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What we know about the coaches, administrator accused of taking bribes in college admissions scandal

A total of nine college coaches and one high-ranking athletics administrator were indicted by the Justice Department on Tuesday in connection with a nationwide scheme in which wealthy parents allegedly spent big to place their children in top universities.

The coaches, who represent the University of Southern California, Georgetown, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, Wake Forest and Yale, have led a variety of what are termed "non-revenue" sports, which is to say, sports that are dependent on the largesse provided by their university's football and basketball programs. They have won conference and national championships; with USC men's and women's water polo, Jovan Vavic was named their conference's "Coach of the Century."

All the coaches and administrators are charged with racketeering conspiracy unless otherwise indicated. Here's what we know about them.

University of Southern California

Jovan Vavic: A native of the former Yugoslavia, Vavic led the women's water polo program at USC since its inception in 1995 and took the helm of the men's program in 1999. Since then, the two programs have won a total of 16 national championships (10 for the men's team and six for the women's team) and Vavic has been named the National Coach of the Year 15 times. In 2015, the Pac-12 Network named Vavic Men's Water Polo Coach of the Century as part of its celebration of the conference's 100th anniversary.

Joran Vavic

Joran Vavic (USC Athletics)

According to the indictment, Vavic accepted bribes totaling more than $250,000 to designate two prospective students as recruits, thereby smoothing the path for their admission to USC. The university announced Tuesday afternoon that Vavic had been fired.

Ali Khosroshahin: Khosroshahin was head coach of the USC women's soccer team for seven seasons before he was fired following the 2013 season. He led the Trojans to the national championship in 2007, his first season on the job, and made the NCAA tournament in four of his seven seasons. According to his LinkedIn page, Khosroshahin is currently the owner of the amateur United Premier Soccer League's Newport Futbol Club

Ali Khosroshahin

Ali Khosroshahin (USC Athletics)

Laura Janke: A former player and assistant coach under Khosroshahin at Cal State Fullerton, Janke followed him to USC as an assistant working primarily with defenders and goalkeepers. Janke lost her job along with Khosroshahin following the 2013 season and is currently listed as the Physical Education Department chair and educator at the Geffen Academy, a sixth-through-12th-grade school affiliated with UCLA.

Laura Janke 

Laura Janke  (USC Athletics)

The indictment alleges that the two accepted $350,000 in exchange for designating four prospective students as recruits.

Donna Heinel: Heinel, a senior associate athletic director and one of the highest-ranking members of USC's athletic department, was fired Tuesday in the wake of her indictment. Prosecutors allege that she received more than $1.3 million to help smooth the way for more than two dozen students to enter USC between 2014 and 2018. In December 2017, Heimel allegedly received $50,000 from actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannullo, whose daughters were recruited to the USC women's crew team despite having no rowing experience.

"It is immensely disappointing that individuals would abuse their position at the university in this way," USC Interim President Wanda Austin wrote in a letter to employees. "As our work on culture and values continues, we must take the appropriate action when we become aware of behavior that is contrary to our values ... We will continue to cooperate fully with all law enforcement and regulatory investigations."

Georgetown University

Former men's tennis coach Gordon Ernst is named in the indictment. He allegedly received $2.7 million in bribes, which were labeled "consulting fees" from charitable accounts set up by admissions consultant Rick Singer, who prosecutors say was the central figure in the scheme.

Gordon Ernst

Gordon Ernst (University of Rhode Island)

In a statement, Georgetown spokeswoman Meghan Dubyak said Ernst had not coached the men's tennis team since December 2017 "following an internal investigation that found he had violated university rules concerning admissions." Dubyak added that the university had "cooperated fully with the government’s investigation" and was "deeply disappointed" in Ernst's alleged actions, which she described as "an unprecedented breach of trust."

Ernst was hired to coach the women's tennis team at the University of Rhode Island in August 2018. A university statement said that Ernst had been placed on administrative leave and noted that he " has not been involved in the recruitment of any current players nor in the signing of any new recruits."

Stanford University

Stanford head sailing coach John Vandemoer pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston Tuesday, admitting that he conspired with Singer to pretend two prospective students were competitive sailors in exchange for payments to the Stanford sailing program. Neither student ended up attending Stanford.

Former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer arrives at federal court in Boston Tuesday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Former Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer arrives at federal court in Boston Tuesday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

The university confirmed in a statement that Vandemoer, who has coached sailing at Standford since 2009 and previously held the head job at the U.S. Naval Academy, has been fired, saying that his "alleged behavior runs completely counter to Stanford’s values.

