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Upstart party turns cannabis into key Israeli election issue

The Cinderella story of Israel's current election campaign is a fringe party led by an ultranationalist libertarian with a criminal record who vows to legalize marijuana, and seems to diverge dramatically from the long list of quirky candidates of the past who have drawn attention to their improbable runs for parliament.

For starters, Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party has a real shot of getting elected and could even emerge as a kingmaker in a tightly contested race for prime minister.

But his seemingly liberal civic platform, which has generated a strong hipster following, could be masking a far more polarizing agenda. The political manifesto of his Zehut — Hebrew for identity — party includes canceling signed agreements with the Palestinians and making Israeli Arab citizens pass a loyalty test.

Source: Fox News World

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Man accused of killing girlfriend, family pleads not guilty

A man accused of killing his girlfriend, her family and his parents in Louisiana has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say they're seeking the death penalty.

News outlets report 21-year-old Dakota Theriot entered the pleas Monday to three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his girlfriend, Summer Ernest; her father, Billy Ernest; and her brother, Tanner Ernest.

Authorities say Theriot shot the Ernests in Livingston Parish, then his parents, Elizabeth and Keith Theriot, in Ascension Parish. He was arrested in Virginia . The five slayings happened in January.

Livingston Parish District Attorney Scott Perrilloux says he considered reports that Theriot is mentally ill, but ultimately nothing convinced prosecutors not to seek his execution. Perrilloux expects an insanity defense.

Theriot hasn't been indicted yet in Ascension Parish. His lawyer declined to comment to The Advocate .

___

Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com

Source: Fox News National

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Biden laughs off touchy talk


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On the roster: Biden laughs off touchy talk - Schultz is ready to rumble - March jobs surge - Trump retracts threat to close border - Um, ouch?

BIDEN LAUGHS OFF TOUCHY TALK
NYT:Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Friday twice jokingly referred to allegations from several women that he had made them uncomfortable with his physical contact, using his first public remarks since the complaints emerged to try to push past the controversy that overtook his expected presidential campaign in the past week. Speaking at an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers conference in Washington, the former vice president largely stuck to his long-running political themes, highlighting the importance of uniting a divided nation and restoring the ‘great American middle class’ — save for two notable asides. As he took the stage, he hugged Lonnie R. Stephenson, the union’s president. ‘I just want you to know I had permission to hug Lonnie,’ he said, and the largely male crowd burst into laughter. The joke came as Mr. Biden was fending off criticism from some Democrats, who worry that the 76-year-old is out of step with the party’s mores around gender and race.”

Obama stays mum on Biden bashing - Fox News: “Former President Barack Obama is staying silent on allegations surrounding Joe Biden, but he still has his ex-VP’s back, a new report claims. Obama hasn’t commented publicly on allegations from a number of women that the former vice president touched them inappropriately. But someone close to Obama said the former president still views Biden as someone who could be an ‘excellent’ commander-in-chief, according to a new report. ‘He's spent an infinite amount of time talking about his character, and they remain in touch and good friends,’ a source close to the former president said, The Hill reported. … The source reportedly continued: ‘President Obama is not going to be weighing in on the primary and the day-to-day stories around it. And Joe Biden would be the first to tell you that he'll have to earn the nomination on his own.’”

THE RULEBOOK: AMEN TO THAT
“The prudent inquiry, in all cases, ought surely to be, not so much FROM WHOM the advice comes, as whether the advice be GOOD.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 40

TIME OUT: ARCHAEOLOGICAL LOST AND FOUND
Smithsonian: “In the 19th century, 46 ornate medieval gravestones were discovered at a churchyard in the Scottish district of Govan, which is now part of Glasgow. Thirty-one of the ‘Govan Stones’ were moved into the church for safekeeping, and the rest were displayed against a churchyard wall. But in the 1970s, amid the hubbub of the demolition of an adjacent shipyard, the outdoor stones disappeared. Experts believed they had been destroyed. Thanks to a 14-year-old aspiring archaeologist, [Mark McGettigan], there is now hope that the lost Govan Stones have survived to the present day, as the BBC reports. … Two professional archaeologists [helped] Mark in extracting the object from the ground and cleaning it off. Records helped confirmed that the stone they pulled from the ground was in fact one of the famed Govan set. Subsequent excavations led to the discovery of two more of the missing stones. The trio, which date to the 10th and 11th centuries, are adorned with crosses and Celtic interlace patterns similar to the ones seen on the stones inside the church.”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance 
Average approval: 
42.6 percent
Average disapproval: 52.8 percent
Net Score: -10.2 points
Change from one week ago: down 0.4 points 
[Average includes: NBC/WSJ: 43% approve - 53% disapprove; Pew Research Center: 41% approve - 55% disapprove; NPR/PBS/Marist: 44% approve - 50% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 39% approve - 55% disapprove; Fox News: 46% approve - 51% disapprove.]

SCHULTZ IS READY TO RUMBLE
Fox News: “Potential independent 2020 White House contender Howard Schultz predicted outright that President Trump will win re-election if Democrats nominate a self-described socialist like Bernie Sanders, during Fox News' ‘America's Election HQ’ Town Hall Thursday night in Kansas City, Missouri. Schultz also said he ‘took full responsibility’ for his disastrous ownership of the former Seattle SuperSonics… Mismanaging a basketball team of ‘13 people’ and driving away the city's first major professional sports franchise, Schultz insisted, should not in any way be seen as a ‘proxy’ for his presidential chops. The Town Hall, co-hosted by Fox News' Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, began as Schultz called former Vice President Joe Biden's behavior around women ‘concerning’ … Asked by Baier if Schultz would ever vote for Biden, Schultz said simply that he would ‘vote for myself.’ However, he clarified that he was not announcing a presidential run Thursday.”

He’s on the Buttigieg of an announcement - WNDU: “The mayor of South Bend will be making a special announcement next week. It's the secret that's perhaps not so secret. In the last few weeks, Mayor Pete Buttigieg said he'd decide soon if he'll officially run for president in the 2020 election. ‘It's the kind of announcement you only get to make once,’ Buttigieg said during a Thursday interview on ABC's ‘Good Morning America.’ He currently has a presidential exploratory committee. So, will he finally announce he's running for president in 2020? He might. But for now, he posted a video to his Twitter account inviting his supporters to RSVP and join him in South Bend on April 14.”

Swalwell will make gun control his campaign platform - Atlantic: “There are more long-shot Democrats running for president this year than there have been total candidates in previous campaigns—and next week, Eric Swalwell is joining the pack. The California congressman and frequent cable-news guest on all things related to President Donald Trump and Russia will announce his presidential plans in an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. But he won’t be running on Russia, or on the continuing fallout from the Mueller report and the Barr letter. Swalwell will center his campaign on gun control. … When [The Atlantic] reached out to Swalwell on Wednesday evening, he wouldn’t confirm the news, but he didn’t leave much doubt that he intends to run for president. ‘We are doing a town hall in Parkland,’ he told [The Atlantic].”

Dems compete for Al Sharpton’s approval - Fox News: “The Rev. Al Sharpton has emerged as a kingmaker in the crowded 2020 Democratic field, as the party's White House hopefuls lined up this week to pitch their vision of America to him in hopes of receiving his blessing. All of the top Democratic contenders were in New York City this week, attending Sharpton's National Action Network convention and discussing the issue of racism in America. More speeches were scheduled for Friday. Among the attendees: former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg; and U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar.”

MARCH JOBS SURGE
WaPo: “The U.S. economy added 196,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department reported Friday, in line with expectations and a strong rebound from the anemic 33,000 jobs added in February. Experts see little sign of an imminent recession as hiring remains robust and the unemployment rate stayed at 3.8 percent. The low level of hiring in February now seems like an anomaly, possibly been caused by employers’ hesi­ta­tion to bring on new employees in the deep of winter and an economic hangover from the lengthy government shutdown. ‘The labor market remains healthy, and last month is just an outlier,’ said Brad McMillian, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network. The United States has had more job openings than unemployed workers since last summer, spurring companies to raise wages and offer signing bonuses and more training programs in an effort to recruit and train employees.”

TRUMP RETRACTS THREAT TO CLOSE BORDER
WaPo: “Facing widespread opposition, President Trump backed down Thursday from his threat to close the southern border, instead giving Mexico a ‘one-year warning,’ but also leaving his administration with no clear path to deal with a record surge of migrant families. Trump had issued an ultimatum on Twitter late last week that he would move to seal the border to trade and travel… The president’s pronouncement, coming amid reports that U.S. Border Patrol was at the ‘breaking point,’ surprised White House aides and sparked fear among Republican allies and business leaders over the potentially devastating economic impact of closing the 2,000-mile border with the nation’s third-largest trading partner. … Those efforts were rendered moot Thursday when Trump, in an exchange with reporters at the White House, suddenly shifted gears, saying that if Mexico does not stem the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States within the next year, he will impose first tariffs on cars and then, possibly, close the border.”

This comes as he returns to the southern border Friday - USA Today: “President Donald Trump heads back to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday as his administration ramps up pressure on Mexico to stop migrants and drugs from flowing illegally into the United States. Trump’s visit to Calexico, California, comes just one day after he backed off an earlier threat to seal off the border. … The small California city sits on the U.S.-Mexico border, about 120 miles east of San Diego and about 60 miles west of Yuma, Arizona. It’s also where a 30-foot segment of replacement border fencing was installed last year, the first such project in Trump’s presidency. A plaque welded to the bollard-style fencing refers to the 2.25-mile-long barrier as ‘the first section of President Trump's border wall.’”

PELOSI HAS DOUBTS ABOUT MEDICARE FOR ALL
WaPo: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi questioned whether a health-care proposal embraced by several Democratic presidential candidates would be too expensive and fail to provide the same coverage as the Affordable Care Act. Instead, Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested Thursday that she would rather build on the 2010 law and is yet to be convinced the Medicare-for-all proposal pushed by many liberals would achieve its purported goals. ‘I’m agnostic. Show me how you think you can get there,’ Pelosi said in an interview with The Washington Post. ‘We all share the value of health care for all Americans — quality, affordable health care for all Americans. What is the path to that? I think it’s the Affordable Care Act, and if that leads to Medicare-for-all, that may be the path.’ She also suggested that Medicare-for-all had become more of a buzzword among political activists in the run-up to the 2020 campaign, a loosely defined concept that few people understood in concrete terms.”

And she won’t budge on NAFTA - Bloomberg: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she doesn’t plan to use President Donald Trump’s new North American trade accord as leverage to advance other Democratic priorities like a minimum wage hike, easing concern that the deal could get stalled by unrelated negotiations. ‘It will stand on its own,’ Pelosi said of the trade deal with Canada and Mexico, adding that she is focused on strengthening enforcement of the pact’s provisions rather than bringing other policy issues to the table. ‘I’m hopeful that we could get a trade agreement, but it has to be one that is real and that works.’ The trade accord faces challenges in all three countries, including a tight timetable and uneven support among the American electorate.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Trump readies his post-White House memoir - Daily Beast

Report: Two Nobel Peace Prize nominations for Trump were forged - NYT

Poll: Partisan divide over tax law grows - Pew Research Center

Manchin mulling run for West Virginia governor - Politico

Texas Dems launch initiative to unseat Cornyn - Texas Tribune

AUDIBLE: NEVER FORGOTTEN
“His life, career, ideological evolution, and philosophical background are reminders that he matters not only for what he thought but for how he thought. Three things characterized the life of Charles Krauthammer: chance, contention, and pluralism.” – An excerpt taken from Matthew Continetti’s piece, “Why Charles Krauthammer Matters,” from National Review.

ANY GIVEN SUNDAY
This weekend Bill Hemmer will guest anchor for Mr. Sunday. He will sit down with Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M. Watch “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.” Check local listings for broadcast times in your area.

#mediabuzz - Host Howard Kurtz has the latest take on the week’s media coverage. Watch #mediabuzz Sundays at 11 a.m. ET.

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“‘There is a substantial minority of American voters who deeply distrust both parties.’ To be fair, this isn't a new phenomenon (you mentioned Ross Perot as a great example of a non-politician who gained national traction with the voters) and is likely the biggest reason Trump was elected. Schultz, like Trump, has made his own way by providing goods and services both political and non-political people enjoy. Schultz now has the same opportunity to show voters he isn't beholden to either major political party, exclusively. And so far, it's his best strength. Voters have been over-promised for decades by the major parties. Should Schultz run for his first political office this election season, he has a real chance to pull away even more voters from the two parties. Maybe then, just maybe, the leaders in the parties will tamp down the ‘us vs. them’ rhetoric and focus their efforts on trustworthiness while getting their elected jobs done. Sure, it's a stretch, but electing another non-establishment candidate might start us down that road.” – Mark Hoffman, Des Moines, Iowa                                        

[Ed. note: And now it looks like he might be having fun. It sounds strange to say, but the truth is people who win presidential elections are usually the people who enjoy running for president. Watching Schultz on Thursday I realized that for the first time he might be getting a little jazzed about the possibility. Running for president is a brutal, cruel business. If you don’t enjoy the fun parts then you’re doomed. Schultz is starting to look like the kind of guy who would relish the challenge.]                                                                                 

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

UM, OUCH?
The Fresno Bee: “A Fresno [California] equipment store owner wants help finding the man who stole an Echo chainsaw Wednesday by shoving it down his pants before driving away in a Dodge Ram pickup. Jeff Bennett, of RG Equipment near East Clinton and North Fowler avenues, said the theft was caught on his security camera about 2:45 p.m. The video shows the suspect casually stuffing the chainsaw blade in his pants and then covering the engine assembly with his jacket. Bennett described the pickup as a late-1990s model Ram, silver, with an extended cab. Bennett said he believes the thief had an accomplice who had been in the store last week, ‘scoping out’ the area. As of Thursday afternoon, the suspect was still at large, but Fresno Police Lt. Mark Hudson said a man did show up at the department’s southeast station in connection with the theft.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“We had no idea how lucky we were with Sputnik. The subsequent panic turned out to be an enormous boon. The fear of falling behind the Communists induced the federal government to pour a river of money into science and math education. The result was a generation of scientists…” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the National Review on Oct. 5, 2007.

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Report: Avenatti Name-Dropped Trump, R. Kelly in Extortion Squeeze

Lawyer Michael Avenatti named-dropped President Donald Trump and R. Kelly — two of his most high-profile legal adversaries — during an alleged $20 million extortion of Nike, the New York Post reported.

Citing court papers filed Monday, the Post reported two Nike lawyers working with federal authorities secretly recorded Avenatti demanding a $12 million “retainer” to stay quiet about claims that Nike made illegal payments to high school athletes.

Avenatti also allegedly said he and an alleged co-conspirator — identified by the Wall Street Journal as celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos — would need as much as $25 million to do an “internal investigation” for Nike.

Avenatti allegedly told the Nike lawyers he’d hold a news conference if his demands weren’t met, adding that “as soon as this becomes public, I am going to receive calls from all over the country from parents and coaches and friends and all kinds of people.”

“Ninety percent of that is going to be bulls–t because it’s always bulls–t 90 percent of the time, always, whether it’s R. Kelly or Trump, the list goes on and on — but 10 percent of it is actually going to be true, and then what’s going to happen is this is going to snowball,” he allegedly warned.

Avenatti turned himself into a household name through his representation of porn star Stormy Daniels over her claims of an affair with Trump. He’s also represented several clients tied to the sex abuse allegations case against Kelly.

Source: NewsMax America

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Debenhams rejects Sports Direct complaints about its disclosure

FILE PHOTO: Shoppers walk past the Debenhams department store on Oxford Street in London
FILE PHOTO: Shoppers walk past the Debenhams department store on Oxford Street in London, Britain December 15, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

March 13, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – British department store Debenhams on Wednesday rejected what it said were “unfounded and self-serving complaints” from shareholder Sports Direct about its communications to the market before it warned on profit earlier this month.

