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Rolls-Royce agrees early inspections for Trent engine blades

A Rolls-Royce logo is seen on the first A380 for All Nippon Airways (ANA) during its delivery ceremony at the Airbus delivery center in Colomiers
A Rolls-Royce logo is seen on the first A380 for All Nippon Airways (ANA) during its delivery ceremony at the Airbus delivery center in Colomiers near Toulouse, France, March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

April 10, 2019

(Reuters) – British engine maker Rolls-Royce said on Wednesday it had agreed with regulatory authorities to inspect some Trent 1000 TEN engines earlier than previously planned after the recent re-emergence of issues related to blade deterioration.

Rolls-Royce said customers will be formally informed of the accelerated inspection regime on Wednesday and that its guidance for in-service cash costs on the Trent 1000 in 2019 and 2020 remains unchanged.

“This blade deterioration is a known issue but it is occurring faster than we expected on some engines,” said Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce President for Civil Aerospace.

Singapore Airlines Ltd grounded two Boeing Co 787-10 jets fitted with Trent 1000 TEN engines last week after checks of its fleet found premature blade deterioration.

The Trent 1000 TEN is the latest version of an engine that has had a problematic entry into service. As of late February, Rolls-Royce said 35 787s were grounded globally due to engine blades corroding or cracking prematurely. The manufacturer said it was aiming to reduce the number to 10 by the end of the year.

In February, the company raised a Trent 1000 accounting charge to 790 million pounds ($1.03 billion) from 554 million pounds at the half year, contributing to a full-year operating loss of 1.16 billion pounds. It also allocated another 100 million pounds in cash to the problem.

Rolls-Royce said that since the entry into service of the Trent 1000 TEN, it had communicated to operators that the high-pressure turbine blades in the engine would have a limited life.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

Source: OANN

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Third suspect in Brazil school shooting is arrested

Brazilian authorities say they've arrested a teenager allegedly involved in planning a school shooting in which eight people and two attackers died.

Sao Paulo's Court of Justice said Tuesday that the teenager has been sent to a jail for juvenile criminals for at least 45 days.

The teenager had been questioned last week and was initially allowed to return home. He hasn't been identified.

Police say the teenager is a former student of the Raul Brasil public school in the city of Suzano, on the outskirts of Brazil's largest city.

Attackers Guilherme Taucci Monteiro and Luiz Henrique de Castro killed themselves after killing seven people at the school and a used-car dealer elsewhere on March 13.

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Source: Fox News World

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Missouri firefighters push man home after electric wheelchair breaks, video shows

A group of firefighters in Missouri were recently caught on tape lending a helping hand to an individual whose electric wheelchair gave out.

A video of the kind gesture, which appeared to be shot from inside a vehicle following behind, was shared on Facebook Tuesday by the Raytown Fire Protection District and showed the responders pushing the wheelchair down the road.

FLORIDA FIREFIGHTERS PAINT HOME OF BLIND WORLD WAR II VETERAN, 89

“What happens when a Fire Truck comes upon a citizen who’s electric wheelchair has stopped working. You get out and help them home,” the post said.

The man, who is a veteran, received the assistance after his chair got caught in the ground while he was visiting a pond in the area, Deputy Chief Mike Hunley told The Kansas City Star. Attempts by people on the scene to help him were reportedly unsuccessful so the fire department was called.

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“Our guys responded out there and basically lifted a wheelchair with him in it up out of the rut he was stuck in,” Hunley said. “He apparently had been trying to get himself out with the wheelchair and had expended the battery so it was pretty drained.”

The firefighters were reportedly able to get the man home so he could power up his wheelchair.

Source: Fox News National

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Trump ‘in no rush’ on North Korea denuclearization as envoy heads to finalize summit plans

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un react during their summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un walk during their summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018. Anthony Wallace/Pool via Reuters/File Photo

February 19, 2019

By Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he wants North Korea to end its nuclear program, but has no pressing time schedule for this, as he dispatched his special envoy to finalize preparations for a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un next week.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said sanctions against North Korea would remain in place in the meantime and noted Pyongyang’s freeze in nuclear and missile testing since 2017.

“I’m in no rush. There’s no testing. As long as there is no testing, I’m in no rush. If there’s testing, that’s another deal,” he said. “I’d just like to see ultimately denuclearization of North Korea.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said of Kim last week it was “time for him to deliver,” but the Trump administration has moved away from demands that North Korea give up its nuclear weapons immediately and has appeared to adopt a more gradual, reciprocal approach Pyongyang has insisted on.

The U.S. State Department said U.S. special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, was traveling to Hanoi on Tuesday to continue preparations for Trump’s second summit with Kim scheduled for Feb. 27-28 in the Vietnamese capital.

Biegun spent three days in North Korea from Feb. 6-8, a trip he said was aimed at agreeing on “concrete deliverables” for the summit.

The State Department offered no sign of any specific progress after those talks but said Biegun agreed to hold further meetings with his counterpart Kim Hyok Chol before summit. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told a news briefing on Tuesday he had no details of the meetings the envoy would have in Hanoi.

Biegun said after his North Korea visit his talks had been “productive” but there was “hard work to do” before the summit.

The United States has been demanding that North Korea give up a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States, and Trump has been eager for a second summit even though a first meeting in Singapore in June meeting produced only vague commitments from Kim and little concrete progress since.

SANCTIONS

North Korea has been seeking a lifting of punishing U.S.-led sanctions, a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War and security guarantees.

Asked whether Washington would consider lifting sanctions, Palladino said: “We’ve been clear on sanctions. These are the world’s sanctions and that is something that … will continue to be maintained until we’ve achieved our final result of a fully, finally verified denuclearization.”

However, he then added: “But I don’t want to get ahead on … any further details on what’s being negotiated regarding that question.”

Palladino did not respond directly when asked about reports that the two sides were discussing the exchange of liaison officers and declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War.

“I am not going to get ahead of diplomatic conversations, or ahead of the president. A lot of things are being discussed and we are very much looking forward to next week,” he said.

Pompeo said last week that Washington aimed to “get as far down the road as we can” with North Korea in the next two weeks and that Biegun’s team would discuss all issues covered in Singapore.

Asked on Thursday how important a formal end of the Korean War was in the discussions, Pompeo said: “It’s something we’ve had a lot of talks about.”

He said Trump and Kim would also be looking at the “denuclearization pillar they agreed to” in Singapore and how to reduce tension and military risk “so we can get peace and security on the peninsula as well.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump spoke with South Korean President Moon Jae-in about the summit and he plans to talk to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday.

Moon told Trump his country was willing to open economic engagement with North Korea if it will hasten Pyongyang’s denuclearization, Moon’s office said.

The Trump administration has been wary of Moon’s eagerness to resume such engagement, fearing a weakening of pressure on Pyongyang will give it no incentive to give up its weapons.

Moon and Kim have held multiple summits in the past year and agreed to cooperate on everything from reducing border tensions to launching a joint bid for the 2032 Olympics.

But plans for economic projects, such as allowing South Korean tourists to visit North Korea, have been on hold while the United States keeps its sanctions in place.

While praising Trump’s “leadership and firm resolve,” Moon said he was ready to undertake anything from reconnecting rail and road links between the two Koreas to other inter-Korean economic cooperation to help on denuclearization, according to Moon’s spokesman.

“We’re determined to take up that role if President Trump asks, if that’s the way to lessen the U.S. burden,” Moon said.

Earlier this month, two influential U.S. senators, Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Robert Menendez, wrote to Pompeo warning that Kim was seeking to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul and warning against a premature relaxation of pressure on North Korea.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Additional reporting by Josh Smith in Seoul; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: OANN

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Darling stands by slur allegation against Dykstra

FILE PHOTO: Former Mets' pitcher Darling waves to crowd before throwing out ceremonial first pitch at Game 7 in the Mets' NLCS playoff baseball series against the Cardinals in New York
FILE PHOTO: Former New York Mets' pitcher Ron Darling waves to the crowd before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Game 7 in the Mets' NLCS playoff baseball series against the St. Louis Cardinals in New York October 19, 2006. REUTERS/Mike Segar

April 2, 2019

Former New York Mets pitcher Ron Darling on Tuesday stood by the allegation he made in his new book that Lenny Dykstra shouted racial slurs at a Boston Red Sox pitcher in the 1986 World Series.

Darling went on the ESPN radio show “Golic and Wingo” to reassert his claim that Dykstra, his former teammate, hurled racial insults at Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd prior to his first at-bat of Game 3 of the World Series.

“I heard what I heard and I put it in the book for a reason,” Darling said, referring to his new book titled, “108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game.”

In the book, released Tuesday, Darling wrote that Dykstra was “shouting every imaginable and unimaginable insult and expletive in his [Boyd’s] direction — foul, racist, hateful, hurtful stuff” while in the on-deck circle. Further, Darling wrote that the insults were “worse than anything Jackie Robinson might have heard.”

For his part, Dykstra went on ESPN Radio’s “Michael Kay Show” on Monday and threatened to sue Darling. Further, Dwight Gooden and Kevin Mitchell told Kay on Monday that they never heard Dykstra slur Boyd.

But Darling said Tuesday that there’s “no chance that I misremembered it.”

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Barclays EMEA private bank head Grosoli leaves the firm

FILE PHOTO: Workers are seen in at Barclays bank offices in the Canary Wharf financial district in London
FILE PHOTO: Workers are seen in at Barclays bank offices in the Canary Wharf financial district in London, Britain, November 17, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

April 3, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Barclays said the head of its private bank in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Francesco Grosoli, has decided to leave the bank after 12 years, the latest senior departure from the lender following the exit of its investment bank chief last week.

Grosoli will be replaced on an interim basis by Jean-Christophe Gerard, a spokesman for the bank said.

(Reporting By Lawrence White; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

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Spain’s Podemos: from far-left star to Socialists’ sidekick?

FILE PHOTO: Podemos (We Can) party leader Pablo Iglesias delivers a speech during a motion of no confidence debate at Parliament in Madrid
FILE PHOTO: Podemos (We Can) party leader Pablo Iglesias delivers a speech during a motion of no confidence debate at Parliament in Madrid, Spain, May 31, 2018. REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo

April 4, 2019

By Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Podemos was the rising star of Europe’s far left four years ago, but infighting and a failure to evolve has left it a shadow of the newcomer party it was then as it gears up for the country’s most open election in living memory.

At best, it might emerge from the April 28 ballot as a junior partner in a Socialist-led government, but that outcome would require support from other parties likely to be hard to win over.

Its decline underlines the challenge, in Spain and elsewhere across Europe, of forming viable governments once new parties emerge to break the political status quo.

Podemos was instrumental in setting that pattern as a European trend in a national election in 2015.

Founded a year earlier out of the anti-austerity movement against Europe’s debt crisis, it won 20 percent in that vote, finishing a close third behind the conservatives (PP) and the Socialists (PSOE) and dismantling the monopoly on power those two parties had held since Spain’s return to democracy in the late 1970s.

Now Podemos is down to around 12 percent, its appeal dented by scandals and divisions over how hard-line the party, which supported a minority Socialist government over the past ten months and sits on some local councils, should be.

“We have caused shame due to our internal fights, our top officials and our visibility,” leader Pablo Iglesias told a rally in March. “We have acted like any other political party.”

With polls showing no single party anywhere close to securing an absolute majority on April 28, Podemos remains one of five parties, also including far-right Vox, with a chance of being part of a governing coalition.

But its hopes of partnering the Socialists would likely rest on outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also persuading skeptical Basque and Catalan nationalists to join that alliance.

In 2015, Podemos (meaning ‘We Can’) surged on a groundswell of anti-austerity support as protesters occupied the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid for weeks during the debt crisis, inspiring similar movements elsewhere in Europe and the United States.

It came within 350,000 votes of the Socialists, unprecedented for a non-mainstream party. But that election was inconclusive and, by the time a fresh ballot was held six months later, Podemos had lost one million votes as the initial excitement waned.

Since then the party has also fragmented.

In January, Podemos’ co-founder Inigo Errejon left to launch another movement, a defection political analysts linked to his failure to maintain the party’s wider appeal as a counterweight to Iglesias’ more far-left stance.

NO LONGER “BREAKING THE SYSTEM”?

Sanchez has said nothing about possible post-election coalitions.

But while his Socialists lead in opinion polls, his options for securing a second term appear largely dependent on how Podemos fares, especially after the center-right Ciudadanos ruled out an alliance.

The right’s options also appear limited, and a repeat election is a distinct possibility.

The dilemma of managing a fragmented or deadlocked political system is one that Spain shares with several neighbors. Politics have ruptured from Italy to France and Greece as the after-effects of the 2009-14 debt crisis and austerity linger.

In Greece, things turned out differently for the anti-austerity left.

Its standard-bearer, Syriza, has governed since 2015, supplanting the establishment Pasok socialists by accepting the strings attached to bailouts and changing from radical to reformer.

Podemos instead chose a harder line. “(In Greece’s case) we drank from that particular chalice, we were disappointed and returned to pragmatism,” said Theodore Couloumbis, a political analyst in Athens.

But, without being in government, Podemos has also been forced to compromise through its representatives on local councils and as a PSOE ally.

“The party has become normal when it got into power,” said Jose Fernandez-Albertos, a political scientist at the Spanish National Research Council. “Voters see that it will no longer break the system.”

If it manages to get into government, Podemos is likely to see its influence limited by its drop in votes, but could still have an impact, as it has done by pushing the Socialists on issues such as increasing the minimum wage.

“Its usefulness is to maintain the Socialists on the left,” Fernandez-Albertos said.

In neighboring Portugal, the Left Bloc also gained from its anti-austerity stance during the debt crisis but lost support since it became an ally of the ruling Socialists in 2015.

That minority government, also supported by the Communists, has achieved stability, potentially giving Sanchez and Iglesias a model to emulate.

But the Socialists and Podemos barely poll 40 percent together, leaving them far short of a majority and needing to quickly attract more votes from elsewhere.

Rafael Mayoral, a member of the Podemos executive, said the party still enjoyed broad appeal, telling Reuters: “We are a popular force that defends working people, from top to bottom.”

But that hasn’t stopped it from splintering. In a regional election in Madrid next month, it will run on three different platforms.

(Additional reporting by Axel Bugge, Michele Kambas, Renee Maltezou and Richard Lough; Writing by Axel Bugge and Ingrid Melander; editing by John Stonestreet)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies said Britain’s decision to allow the firm a restricted role in building parts of its next-generation telecoms network was the kind of solution it was hoping for in New Zealand, where it has been blocked from 5G plans.

Britain will ban Huawei from all core parts of 5G network but give it some access to non-core parts, sources have told Reuters, as it seeks a middle way in a bitter U.S.-China dispute stemming from American allegations that Huawei’s equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage.

Washington has also urged its allies to ban Huawei from building 5G networks, even as the Chinese company, the world’s top producer of telecoms equipment, has repeatedly said the spying concerns are unfounded.

In New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes the United States, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in November turned down an initial request from local telecommunication firm Spark to include Huawei equipment in its 5G network, but later gave the operator options to mitigate national security concerns.

“The proposed solution in the UK to restrict Huawei from bidding for the core is exactly the type of solution we have been looking at in New Zealand,” Andrew Bowater, deputy CEO of Huawei’s New Zealand arm, said in an emailed statement.

Spark said it has noted the developments in Britain and would raise it with the GCSB.

The reports “suggest the UK is following other European jurisdictions in taking a considered and balanced approach to managing supplier-related security risks in 5G”, Andrew Pirie, Spark’s corporate relations lead, said in an email.

“Our discussions with the GCSB are ongoing and we expect that the UK developments will be a further item of discussion between us,” Pirie added.

New Zealand’s minister for intelligence services, Andrew Little, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday that he would report to parliament the conclusions of a government review of the 5G supply chain once they had been taken.

He added that the disclosure of confidential discussions on the role of Huawei was “unacceptable” and that he could not rule out a criminal investigation into the leak.

The decisions by Britain and Germany to use Huawei gear in non-core parts of 5G network makes it harder to prove Huawei should be kept out of New Zealand telecommunication networks, said Syed Faraz Hasan, an expert in communication engineering and networks at New Zealand’s Massey University

He pointed out Huawei gear was already part of the non-core 4G networks that 5G infrastructure would be built on.

“Unless there is a convincing argument against the Huawei devices … it is difficult to keep them away,” Hasan said.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo commodities trader Glencore is pictured in Baar
FILE PHOTO: The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Glencore shares plunged the most in nearly four months on Friday after news overnight that U.S. regulators were investigating whether the miner broke some rules through “corrupt practices”.

Shares of the FTSE 100 company fell as much as 4.2 percent in early deals, and were down 3.5 percent at 310.25 pence by 0728 GMT.

On Thursday, Glencore said the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether the company and its units have violated some provisions of the Commodity ExchangeAct and/or CFTC Regulations.

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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Well, Joe Biden didn’t exactly clear the field.

I don’t think it matters much that Biden waited until yesterday to become the 20th Democrat vying for the nomination, even though it exposed him to weeks of attacks while he seemed to be dithering on the sidelines.

A much greater warning sign, in my view, is the largely negative tone surrounding his debut. He is, after all, a former vice president, highly praised by Barack Obama, who has consistently led in the early primary polls, and beating President Trump in head-to-head matchups. Yet much of the press is acting like he’s an old codger and it’s just a matter of time before he keels over politically.

This is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that the vast majority of journalists and pundits know and like Joe Biden and his gregarious personality.

The reason is that Biden, after a half-century in politics, lacks excitement, and the press is magnetically attracted to novel and unorthodox types like Beto and Mayor Pete. You don’t see Biden on the cover of Vanity Fair, and a grind-it-out win by a conventional warrior doesn’t set journalistic hearts racing.

JOE BIDEN ANNOUNCES 2020 PRESIDENTIAL BID: 3 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE FORMER VICE PRESIDENT

For many in the media, Biden isn’t liberal enough, at least not for the post-Obama era. He doesn’t promise free college and free health care and has a history of working with Republicans, such as John McCain (whose daughter Meghan loves him, and Biden will hit “The View” today.)

What’s more, Biden’s campaign style — speak at rallies, rack up union endorsements — seems hopelessly old-fashioned when we measure popularity by Instagram followers. News outlets are predicting he’ll have trouble getting in the online fundraising game, leaving him reliant on big donors, which used to be standard practice.

And then there’s the age thing. Biden would be the oldest president to be inaugurated, at 78, and he looked a step slow in encounters with reporters yesterday and a few weeks ago.

But what if the journalists are in something of a Twitter bubble, and the actual Democratic Party is much more moderate? We saw that with the spate of allegations by women of unwanted touching, which dominated news coverage until polls showed that most Dem voters weren’t concerned. In that wider world, the Scranton guy’s connection to white, working-class voters could help him against Trump in the industrial Midwest.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF OF THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

Biden denounced the president’s term as an “aberrant moment” in his launch video, saying four more years would damage the country’s character and “I cannot stand by and watch that happen.”

But first, he’d have to win the nomination in the face of an unenthusiastic press corps.

A New York Times news story said Biden would be “marshaling his experience and global stature in a bid to lead a party increasingly defined by a younger generation that might be skeptical of his age and ideological moderation.”

The Washington Post quoted Democratic strategists as saying that Biden faces an “uphill battle” and “isn’t necessarily the heir apparent to Obama, despite being his No. 2 in the White House for eight years. They argue voters will judge Biden by the span of his decades-long career and are worried the veteran pol hasn’t yet found a winning formula for his own candidacy.”

The liberal Slate said the ex-veep’s rivals view him as a “paper tiger”:

“Biden is something more like a 2016 Jeb Bush: a weak establishment favorite whose time might be past … Biden’s biggest challenge in the primary will be a compromised past spanning nearly 50 years.”

“Compromised” suggests a history of scandal, yet what Slate means is political baggage, such as his backing of a Clinton-era crime bill unpopular with black voters today. Yet I think the rank and file isn’t as concerned about a vote back in 1994, or even the Anita Hill hearings, as the chattering classes.

BIDEN’S SENATE RECORD, ADVOCACY OF 1994 CRIME BILL WILL BE USED AGAINST HIM, EX-SANDERS STAFFER SAYS

One of the few left-leaning pundits to suggest the press is underestimating Biden is data guru Nate Silver at 538:

“Media coverage could nonetheless be a problem for Biden. Within the mainstream media, the story of Biden winning the nomination will be seen as boring and anticlimactic. That tends not to lead to favorable coverage. Meanwhile, some left-aligned media outlets may prefer candidates who are some combination of more leftist, more wonkish, more reflective of the party’s diversity, and more adept on social media.

“If Biden is framed as being out of touch with today’s Democratic Party and that narrative is repeated across a variety of outlets, it could begin to resonate with voters who don’t buy it initially. If he’s seen as a gaffe-prone candidate, then minor missteps on the campaign trail could be blown up into big fumbles.”

