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Colombia: Even Maduro's relatives seeking relief from outage

The blackout engulfing Venezuela is forcing many to seek refuge — even, as it turns out, President Nicolas Maduro's own relatives.

Authorities in neighboring Colombia said the leader's cousin, Argimiro Maduro, along with his spouse, children and extended relatives, approached a border checkpoint leading into Colombia on Monday seeking relief from the power outage.

According to officials, the group of 10 complained that the heat was unbearable as the blackout dragged on and said they wanted to spend five days in Riohacha, a city in northern Colombia with easy access to turquoise beaches along the Caribbean Sea.

But their plans were dashed when migration authorities found their names on a list of over 300 people with close ties to Maduro who should be denied entry.

"While the people of Venezuela die in hospitals because of the lack of electricity, we're not going to allow those close to the Maduro regime to vacation in Colombia, evading the reality of a people in agony," Colombia Migration Director Christian Kruger said.

Photos released by Colombian migration official show the group seeking access in baseball caps and shorts. One man wore a T-shirts with palm trees.

Maduro did not comment on the report that his family was seeking access to Colombia, though he has told Venezuelans in statements broadcast on state television that he has been suffering through the blackout alongside them.

Colombia's government has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's rightful president and recently began denying entry to close Maduro associates as a way of increasing pressure on his administration to hold new elections.

Maduro severed diplomatic relations with Colombia in late February after opposition leaders tried to bring international humanitarian aid collected in the Colombian border city of Cucuta across two bridges into Venezuela. The bridges remain closed except for access to students and patients.

Thousands of Venezuelans enter Colombia each day seeking food and medical care and sometimes they come with the goal of leaving permanently. The United Nations estimates at least 3.4 million Venezuelans have fled their homeland in recent years.

A power outage that struck last Thursday at the evening rush hour left almost the entire nation in the dark. Venezuela's information minister said Tuesday that the power grid had been almost completely restored, though there were still some pockets reported without power.

Venezuelan authorities are blaming the outage on a cyberattack, but engineers with knowledge of the grid's operating system say that was essentially impossible because the computers used have no internet connection and communicate only with each other.

Venezuelans have been taking extreme measures to find relief from the outage, parking their cars alongside the road wherever they can find a cellphone signal and collecting buckets of water from the badly polluted Guaire River in capital city Caracas.

Source: Fox News World

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Dominant Nadal makes winning start in Monte Carlo

ATP 1000 - Monte Carlo Masters
Tennis - ATP 1000 - Monte Carlo Masters - Monte-Carlo Country Club, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France - April 17, 2019 Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning his second round match against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

April 17, 2019

(Reuters) – Rafa Nadal produced a claycourt masterclass to pick apart fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1 6-1, as the world number two began his Monte Carlo Masters title defense in stunning fashion on Wednesday.

Playing his first match since injuring his knee at Indian Wells last month, Nadal showed no signs of rust as he raced into a 5-0 lead in the first set on Court Rainier III.

Bautista Agut did get on the board but Nadal clinched the opening set and put his opponent under further pressure with another break of serve at the start of the second.

There was no stopping Nadal who regularly moved Bautista Agut out of position, opening the court up effortlessly with powerful forehand combinations.

After saving three break points at 2-1, Nadal displayed his clinical side at the net to secure a 4-1 advantage and went on to claim a convincing win.

The 11-times Monte Carlo champion extended his winning streak to 16 matches at the tournament and will face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the third round.

“It was a great start, it’s good to be back here,” Nadal, the 17-times Grand Slam winner, said.

“I’ve had some great moments on this court, I really enjoy playing here.

“It’s not easy to come back from injury, I had to do a lot of mental work as well to be prepared. I tried to play solid, dominate with my forehand when I had the chance.”

German hotshot Alexander Zverev showed signs of a return to his explosive best in a 6-1 6-4 win over Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Third seed Zverev, who lives in Monte Carlo, reached the semi-finals of his ‘home’ event a year ago, but has endured a difficult 2019 season.

After finishing runner-up to Australian Nick Kyrgios in Acapulco, Zverev has suffered early exits at Indian Wells, Miami and Marrakech.

“This is the first time this season I’ve felt really healthy,” said the 21-year-old.

“I’ve been training well but haven’t been able to take that into matches.

“I live just 500 meters from here, I’m comfortable on this court. I’m starting to feel better about my game. I’m really ready for the clay season.”

Last year’s French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem won 20 of his 23 first-serve points in a commanding display to beat Slovakian Martin Klizan 6-1 6-4.

Greek sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas also progressed, defeating Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3 7-5.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

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German 2020 budget plan calls for 1.7 percent boost in spending: sources

50 and 20 Euro banknotes are displayed in this picture illustration
FILE PHOTO: 50 and 20 Euro banknotes are displayed in this picture illustration taken November 14, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Illustration

March 18, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – The German government’s budget plan for 2020 calls for a 1.7 percent hike in spending to 362.6 billion euros and relies on ministries cutting costs to avoid incurring new debt given forecasts for slower economic growth, Finance Ministry sources said on Monday.

The plan assumes that Europe’s largest economy will grow by 1.0 percent in 2019, down from an initially projected 1.8 percent, the sources said.

The Economy Ministry last week said the economy had a subdued start to 2019 and probably grew moderately in the first quarter, its outlook dampened by trade conflicts and sluggish demand for industrial products among other factors.

To balance the budget, government ministries will have to identify combined spending cuts of 625 million euros each year, with program delays and other measures to contribute additional savings, the sources said.

In a move that could anger U.S. President Donald Trump, the budget foresees a further increase in military spending in 2020 but does not provide a plan for how to reach the NATO target of spending 2 percent of economic output on defense.

The ministry sources said military spending would rise by 2.1 billion euros over a previous plan for 2020, boosting the share of defense spending to 1.37 percent of gross domestic product from 1.25 percent in 2018 and 1.3 percent this year.

The military budget is slated to rise to 45.1 billion euros in 2020 from planned spending of 43.2 billion this year, a separate government source said.

However, the share of military spending would drop back to 1.25 percent in 2023, with any further spending increases to be negotiated year by year, the sources said. “We’re taking it one step at a time,” said one of the sources.

That leaves Germany well below the 2 percent target set by NATO members for 2024, and below the 1.5 percent share that Germany has pledged to meet by that date.

(Reporting by Holger Hansen and Andreas Rinke; Writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Thomas Seythal and Hugh Lawson)

Source: OANN

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Brazil president fires key aide linked to corruption scandal

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has officially dismissed his key aide in charge of dealings with congress, days after a newspaper linked him to a corruption scandal involving phony candidates and the misuse of campaign funds.

Government spokesman Otavio Rego Barros didn't say Monday what motivated the president's decision to fire aide Gustavo Bebianno, who has been a close ally of Bolsonaro. Bebianno has denied any wrongdoing.

The scandal has cast a shadow over the government's first weeks in power and is proving a distraction on the eve of the administration presenting sensitive legislation to congress. Lawmakers are set to receive this week an anti-crime bill and a proposal to overhaul Brazil's pension system, the government's flagship reform.

Bolsonaro ran his campaign on the promise that he will tackle corruption.

Source: Fox News World

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Brazilian graft probe puts Swedish firm AF under microscope

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's former President Michel Temer is seen at the Federal Police headquarters in Rio de Janeiro
FILE PHOTO: Brazil's former President Michel Temer is seen at the Federal Police headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil March 21, 2019. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes/File Photo

March 22, 2019

By Christian Plumb

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The arrest of a former Brazilian president on corruption charges is raising questions about how a Swedish consulting company won a contract to help build a nuclear power plant at the center of what prosecutors say was a massive bribery and kickback scheme.

The company, now known as AF Poyry, on Thursday became the latest in a series of multinationals caught up in Brazil’s sweeping “Car Wash” investigation, which has ensnared politicians as well as executives in businesses from oil trading to engineering and shipping.

In a statement, the company defended its 2011 victory in the bidding contest for work on the Angra 3 nuclear reactor on the Rio de Janeiro coast, saying it had beaten out three international competitors.

The consultancy, which was known as AF before it acquired a smaller Finnish peer, said it has “zero tolerance for fraud, bribery and corruption,” but declined to comment on the Brazilian investigation.

AF has not been formally accused in the probe, but at least two of its executives were cited in court filings on Thursday which accused former Brazilian President Michel Temer of running a scheme to extract some 1.8 billion ($470 million) in bribes related to the Angra nuclear power complex.

Temer, the leader of one of Brazil’s largest political parties before becoming vice president in 2011, took over from former President Dilma Rousseff after her impeachment in 2016. He was succeeded by President Jair Bolsonaro at the beginning of 2019. Temer has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

OTHERS TARGETED

Work on the Angra 3 reactor has advanced in fits and starts since the 1980s amid cost overruns and allegations of politically-driven decisions.

Among those targeted for arrest was Carlos Jorge Zimmermann, AF’s main Brazilian representative when it won the contract for Angra 3, who pushed for the inclusion of a Temer-linked company in the bidding consortium, prosecutors said.

They cited evidence that former Eletronuclear CEO Othon Luiz Pinheiro da Silva, a retired admiral who has previously faced a number of bribery charges, had determined years before the 2011 auction that AF should win the bidding contest.

Pinheiro da Silva, according to a charging document filed by prosecutors, was a political appointee of Temer. A law firm representing Pinheiro da Silva did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Under pressure from Temer and his allies, the Eletronuclear CEO allegedly pushed for an architectural and engineering firm known as Argeplan with no background in building nuclear plants to be a partner in the AF-led consortium.

Argeplan, whose main experience was building metro stations in Sao Paulo, served as a vehicle for at least 2.4 million reais in cash bribes to Temer, prosecutors said.

Argeplan representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

AF Consult and its Brazilian unit, which had only three civil engineers on its payroll when it won the Eletronuclear contract, only hired Argeplan to guarantee that it would win the bid, prosecutors said.

“The investigations show that the hiring of AF Consult do Brasil, in partnership with Argeplan, was solely designed to permit the payment of undue advantages to Michel Temer’s group,” they wrote in the court documents.

AF Poyry said independent auditors hired by Eletronuclear, a unit of Brazilian state-controlled utility Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, had “dismissed any wrongdoing in the contract.”

(Reporting by Christian Plumb; Additional reporting by Helena Soderpalm in Stockholm; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: OANN

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Austrian court rejects complaint by expelled Turkish imams

Austria's Constitutional Court has thrown out a complaint by two Turkish imams expelled under a 2015 law that prevents religious communities from getting funding from foreign nations.

The court said Thursday the so-called "Islam Law" didn't constitute a disproportionate restriction of religious freedom. It said that protecting religious communities' independence "from the state, but particularly from other states and their institutions" is a matter of public interest.

Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who as foreign minister in a previous government helped push through the legislation, said Thursday he felt "vindicated" by the court ruling. He said at a European Union summit in Brussels that the law "was heavily criticized, but in reality it was then a model for other European countries."

The imams were sent by Turkey's government-overseen religious authority.

Source: Fox News World

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Britain will not use high-risk vendors in critical parts of 5G networks: minister

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Minister for the Cabinet Office David Lidington speaks at the the British Chamber of Commerce annual conference in London
FILE PHOTO: Britain's Minister for the Cabinet Office David Lidington speaks at the the British Chamber of Commerce annual conference in London, Britain, March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

April 25, 2019

GLASGOW, Scotland (Reuters) – Britain will not consider high risk equipment vendors in security critical parts of its next-generation 5G networks, Cabinet Office minister David Lidington said on Thursday.

Sources told Reuters on Wednesday Britain’s National Security Council had decided this week to bar China’s Huawei Technologies from all core parts of the 5G network and restrict its access to non-core parts.

Speaking at a cyber security conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Lidington said Britain had rigorous procedures to manage risk in its telecoms infrastructure and the government’s decision was based on “evidence and expertise not supposition or speculation.”

“We will not countenance high risk vendors in those parts of the UK’s 5G network that perform critical security functions,” he said.

“The government approach is not about one company or even one country, it is about ensuring stronger cyber security across telecoms, greater resilience in telecoms networks and more diversity in the supply chain.”

(Reporting by Jack Stubbs and Michael Holden; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

Source: OANN

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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