Mike Ashley, the founder and majority shareholder of Sports Direct, is trying to take charge of Debenhams by seeking to remove most of the board and install himself in an executive role. Sport Direct owns nearly 30 percent of Debenhams.

Sports Direct wrote to Debenhams directors before it warned on profit, saying comments made eight weeks earlier that cost savings were helping compensate for difficult trading were “at best impossibly optimistic or at worst deliberately misleading”, according to a report in the Financial Times.

“We reject these unfounded and self-serving complaints,” Debenhams said.

“Debenhams’ board has taken advice at every stage in order to ensure that its announcements have been consistent with the disclosure requirements.

“The company is seeking to execute a much-needed restructuring – in the interests of all stakeholders – while its biggest shareholder tries to undermine the process at every turn.”

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by David Evans)

Source: OANN

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Ecuador holding Swedish programmer linked to Assange in custody

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen in a police van, after he was arrested by British police, in London
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen in a police van, after he was arrested by British police, in London, Britain April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

April 12, 2019

CARACAS (Reuters) – Ecuador said on Friday it is holding a programmer linked to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in custody pending possible charges of interfering in private communications, a day after ending Assange’s seven-year asylum in its London embassy.

Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said prosecutors could file charges against Ola Bini, who she said lives in Ecuador and had visited Assange in the London embassy a dozen times.

President Lenin Moreno in recent weeks had accused WikiLeaks and Assange of violating his privacy by publishing family photos of him. WikiLeaks denies the accusation, and says Moreno was trying to stifle reporting of corruption allegations against him.

“He is detained for the purposes of investigation. This is a detention that took place in recent hours, ordered by judges of course, and requested by state prosecutors,” Romo said in televised comments. “This person is very close to WikiLeaks.”

Romo, who on Thursday had announced the detention of an unidentified individual, did not provide further details.

On his website, Bini describes himself as a software developer who works for the Quito-based Center for Digital Autonomy, which focuses on digital privacy and security. The site does not mention WikiLeaks.

Bini and the Center for Digital Autonomy did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Romo said the government had information that Bini had traveled on several occasions with Ricardo Patino, who was Ecuador Foreign Minister when Assange was granted asylum in 2012 during the government of former President Rafael Correa.

Patino via Twitter said he does not know Bini.

Romo said two Russian citizens were also under investigation but had not been arrested.

Moreno’s government accused WikiLeaks of being behind an anonymous website that said Moreno’s brother had created offshore companies that his family used to fund a luxurious lifestyle in Europe while Moreno was a delegate to a United Nations agency.

Moreno, who was Correa’s vice president but fell out with him after taking office in 2017, denies wrongdoing.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia and Jose Llangari; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Richard Chang)

Source: OANN

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Trump  Considers Powell, Craft, Grenell, James for UN Job

President Donald Trump is considering four people to be his next UN ambassador: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner Dina Powell, the current ambassadors to Canada and Germany, Kelly Craft and Richard Grenell, and John James, a former Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, according to people familiar with the matter.

The people asked not to be identified because Trump hasn’t made a decision. Top White House aides have also discussed nominating Trump’s daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump if no front-runner emerges.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert withdrew her nomination to replace former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in the job, partly due to issues that arose around a nanny Nauert once employed. The nanny was a legal U.S. immigrant but wasn’t authorized to work, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Powell is a veteran of the Trump administration who served as a deputy national security adviser before returning to Goldman Sachs last year. Craft was deeply involved in Trump’s renegotiation of Nafta and is married to Joe Craft, a billionaire Republican fundraiser and executive at coal producer Alliance Resource Partners.

Grenell manages the U.S. relationship with the German government, which has grown tense because of a variety of conflicts with the Trump administration, including a dispute over a gas pipeline deal between Germany and Russia and the president’s consideration of tariffs on imported cars.

James fell short in an attempt to unseat Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow last year, but the Michigan businessman is well liked within the White House and has been considered for other administration jobs.

Nauert announced she would withdraw her nomination on Saturday in a State Department statement that didn’t acknowledge her nanny issue or any other particular problem. The situation with her nanny would have likely come out in her confirmation hearing and is a political liability because of Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants and illegal migration.

A day before Nauert withdrew, Trump declared a national emergency to secure more money for his proposed wall on the U.S. border with Mexico after Congress approved only about $1.4 billion in a spending deal.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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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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Funeral of journalist Lyra McKee in Belfast
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn attends the funeral service for murdered journalist Lyra McKee at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland April 24, 2019. Brian Lawless/Pool via REUTERS

April 26, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – The leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said on Friday he had turned down an invitation to a state dinner which will be part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Britain in June.

“Theresa May should not be rolling out the red carpet for a state visit to honor a president who rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric,” Corbyn said in a statement.

He said maintaining the relationship with the United States did not require “the pomp and ceremony of a state visit” and he said he would welcome a meeting with Trump “to discuss all matters of interest.”

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Writing by William Schomberg)

Source: OANN

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Libyan Minister of Economy Ali Abdulaziz Issawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli
Libyan Minister of Economy Ali Abdulaziz Issawi speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tripoli, Libya April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Hani Amara

April 26, 2019

By Ulf Laessing

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s U.N.-recognized government has budgeted up to 2 billion dinars ($1.43 billion) to cover costs of a three-week-old war for control of the capital, such as treatment for the wounded, to be funded without new borrowing, the economy minister said.

Ali Abdulaziz Issawi suggested the government hoped for business to continue more or less as usual despite the assault on Tripoli, in the country’s northwest, by forces tied to a parallel administration based in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Once Africa’s third largest producer of oil, Libya has been riven by factional conflict since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with the country now broadly split between eastern-based forces under Khalifa Haftar and the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, in the west, under Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj.

Still, with Haftar’s Libyan National Army forces unable so far to pierce defenses in Tripoli’s southern suburbs, normal life and business activities continue in much of the capital and western coastal towns.

Issawi, in an interview with Reuters in his Tripoli office, also said Libya’s commercial ports and wheat imports were still functioning normally, although some roads have been blocked.

He said the Serraj government estimates it will spend up to 2 billion dinars extra on medical treatment for wounded, aid for displaced people and other “emergency” war costs.

He said this was not military spending but analysts believe that the sum will also cover expenditures such as pay for allied armed groups or food for fighters.

“We could actually spend less,” he added, in comments that gave the first insight into the economic impact of the fighting.

Issawi said the Tripoli government, which controls little territory beyond the greater capital region, would not incur new debt to fund the war costs, sticking to a plan to post a 2019 budget without a deficit.

Tripoli derives revenue largely from oil and natural gas production, interest-free loans from local banks to the central bank, and a 183 percent surcharge on foreign exchange transactions conducted at official rates.

But with centralized tax collection greatly diminished, public debt has piled up – to 68 billion dinars in the west, including unpaid state obligations such as social insurance.

Some analysts expect Serraj’s government will be forced to raise new debt if the war for control of Tripoli drags on.

With much of Libya dominated by armed factions that also act as security forces, the public wage bill for both the western and eastern administrations has soared as fighters have been made public employees in efforts to buy their loyalty.

The east has sold bonds worth 35 billion dinars outside the official financial system as the Tripoli central bank does not fund the parallel government apart from some wages.

Despite its limited reach, the Tripoli government still runs an annual budget of around 46.8 billion dinars, mainly for public salaries and fuel subsidies.

“This year we cannot finance via debt…we will not borrow (by agreement with the central bank),” Issawi said.

According to International Monetary Fund data, Libya’s central government debt-to-GDP ratio is 143 percent, making it one of the most heavily indebted in the world on that measure.

Issawi declined to say what parts of the budget would be trimmed to support the extra outlay for war costs.

However, with some 70 percent of the budget allocated to public wages, fuel subsidies and other welfare benefits, a portion devoted to infrastructure is most likely to be axed.

Widespread lawlessness has meant there have been no major infrastructural projects since 2011, when a NATO-backed uprising overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi, leaving schools, hospitals and roads in acute need of restoration.

FOREX SURCHARGE

Issawi said the government planned to raise as much as 30 billion dinars by the end of 2019 from hard currency deals after imposing in September a 183 percent surcharge on commercial and private transactions done on the official rate of 1.4 to the U.S. dollar. That fee has effectively devalued the official rate to 3.9, much closer to the black market equivalent.

Some 17 billion dinars have been raised since then, with hard currency allocated for import credit letters now issued without delays, Issawi said. The forex fee has helped the government forecast a budget in the black for 2019.

Despite the narrowing spread between the two rates, the black market continues to thrive. Dozens of traders remained at their favorite spot behind the central bank headquarters in Tripoli when Reuters reporters visited it last week.

But traders said it could take time for the Serraj government to register the extra forex receipts as official banking channels were taking up to six months to approve import financing, keeping the black market in play for dealers.

Issawi said authorities planned to lower the forex fee from 183 percent, without saying when. The black market rate has dropped from 6 to around 4.1 since September but it has hardly moved of late as demand for black market cash remains high.

The Tripoli government has stopped subsidizing food and bread, which used to be cheaper than drinking water in Libya. Wheat imports are now being arranged by private traders and there are surplus stocks of flour at the moment, Issawi said.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing in Tripoli with additional reporting by Karin Strohecker in London; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., threatened possible jail time for White House officials refusing to comply with subpoenas to testify before the House Oversight Committee.

Connolly, a member of the House panel, made his comments during an interview on CNN on Thursday. He said that “if a subpoena is issued and you’re told you must testify, we will back that up.”

He added: “And we will use any and all power in our command to make sure it’s backed up — whether that’s a contempt citation, whether that’s going to court and getting that citation enforced, whether it’s fines, whether it’s possible incarceration.”

“We will go to the max to enforce the constitutional role of the legislative branch of government.”

His comments came after three officials have refused to comply with congressional requests to testify, CNN noted.

Trump told The Washington Post that his staff should not testify on Capitol Hill, explaining that the White House cooperated fully with special counsel Robert Mueller and “there is no reason to go any further, especially in Congress where it’s very partisan.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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“Outdated laws” need fixing to deal with the surge in illegal immigrant families crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, a top Border Patrol official said Friday.

Migrant families face no consequences if apprehended trying to cross the border illegally under present law, Border Patrol chief of Operations Brian Hastings claimed during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“We need a change in the current outdated laws that we’re dealing with for this current demographic and this crisis that we have,” he said.

Hastings said as of Thursday there have been 440,000 apprehensions along the southwest border. There were 396,000 apprehensions all of last year.

SOUTHERN BORDER AT ‘BREAKING POINT’ AFTER MORE THAN 76,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TRIED CROSSING IN FEBRUARY, OFFICIALS SAY

And those numbers continue to rise, he said.

Historically 70 to 90 percent of apprehensions at the border were quickly returned to Mexico, Hastings said.

Now, 83 percent of those apprehended have come from the Central American northern triangle which includes Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, and of those 63 percent are “family units” and children who cannot be returned, he said.

“There are no consequences that we can apply to this group currently,” Hastings said. “We’re overwhelmed. If you look at agents there doing a tremendous job trying to deal with the flow.”

The law dictates children have to be released after 20 days of detention.

FLORIDA SHERIFF ON BORDER CRISIS AFTER MAJOR DRUG BUST: ‘IT MAKES ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY’

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says that has forced immigration officials to release entire families because “you don’t want to separate families.”

Recently, he said he is drafting legislation that would allow children to be detained for more than 20 days.

Hastings said agents are frustrated with the situation but are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

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“Up to 40 percent of our agents are processing at any given time,” he said. “That should say that in and of itself is pulling from those border security resources.”

Source: Fox News National

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