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Look, it’s entirely possible that Biden could stumble, get lapped in fundraising and just be outclassed by younger and savvier rivals. He was hardly a great candidate in 1987 and in 2008.

But if the former vice president finds his footing and the field narrows, the press will be forced to change its tune, and we’ll see a spate of stories about how Joe Biden has “grown.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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South Africa's 400m Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk looks on as he attends South African Championships in Germiston
South Africa’s 400m Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk looks on as he attends South African Championships in Germiston, South Africa, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

April 26, 2019

GERMISTON, South Africa (Reuters) – Olympic 400 meters champion Wayde van Niekerk has backed South African compatriot Caster Semenya in her battle with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which now appears to have taken a new twist.

Semenya, a double 800 meters Olympic gold medalist, is waiting for the outcome of her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to halt the introduction of new regulations by governing body IAAF that would require her to take medicine to limit her natural levels of testosterone.

The IAAF wants female athletes with differences of sexual development who run in events from 400 meters to a mile, to reduce their blood testosterone level to below five (5) nmol/L for a period of six months before they can compete, saying they have an unfair advantage.

“She’s fighting for something beyond just track and field, she’s fighting for woman in sports, in society and I respect her for that,” Van Niekerk told reporters.

“I will support her and with the hard work and talent that she’s been putting into the sport. With what she believes in and what she’s dreaming for, I’ve got a lot of respect for her.

“I really hope and pray that everything just goes from strength to strength for her.”

Semenya has sprung a surprise at the on-going South African Athletics Championships though, ditching the 800 meters and instead competing over 1,500 and 5,000-metres – the latter one would not require her to medically lower her testosterone level.

She stormed to victory in the 5,000-metres final in a modest time of 16:05.97, but looked to have lots left in the tank as she passed the finish line.

Semenya beat fellow Olympian and defending national 5,000m champion Dominique Scott in Thursday’s final but the latter admitted she is unsure whether the 800m specialist could be a serious Olympic contender over the longer distance.

“Honestly‚ I have no idea‚” Scott said. “Before today I probably would have said no. It’s hard to compare a 5,000 at altitude to a 5,000 at sea level.

“But I think she’s an amazing runner and I don’t think there’s any limit or ceiling on what she can do.”

Van Niekerk, the 400m world record holder, had to abort his comeback from a knee injury, that had sidelined him for 18 months, following a combination of cold weather and a wet track.

“We are trying to take the correct decisions now early in the year so as not to put myself in any harm,” he said.

“It was a bit chilly this entire week prepping and coming through here as well it was quite cold and it caused bit of tightness in my leg. We decided to not risk it.

“My recovery is going well and I would like to be back in competition this year, but will only do so if I can deliver a good performance.

“I am a competitor and respect my opponents, so I need to be at my best when I return.”

(Reporting by Nick Said, additional reporting by Siyabonga Sishi; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)

Source: OANN

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The suspected leader of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka died in the Shangri-La hotel, one of six hotels and churches targeted in the attacks that killed at least 250 people, authorities said.

Police said Mohamed Zahran, leader of the National Towheed Jamaat militant group, had been killed in one of the bombings. The group’s second in command was also arrested, police said.

Zahran amassed an online following for his hate-filled sermons. Some were delivered before a banner depicting the Twin Towers.

Sri Lankan authorities said Friday that Islamic cleric Mohammed Zahran died in the blast at the Shangri-La hotel during the Easter Sunday atatcks that killed at least 250 people. 

Sri Lankan authorities said Friday that Islamic cleric Mohammed Zahran died in the blast at the Shangri-La hotel during the Easter Sunday atatcks that killed at least 250 people.  (YouTube)

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday that the attackers responsible for the bombings were supported by the Islamic State group. Around 140 people in Sri Lanka had connections to ISIS, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said.

“We will completely control this and create a free and peaceful environment for people to live,” he said.

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Investigators determined the attackers received military training from someone called “Army Mohideen.” They also received weapons training overseas and at some locations in Sri Lanka, according to authorities.

A copper factory operator arrested in connection with the bombings helped Mohideen make improvised explosive devices, police said. The bombings have led to increased security throughout the island nation as authorities warned of another attack.

Source: Fox News World

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