"Based on the Department of Justice investigation to date, we have no evidence that the alleged conduct involves anyone else at Stanford or is associated with any other team," the statement went on. "However, we will be undertaking an internal review to confirm that."

University of Texas

Michael Center

Michael Center (University of Texas)

Longtime Longhorns men's tennis coach Michael Center was placed on administrative leave after he was charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest-services mail fraud. Center, who has been at the university since 2000, allegedly accepted a $100,000 bribe in exchange for designating a prospective student as a tennis recruit. The student was admitted to the university on a partial scholarship in the spring of 2015 and was added to the tennis team's roster. Shortly after beginning classes that fall, the student withdrew from the tennis team and renounced his scholarship, but remained at the university.

University spokesperson J.B. Bird said Center's alleged actions "run counter to the university’s values," and added, "Based on what we know at present, we believe this was an isolated incident in 2015 that involved one coach and no other university employees or officers."

Center's teams have reached the NCAA tennis championship tournament in all 18 years of his tenure and made the final four three times: in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

University of California, Los Angeles

UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo was placed on leave after the indictment was announced. He is accused of accepting $200,000 to help get one female student and one male student admitted to the university in 2016 and 2018, respectively. Prosecutors say at least one of the payments was directed to a sports marking company Salcedo controlled.

Jorge Salcedo

Jorge Salcedo (UCLA)

"The conduct alleged in the filings revealed today is deeply disturbing and in contrast with the expectations we have of our coaches to lead their teams with honesty and integrity," UCLA said in a statement. "If the facts alleged are true, they represent a grave departure from the ethical standards we set for ourselves and the people who work here."

A former Major League Soccer player, Salcedo was hired as head coach of the Bruins in 2004. His teams have made the NCAA tournament in 13 of the last 14 seasons, reaching the championship game twice (2006 and 2014). In addition, 38 Bruins have been drafted by Major League Soccer (MLS) during Salcedo's tenure, boosting the program's attractiveness to recruits.

Wake Forest University

Women's volleyball coach Bill Ferguson is accused of accepting $100,000 from Singer to help a prospective female student get into Wake Forest after she had been put on a waitlist. Wake Forest said Ferguson had been placed on administrative leave.

Bill Ferguson

Bill Ferguson (Wake Forest University)

Ferguson was hired by Wake Forest in 2016 after spending a decade coaching men's volleyball at USC, during which time he led that program to three NCAA volleyball Final Fours. He'd had less success as the head coach of the Demon Deacons, compiling a 32-61 record over his three seasons in Winston-Salem.

"The alleged conduct is in direct conflict with the values and integrity of Wake Forest and its athletics program," University President Nathan Hatch said in a letter to the university's students, faculty and staff.

Yale University

Tuesday's indictments were an inglorious coda to the 24-year coaching career of Rudolph "Rudy" Meredith, who resigned as women's soccer coach at the Ivy League institution this past November after 24 seasons in the job.

Rudolph "Rudy" Meredith

Rudolph "Rudy" Meredith (Yale University)

Prosecutors say Meredith received $400,000 in early 2018 after falsely designating a prospective Yale student as a women's soccer recruit. Ivy League schools like Yale do not give athletic scholarships, but its member universities have increased the amount of financial aid to admitted students in recent years, making it easier to recruit athletes who previously would not have attended those schools.

According to the indictment, Singer sent the student's resume and personal statement -- which included an art portfolio -- to Meredith in November 2017 and promised to "'revise' the materials to 'soccer.'"

In the spring of 2018, prosecutors say, Meredith met with the father of another prospective student in a Boston hotel room and agreed to designate the man's daughter as a women's soccer recruit in exchange for $450,000. The father agreed and gave Meredith $2,000 in cash as a down payment. The meeting was recorded by FBI agents.

Meredith's charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest-services wire fraud.

"As the federal charging document makes clear, the Department of Justice believes that Yale’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions has been the victim of a crime perpetrated by its women’s soccer coach, who is no longer at the university," the university said in a statement. " ... The Office of Undergraduate Admissions relies on varsity coaches to provide honest and expert evaluations of individual applicants’ athletic accomplishments and potential to contribute to a varsity team. The Admissions Committee considers these evaluations alongside the other components of an applicant’s file, but only students whose applications demonstrate their ability to succeed in the academic and residential components of the Yale experience are admitted."

