrored by the closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index published earlier this month.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo

April 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.

The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.

Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.

But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.

Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.

High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.

It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.

Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.

“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.

The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.

Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.

Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.

Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.

Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.

This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
The German share price index DAX graph at the stock exchange in Frankfurt
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Staff

April 26, 2019

By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh

(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Friday after losses in heavyweight banks and Glencore outweighed gains in healthcare and auto stocks, while investors remained on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data for the first quarter.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent by 0935 GMT, eyeing a modest loss at the end of a holiday-shortened week. Banks-heavy Italian and Spanish indices were laggards.

The banking index fell for a fourth day, at the end of a heavy earnings week for lenders.

Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after posting lower first quarter profit, hurt by intensifying competition and Brexit uncertainty, while its investment bank also registered poor returns.

Weakness in investment banking also dented Deutsche Bank’s quarterly trading revenue and sent its shares lower a day after the German bank abandoned merger talks with smaller rival Commerzbank.

“The current interest rate environment makes it challenging for banks to make proper earnings because of their intermediary function,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist eurozone, at Rabobank.

Since the start of April, all country indexes were on pace to rise between 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, their fourth month of gains, while Germany was strongly outperforming with 6 percent growth.

“For now the current sentiment is very cautious as markets wait for the first estimates of the U.S. GDP growth which could see a surprise,” Mevissen said.

U.S. economic data for the first-quarter is due at 1230 GMT. Growth worries outside the United States resurfaced this week after South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted at the start of the year and weak German business sentiment data for April also disappointed.

Among the biggest drags on the benchmark index in Europe were the basic resources sector and the oil and gas sector, weighed down by Britain’s Glencore and France’s Total, respectively.

Glencore dropped after reports that U.S authorities were investigating whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the commodity exchange act.

Energy major Total said its net profit for the first three months of the year fell compared with a year ago due to volatile oil prices and debt costs.

Chip stocks in the region including Siltronic, Ams and STMicroelectronics lost more than 1 percent after Intel Corp reduced its full-year revenue forecast, adding to concerns that an industry-wide slowdown could persist until the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, healthcare, which is also seen as a defensive sector, was a bright spot. It was helped by French drugmaker Sanofi after it returned to growth with higher profits and revenues for the first-quarter.

Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES led media stocks higher after it maintained its full-year outlook on the back of the company’s Networks division.

Automakers in the region rose 0.4 percent, led by Valeo’s 6 percent jump as the French parts maker said its performance would improve in the second half of the year.

Continental AG advanced after it backed its outlook for the year despite reporting a fall in first-quarter earnings.

Renault rose more than 3 percent as it clung to full-year targets and pursues merger talks with its Japanese partner Nissan.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones and Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

By Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan

(Reuters) – The “i word” – impeachment – is swirling around the U.S. Congress since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted Russia report, which painted a picture of lies, threats and confusion in Donald Trump’s White House.

Some Democrats say trying to remove Trump from office would be a waste of time because his fellow Republicans still have majority control of the Senate. Other Democrats argue they have a moral obligation at least to try to impeach, even though Mueller did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election or with obstruction of justice.

Whether or not the Democrats decide to go down this risky path, here is how the impeachment process works.

WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?

The U.S. Constitution says the president can be removed from office by Congress for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Exactly what that means is unclear.

Before he became president in 1974, replacing Republican Richard Nixon who resigned over the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”

Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and author of a forthcoming book on the history of impeachment, said Congress could look beyond criminal laws in defining “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Historically, it can encompass corruption and other abuses, including trying to obstruct judicial proceedings.

HOW DOES IMPEACHMENT PLAY OUT?

The term impeachment is often interpreted as simply removing a president from office, but that is not strictly accurate.

Impeachment technically refers to the 435-member House of Representatives approving formal charges against a president.

The House effectively acts as accuser – voting on whether to bring specific charges. An impeachment resolution, known as “articles of impeachment,” is like an indictment in a criminal case. A simple majority vote is needed in the House to impeach.

The Senate then conducts a trial. House members act as the prosecutors, with senators as the jurors. The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides over the trial. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the 100-member Senate to convict and remove a president from office.

No president has ever been removed from office as a direct result of an impeachment and conviction by Congress.

Nixon quit in 1974 rather than face impeachment. Presidents Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were impeached by the House, but both stayed in office after the Senate acquitted them.

Obstruction of justice was one charge against Clinton, who faced allegations of lying under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Obstruction was also included in the articles of impeachment against Nixon.

CAN THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN?

No.

Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene if Democrats tried to impeach him. But America’s founders explicitly rejected making a Senate conviction appealable to the federal judiciary, Bowman said.

“They quite plainly decided this is a political process and it is ultimately a political judgment,” Bowman said.

“So when Trump suggests there is any judicial remedy for impeachment, he is just wrong.”

PROOF OF WRONGDOING?

In a typical criminal court case, jurors are told to convict only if there is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” a fairly stringent standard.

Impeachment proceedings are different. The House and Senate “can decide on whatever burden of proof they want,” Bowman said. “There is no agreement on what the burden should be.”

PARTY BREAKDOWN IN CONGRESS?

Right now, there are 235 Democrats, 197 Republicans and three vacancies in the House. As a result, the Democratic majority could vote to impeach Trump without any Republican votes.

In 1998, when Republicans had a House majority, the chamber voted largely along party lines to impeach Clinton, a Democrat.

The Senate now has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with Democrats. Conviction and removal of a president would requires 67 votes. So that means for Trump to be impeached, at least 20 Republicans and all the Democrats and independents would have to vote against him.

WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED?

A Senate conviction removing Trump from office would elevate Vice President Mike Pence to the presidency to fill out Trump’s term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2021.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes
FILE PHOTO: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by G Crosse)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist