MOSCOW – With one week remaining until Ukraine's presidential election runoff, President Petro Poroshenko has come to the country's largest sports stadium for a proposed debate where his opponent didn't show up.
There also weren't any spectators in Kiev's Olimpiskiy Stadium, though a large crowd stood outside to listen to a broadcast of Poroshenko making a statement and answering journalists' questions. He stood next to an empty lectern bearing challenger Volodymyr Zelenskiy's name.
The event Sunday was the latest unusual scene in the race between Poroshenko and Zelenskiy, a comic actor whom polls show holding a commanding lead.
Zelenskiy, who's never held office, had challenged Poroshenko to a debate in the stadium two days before April 21 election, but Poroshenko wanted it to be held Sunday. Zelenskiy never agreed to the Sunday debate.
The ShopRite store in East Haven, Conn., where the incident happened. (Google Maps)
A former Connecticut public school worker caught on video yelling racial epithets to black shoppers inside a grocery store has had her home burglarized in the wake of the incident, police say.
One or more people broke into Corinne Magoveny-Terrone’s home in broad daylight Monday and stripped it of its copper piping, causing damage to its garage and walls, investigators told the New Haven Register.
Magoveny-Terrone, who is white, made headlines two weeks ago after a viral video emerged of her using racial epithets and spitting at black customers inside a ShopRite store in East Haven, while shopping with two young children.
“Online video appears to show an HPS employee behaving abhorrently in another town,” Hamden Public Schools, where she reportedly worked as a clerk in its central office, said in a statement.
“Such behavior, exhibited in public or private, is completely unacceptable and in conflict with the values of Hamden Schools,” the statement added. “The employee has separated from employment effective immediately.”
Magoveny-Terrone, in a racially-charged phone call to police, claims she was spit on and threatened by a man leading up to it.
FILE PHOTO: A European Union flag is seen outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium November 14, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo
February 27, 2019
By Francesco Guarascio
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union should set up a police force to investigate tax evasion and financial crime and create a watchdog to counter money-laundering, EU lawmakers said in a report on Wednesday, which accuses seven member states of acting as tax havens.
The report is the result of a year’s work by a committee of the EU Parliament, set up after a series of revelations of alleged financial crime in some EU states and in tax havens across the world, such as the Luxleaks and Panama Papers.
The committee concluded that not enough has been done by EU states to close loopholes on tax rules, as many governments showed a “lack of political will to tackle tax avoidance and financial crime.”
Under pressure from media revelations, EU states did approve some reforms in past years to reduce tax avoidance, but blocked the most relevant overhauls over a common tax base and a digital levy.
New loopholes have also emerged, such as the “cum/ex” tax trade trick revealed last year by Reuters and other media organizations.
The European Commission, led by former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, shunned proposing a reform that could end governments’ veto power on tax matters.
The lack of appetite for reform is partly due to the fact that some of the 28 EU states “display traits of a tax haven and facilitate aggressive tax planning,” the report said, citing Luxembourg, Belgium, Cyprus, Hungary, Ireland, Malta and The Netherlands.
“Europe has a serious money-laundering and tax fraud problem,” said socialist lawmaker Jeppe Kofod, who took part in drafting the report.
The report was backed by the main parties in the European Parliament, including the conservatives and the socialists, and will be put to a vote of the whole assembly in coming weeks.
To counter cross-border tax evasion and financial crime, the committee recommended the European Commission immediately starts working on a proposal for a European financial police force with investigative powers.
The EU’s police agency Europol has limited powers and largely coordinates the work of national forces – when they are willing to cooperate.
The report, which is not binding but bears political weight, also called on EU states to set up a watchdog in charge of countering money-laundering in the bloc, after scandals at several EU banks in recent months.
States have so far ignored European Central Bank calls to create such a body, fearing the loss of national competences.
They have only agreed on a minor reform that would allow the European Banking Authority (EBA) to increase to a dozen the officials working on money-laundering, an overhaul the EBA’s incoming head deems insufficient.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Several four-legged, dog-like contraptions pull a semi-truck trailer, in a new video from DARPA-funded Boston Dynamics.
The video is the company’s latest effort to show off the strength of its SpotMini robots, which they say will soon be commercially available.
“It only takes 10 Spotpower (SP) to haul a truck across the Boston Dynamics parking lot (~1 degree uphill, truck in neutral),” the company brags on Youtube.
“These Spot robots are coming off the production line now and will be available for a range of applications soon.”
Other creations from Boston Dynamics, which are helping accelerate fears of a dystopian AI takeover, include a box-stacking robot, a robot that can perform parkour-like maneuvers, and a robot that can outrun humans.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Gaza's Health Ministry says a Palestinian has died of wounds sustained from Israeli gunfire at protests along the perimeter fence.
The ministry says Sunday that 24-year-old Habib al-Masri was shot in the chest at protests near Beit Hanoun the previous night, and that two others were wounded. Hundreds had gathered for protests in various locations, hurling stones and firebombs toward Israel.
The Israeli military says that in response to the explosives its aircraft targeted two Hamas observation posts in the southern Gaza Strip.
The protests are aimed at breaking a blockade that Israel and Egypt imposed when Hamas seized power in 2007. Over the past year, about 190 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier have been killed in weekly rallies. Two more Palestinians were killed on Friday.
This photo provided by Philippine National Police (PNP), shows militant Abu Sayyaf Group leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan in the PNP confidential report. Philippine and U.S. official say a little known militant has been named the new leader of the Islamic State group in the southern Philippines. The Philippine interior secretary says the rise of Hatib Sawadjaan, who is blamed for orchestrating a suicide bombing in a cathedral last month that killed 23 people on Jolo Island, shows that ISIS would latch on desperately to any militant who could provide a sanctuary and armed fighters as its last strongholds crumble in Syria. (Philippine National Police via AP)
MANILA, Philippines – Philippine and U.S. officials say a little-known militant has been named the new leader of the Islamic State group in the southern Philippines.
The Philippine interior secretary says the rise of Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan (SAWA'-jahn) shows that ISIS would latch on desperately to any militant who could provide a sanctuary and armed fighters as its last strongholds crumble in Syria.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano says intelligence indicates Sawadjaan, a Jolo-based commander of the brutal Abu Sayyaf extremist group in his 60s, was installed as ISIS chief in a ceremony last year. He says three other extremist groups were also recognized as ISIS allies.
Sawadjaan is blamed for orchestrating a suicide bombing in a cathedral last month that killed 23 people on Jolo Island.
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Sri Lanka’s former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake, Sri Lanka April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
April 26, 2019
By Sanjeev Miglani and Shihar Aneez
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s former wartime defense chief, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said on Friday he would run for president in elections this year and would stop the spread of Islamist extremism by rebuilding the intelligence service and surveilling citizens.
Gotabaya, as he is popularly known, is the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the two led the country to a crushing defeat of separatist Tamil rebels a decade ago after a 26-year civil war.
More than 250 people were killed in bomb attacks on hotels and churches on Easter Sunday that the government has blamed on Islamist militants and that Islamic State has claimed responsibility for.
Gotabaya said the attacks could have been prevented if the island’s current government had not dismantled the intelligence network and extensive surveillance capabilities that he built up during the war and later on.
“Because the government was not prepared, that’s why you see a panic situation,” he said in an interview with Reuters.
Gotabaya said he would be a candidate “100 percent”, firming up months of speculation that he plans to run in the elections, which are due by December.
He was critical of the government’s response to the bombings. Since the attacks, the government has struggled to provide clear information about how they were staged, who was behind them and how serious the threat is from Islamic State to the country.
“Various people are blaming various people, not giving exactly the details as to what happened, even people expect the names, what organization did this, and how they came up to this level, that explanation was not given,” he said.
On Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena said the government led by premier Ranil Wickremesinghe should take responsibility for the attacks and that prior information warning of attacks was not shared with him.
Wickremesinghe said earlier he was not advised about warnings that came from India’s spy service either, presenting a picture of a government still in disarray since the two leaders fell out last October.
Gotabaya is facing lawsuits in the United States, where he is a dual citizen, over his role in the war and afterwards.
The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project, in partnership with U.S. law firm Hausfeld, filed a civil case in California this month against Gotabaya on behalf of a Tamil torture survivor.
In a separate case, Ahimsa Wickrematunga, the daughter of murdered investigative editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, filed a complaint for damages in the same U.S. District Court in California for allegedly instigating and authorizing the extrajudicial killing of her father.
Gotabaya said the cases were baseless and only a “little distraction” as he prepared for the election campaign. He said he had asked U.S. authorities to renounce his citizenship and that process was nearly done, clearing the way for his candidature.
‘DISMANTLE THE NETWORKS’
He said that if he won, his immediate focus would to be tackle the threat from radical Islam and to rebuild the security set-up.
“It’s a serious problem, you have to go deep into the groups, dismantle the networks,” he said, adding he would give the military a mandate to collect intelligence from the ground and to mount surveillance of groups turning to extremism.
Gotabaya said that a military intelligence cell he had set up in 2011 of 5,000 people, some of them with Arabic language skills and that was tracking the bent towards extremist ideology some of the Islamist groups were taking in eastern Sri Lanka was disbanded by the current government.
“They did not give priority to national security, there was a mix-up. They were talking about ethnic reconciliation, then they were talking about human rights issues, they were talking about individual freedoms,” he said.
President Sirisena’s government sought to forge reconciliation with minority Tamils and close the wounds of the war and launched investigations into allegations of rights abuse and torture against military officers.
Officials said many of these secret intelligence cells were disbanded because they faced allegations of abuse, including torture and extra judicial killings.
Muslims make up nearly 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 22 million, which is predominantly Buddhist.
(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Frances Kerry)
FILE PHOTO: The Federal Reserve Board building on Constitution Avenue is pictured in Washington, U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
April 26, 2019
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve may lower the interest it pays on excess reserves banks leave with it by 5 basis points at its April 30-May 1 policy meeting in a bid to prevent the federal funds rate from drifting higher, Morgan Stanley analysts said on Friday.
This would mark the third such “technical” adjustment on the interest on excess reserves (IOER) following cuts last June and December.
(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Calling the advance in gross domestic product a “blow-out number,” Kudlow told “America’s Newsroom” Friday that it serves as concrete proof Trump’s measures to grow the economy have been successful.
“I’ll just say, Trump’s policies to rebuild the economy, lower taxes, regulations, opening energy, trade reform. Look, this stuff is working,” he said.
“It tells me, among other things, that the prosperity cycle we have entered into is continuing, it is strong. It has legs and momentum and frankly it is going to go on for quite some time,” he continued. “This is the new Trump economy. Some people don’t like that or they don’t agree with that. I respect the differences but I’ll tell you it’s working.”
Kudlow added that Trump has “ended the war” on business and success, and is rallying for the small business owners of America.
“The president is rebuilding incentives, he is rebuilding confidence, he the rebuilding optimism,” he said. “He is basically saying you should keep more of what you earn. He is basically saying to small businesses we’ll cut the paperwork back and make it easier for you to start a business and prosper.”
Kudlow said the Trump administration is also working with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders to implement bipartisan deals to ensure the continuation of the GDP’s success.
“If the policies and the principles remain in place — and I believe they will — then I believe this new prosperity expansion cycle is going to go on for a whole bunch of more years,” he said.
FILE PHOTO: Tennis – Australian Open – Women’s Singles Final – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, January 26, 2019. Japan’s Naomi Osaka attends a news conference after winning her match against Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
April 26, 2019
(Reuters) – World number one Naomi Osaka came from behind in the final set to beat Croatian Donna Vekic 6-3 4-6 7-6(4) on Friday and move into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix semi-finals.
Osaka comfortably won the opening set but was tested by the Croatian, who pushed her to the limit in the second and third. The Japanese made 45 unforced errors as she struggles to get to grips with swapping hard courts for clay.
Osaka was visibly frustrated and trailed 5-1 in the final set but she refused to give up and found her rhythm to break Vekic twice and prevent her from serving for the match.
In the tiebreaker, a confident Osaka upped her baseline game and had two early mini breaks before wrapping up the match in two hours and 18 minutes. An infuriated Vekic even smashed her racket after losing the match.
“I told myself I didn’t want to have any regrets here,” Osaka said. “I was stressed out when I went down 1-5… but this (comeback) was pretty good because I don’t play really well on clay.”
Earlier, world number three Petra Kvitova came back from a set down to beat Anastasija Sevastova 2-6 6-2 6-3 and move into the tournament’s semi-finals for the third time in her career.
Sevastova had a dream start, breaking Kvitova twice to take a 3-0 lead as the Czech struggled with her first serve. Kvitova also made a slew of unforced errors, with many of her returns going long.
Sevastova used the full width of the court to get the better of Kvitova, who played on the back foot for much of the first set as the Latvian gave her little time to catch her breath.
However, Kvitova recovered in the second set and she broke Sevastova’s serve when she was 3-2 up, winning 10 straight points to take a 5-2 lead. Sevastova looked shaken and was broken again to give Kvitova the second set.
Kvitova took command in the final set and broke a visibly upset Sevastova to take a 3-1 lead before easing into the semis.
“In the first set I missed almost everything. I was pretty slow and she just couldn’t miss,” Kvitova said. “In the second set it was very important for me to stay on my serve and the chance to break her came.”
Kiki Bertens plays Angelique Kerber later on Friday and Victoria Azarenka faces Anett Kontaveit in the last quarter-final.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
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