Source: Fox News National

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Afghanistan floods kill 17, worsen already desperate situation

A woman stands next to her house destroyed by flood in Enjil district of Herat province
A woman stands next to her house destroyed by flood in Enjil district of Herat province, Afghanistan March 29, 2019. REUTERS/Jalil Ahmad

March 30, 2019

By Storay Karimy and Orooj Hakimi

HERAT, Afghanistan/KABUL (Reuters) – Heavy rains caused flash floods in western Afghanistan that killed at least 17 people, destroying homes and sweeping through makeshift shelters that housed displaced families, a government official said on Saturday.

Two days of flooding that started on Thursday killed 12 people in Jawzjan and two in Badghis, provinces that border Turkmenistan, said Hasibullah Shir Khani, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Disaster Management Authority.

Two others were killed in Herat and another in Sar-e Pul province, he said.

More than 500 houses were destroyed.

The floods worsen an already desperate situation. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced in western Afghanistan from last year’s severe drought. Floods in early March caused further destruction and put this year’s wheat harvest at risk.

Children waded through muddy, knee-deep floodwaters that flowed through tent camps for displaced people after the rain stopped.

Officials in Herat, which borders Iran, put the death toll higher than the national government. Dr. Abdul Hakim Tamana, head of public health for the province, said eight people were killed and nine injured.

Floods have destroyed hundreds of homes, some historic sites, thousands of acres of farmland, bridges and highways, said Jilani Farhad, a spokesman for Herat province.

Aid organization World Vision said in a statement it appeared tens of thousands of Afghans were affected. Some Badghis residents were calling it the worst storm in 20 years, it said.

Iran has also been flooded by torrential rains, overwhelming emergency services in some areas.

(Reporting by Storay Karimy in HERAT and Orooj Hakimi in KABUL; Writing by Rod Nickel; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: OANN

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U.S. new home sales rise to near one-and-a-half-year high

A real estate sign advertising a new home for sale is pictured in Vienna, Virginia
FILE PHOTO: A real estate sign advertising a new home for sale is pictured in Vienna, Virginia, U.S. October 20, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing/File Photo

April 23, 2019

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Sales of new U.S. single-family homes jumped to a near 1-1/2-year high in March, boosted by lower mortgage rates and house prices.

The Commerce Department said on Tuesday new home sales increased 4.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 692,000 units last month, the highest level since November 2017.

It was the third straight monthly increase in new home sales. February’s sales pace was revised down to 662,000 units from the previously reported 667,000 units.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales, which account for about 11.7 percent of housing market sales, decreasing 2.5 percent to a pace of 650,000 units in March.

New home sales are drawn from permits and tend to be volatile on a month-to-month basis. They increased 3.0 percent from a year ago. The median new house price dropped 9.7 percent to $302,700 in March from a year ago, the lowest level since February 2017.

New home sales have not been severely impacted by the supply problems that have plagued the market for previously owned homes. A report on Monday showed home resales tumbled in March, weighed down by a persistent shortage of lower-priced houses.

Despite the broader housing market’s struggles with supply, the fundamentals for housing are improving. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has dropped by about 80 basis points since November, according to data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac. That followed a recent decision by the Federal Reserve to suspend its three-year monetary policy tightening campaign.

In addition, house price inflation has slowed and wage growth has picked up. Still, land and labor shortages are constraining builders’ ability to break more ground on lower- priced housing projects. Investment in homebuilding contracted 0.3 percent in 2018, the biggest drop since 2010.

New home sales in the South, which accounts for the bulk of transactions, increased 3.6 percent in March to their highest level since July 2007. Sales in the Midwest soared 17.6 percent, while those in the West surged 6.7 percent. But sales in the Northeast tumbled 22.2 percent.

There were 344,000 new homes on the market last month, down 0.3 percent from February. At March’s sales pace it would take 6.0 months to clear the supply of houses on the market, down from 6.3 months in February.

About 62 percent of the houses sold last month were either under construction or yet to be built.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Source: OANN

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Pennsylvania lawmakers honor victims of synagogue massacre

Pennsylvania lawmakers solemnly remembered Wednesday the 11 worshippers killed in an anti-Semitic attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue last fall, expressing horror at what one speaker called "unimaginable evil," and two rabbis recited prayers in English and Hebrew.

The rare joint session in the chambers of the state's House of Representatives was attended by nearly two dozen family members of victims of the Oct. 27 attack on the three congregations holding services that day, and by Andrea Wedner, whose 97-year-old mother was killed and who was herself was among seven people wounded.

"The assault on these three congregations was an act of unimaginable evil," said state Rep. Dan Frankel, whose district includes the Tree of Life building where the massacre occurred. "But it has been met with unfathomable bravery and love within our community and far beyond it. Literally hundreds of people acted heroically, starting within seconds of the first gunshot."

The service was held a day after the Pittsburgh mayor signed new gun control measures that were introduced weeks after the attack. The legislation was immediately challenged in court by gun rights advocates who argued municipalities may not impose firearms regulations that go beyond what state law allows.

Dor Hadash Rabbi Cheryl Klein, whose congregation had a member killed and another wounded, told the joint session it was not enough to live by strategizing to survive — they want to live in a world where they can thrive.

"We know that there will never be a return to normalcy, but we move each day to bring more light into our lives and the lives of others," said Klein, who was out of town the day of the attack.

She noted gun violence kills tens of thousands of Americans annually and said she prayed that lawmakers will find the courage to seek a path forward.

"We must work to build a world of loving kindness, tolerance, respect for others," Klein said.

Rabbi Jonathan Perlman of the New Light Congregation gave the opening prayer. Perlman, who was in the synagogue during the massacre, asked that God "grant us peace, your most precious gift."

Truck driver Robert Bowers, 46, of Baldwin, Pennsylvania, has pleaded not guilty to carrying out the attack, during which authorities say he expressed hatred of Jews. The charges he faces could result in the death penalty, though his lawyer said last month she hopes the case will be resolved without a trial.

On Wednesday, lawmakers passed identical resolutions that highlighted the history of the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and remembered the victims individually. The resolutions established April 10 as Stronger Than Hate Day in Pennsylvania.

"In the painful aftermath of the attack, the singular phrase that arose from the heartbroken city of Pittsburgh became 'Stronger Than Hate,'" the resolutions said. "The General Assembly thanks the first responders, rabbis, staff, lay leadership and hundreds of members of these synagogues who helped their family and friends."

Frankel spoke about the attack on the House floor in November and wanted to give mourners some time before putting together a more formal legislative memorial.

The only previous time the state's House and Senate met together in response to a tragedy was after Sept. 11, officials said.

State House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler spoke of the 2006 shooting at an Amish school near his home in Lancaster County that killed five girls and wounded five others.

"Those who choose to commit horrendous acts like this of terror and violence can never achieve their ultimate goal, which is the triumph of hate," Cutler said.

Gov. Tom Wolf, who also attended, said the shooting continues to haunt him and his wife, Frances Wolf.

"But we continue to be inspired by the ways in which the people of Pittsburgh came and stood together in the face of hatred and violence," Wolf said. "We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who chose love over hate."

Source: Fox News National

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Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, other 2020 Dems forced to change tune on Jussie Smollett case

They say hindsight is 20/20. And that’s certainly the case for some Democratic presidential hopefuls as twists continue to emerge in the case of the alleged attack on actor Jussie Smollett.

When initial reports of the alleged incident surfaced three weeks ago, the actor said he was viciously attacked on the streets of Chicago. Reports stated that Smollett said there were two perpetrators, each wearing "Make America Great Again" hats and shouting "This is MAGA country" during the alleged assault. Smollett later refuted he made such a claim to police during an interview with "Good Morning America."

Kamala Harris, considered the early front-runner among declared candidates, was quick to condemn the alleged attack.

“.@JussieSmollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery,” Harris tweeted on January 29.

“This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.”

JUSSIE SMOLLETT'S LAWYERS DENY HE PLANNED ATTACK AFTER CHICAGO POLICE CLAIM HE'S NO LONGER CONSIDERED A VICTIM IN CASE

However, the California Dem was caught off guard Monday when asked about the latest developments in the case that has seen Chicago police pour cold water on Smollett’s more explosive claims.

During an appearance at a bookstore in Concord, N.H., a female reporter asked the senator from California if she wanted to amend a tweet from Jan. 29, in which she said Smollett was the victim of "an attempted modern day lynching" and called the actor "one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know." Harris also has used the Smollett attack to push legislation that would make lynching a federal hate crime.

"Which tweet? What tweet?" Harris asked. As the reporter specified the tweet in question, Harris appeared to look around for a campaign staffer before responding.

AL SHARPTON SAYS JUSSIE SMOLLETT SHOULD 'FACE ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE MAXIMUM' IF ATTACK WAS ORCHESTRATED 

"OK, so, I will say this about that case," she said. "I think that the facts are still unfolding, and, um, I’m very, um, concerned about obviously, the initial, um, allegation that he made about what might have happened.

CORY BOOKER 'WITHHOLDING' JUDGMENT ON SMOLLETT CASE AFTER CALLING IT 'ATTEMPTED MODERN-DAY LYNCHING'

"And it’s something we should all take seriously whenever anyone, um, alleges that kind of behavior, but there should be an investigation," Harris added. "And I think that once the investigation has concluded then we can all comment, but I’m not going to comment until I know the outcome of the investigation."

Cory Booker also slammed the perpetrators of a crime the “Empire” star claimed was fueled by racial and anti-LGBT prejudice.

“The vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching. I'm glad he's safe,” Booker tweeted on January 29.

“To those in Congress who don't feel the urgency to pass our Anti-Lynching bill designating lynching as a federal hate crime – I urge you to pay attention.”

ROBIN ROBERTS SAYS COPS FELT JUSSIE SMOLLETT WAS CREDIBLE AT TIME OF INTERVIEW

Booker, when asked about it again on Sunday, told reporters he would "withhold" judgment on the matter "until all the information actually comes out from on-the-record sources."

Other 2020 Dems forced to walk back strong early criticisms include Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who initially responded to reports by calling it a “sickening and outrageous attack.”

“This is a sickening and outrageous attack, and horribly, it's the latest of too many hate crimes against LGBTQ people and people of color. We are all responsible for condemning this behavior and every person who enables or normalizes it. Praying for Jussie and his family,” she tweeted on January 29.

And while not a 2020 candidate, Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was also forced to backpedal on Monday, deleting a sympathetic tweet she posted on January 29.

“The racist, homophobic attack on @JussieSmollett is an affront to our humanity. No one should be attacked for who they are or whom they love. I pray that Jussie has a speedy recovery & that justice is served. May we all commit to ending this hate once & for all,” Pelosi wrote at the time.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif., were also both highly critical of the alleged attack when reports first surfaced.

The change in tune came after a Chicago police spokesperson said over the weekend the "trajectory of the investigation" shifted and they no longer consider Smollett a victim in the case.

Meanwhile, Smollett's attorneys, Todd S. Pugh and Victor P. Henderson, are vehemently denying that the attack was a hoax.

"As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with,” the lawyers said in a weekend statement. “He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying."

Fox News' Anne Marie Riha, Mike Tobin, Alex Pappas and Samuel Chamberlain contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Hyundai Motor denies tie-up with Tencent on driverless car software

A man walks past the logo of Hyundai Motor during the 2019 Seoul Motor Show in Goyang
FILE PHOTO: A man walks past the logo of Hyundai Motor during the 2019 Seoul Motor Show in Goyang, South Korea, March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 7, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co on Sunday denied a report that it had signed a preliminary deal with Chinese technology firm Tencent Holdings to develop software for driverless vehicles.

Hyundai’s comments come a day after South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper cited unnamed industry sources on Saturday saying that the two companies planned to conduct joint research and development on safety and security systems for self-driving cars, which Hyundai seeks to roll out commercially by 2030.

Both companies had not offered any immediate comments on Saturday.

Hyundai said in a statement on Sunday that its cooperation with the Chinese tech giant was focused on infotainment. Modern cars have so-called infotainment systems on a screen below the dashboard to provide services such as navigation and music.

(Reporting by Jane Chung and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: OANN

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Why We’re Celebrating the First Step Act After 3 Months

In the three months since the First Step Act was signed into law, the legislation has mandated fairer sentences and galvanizing further support for criminal justice reform. But we know there is much more to be done, write Van Jones and Jessica Jackson

Read Full Article »

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A Florida measure that would ban sanctuary cities is set for a vote Friday in the state’s Senate after clearing its first hurdle earlier this week.

The bill would effectively make it against the law for Florida’s police departments to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

“The Governor may initiate judicial proceedings in the name of the state against such officers to enforce compliance,” a draft version of the Senate bill reads.

A House version of the bill, which passed by a 69-47 vote Wednesday, adds that non-complying officials could be suspended or removed from office and face fines of up to $5,000 per day. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign off on the measure, although it’s not clear which version.

FLORIDA MAY SEND A BIG MESSAGE TO SANCTUARY CITIES

Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), during a press conference at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, speaks out against bills in the House and Senate that would ban sanctuary cities in the state.

Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), during a press conference at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, speaks out against bills in the House and Senate that would ban sanctuary cities in the state. (AP)

LAWRENCE JONES: NEEDLES, DRUG USE AND HUMAN WASTE ARE THE NEW NORMAL IN SAN FRANCISCO

Florida is home to 775,000 illegal immigrants out of 10.7 million present in the United States, ranking the state third among all states.

Nine states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas — already have enacted state laws requiring law enforcement to comply with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Florida doesn’t have sanctuary cities like the ones in California and other states. But Republican lawmakers say a handful of their municipalities — including Orlando and West Palm Beach – are acting as “pseudo-sanctuary” cities, because they prevent law enforcement officials from asking about immigration status when they make arrests.

“There are still people here in the state of Florida, police chiefs that are just refusing to contact ICE, refusing to detain somebody that they know is here illegally,” Florida Republican Rep. Blaise Ingoglia said earlier this month. “So while the actual county municipality doesn’t have an actual adopted policy, they still have people in power within their sheriff’s department or police department that refuse to do it anyway.”

Florida’s Democratic Party has blasted the anti-Sanctuary measures, while the Miami-Dade Police Department says it should be up to federal authorities to handle immigration-related matters.

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“House Republicans today sold out their communities to Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis by passing this xenophobic and discriminatory bill,” the state’s Democratic Party said Wednesday after the House passed their version of the bill. “It’s abhorrent that Republican members who represent immigrant communities are now turning their backs on their constituents and jeopardizing their safety.

“Florida has long stood as a beacon for immigrant communities — and today Republicans did the best they could to destroy that reputation,” they added.

Fox News’ Elina Shirazi contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain's far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain’s far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By John Stonestreet and Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Vox party, aligned to a broader far-right movement emerging across Europe, has become the focus of speculation about last minute shifts in voting intentions since official polling for Sunday’s national election ended four days ago.

No single party is anywhere near securing a majority, and chances of a deadlocked parliament and a second election are high.

Leaders of the five parties vying for a role in government get final chances to pitch for power at rallies on Friday evening, before a campaign characterized by appeals to voters’ hearts rather than wallets ends at midnight.

By tradition, the final day before a Spanish election is politics-free.

Two main prizes are still up for grabs in the home straight. One concerns which of the two rival left and right multi-party blocs gets more votes.

The other is whether Vox could challenge the mainstream conservative PP for leadership of the latter bloc, which media outlets with access to unofficial soundings taken since Monday suggest could be starting to happen.

The right’s loose three-party alliance is led by the PP, the traditional conservative party that has alternated in office with outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists since Spain’s return to democracy in the 1970s.

The PP stands at around 20 percent, with center-right Ciudadanos near 14 percent and Vox around 11 percent, according to a final poll of polls in daily El Pais published on Monday.

Since then, however, interest in Vox – which will become the first far-right party to sit in parliament since 1982 – has snowballed.

It was founded in 2013, part of a broader anti-establishment, far-right movement that has also spread across – among others – Italy, France and Germany.

While it is careful to distance itself from the ideology of late dictator Francisco Franco, Vox’s signature policies include repealing laws banning Franco-era symbols and on gender-based violence, and shifting power away from Spain’s regional governments.

TRENDING

According to a Google trends graphic, Vox has generated more than three times more search inquiries than any other Spanish political party in the past week.

Reasons could include a groundswell of vocal activist support at Vox rallies in Madrid and Valencia, and its exclusion from two televised debates between the main party leaders, on the grounds of it having no deputies yet in parliament.

Conservative daily La Vanguardia called its enforced absence from Monday’s and Tuesday’s debates “a gift from heaven”, while left-wing Eldiario.es suggested the PP was haemorrhaging votes to Vox in rural areas.

Ignacio Jurado, politics lecturer at the University of York, agreed the main source of additional Vox votes would be disaffected PP supporters, and called the debate ban – whose impact he said was unclear – wrong.

“This is a party polling over 10 percent and there are people interested in what it says. So we lose more than we win in not having them (in the debates),” he said

For Jose Fernandez-Albertos, political scientist at Spanish National Research Council CSIC, Vox is enjoying the novelty effect that propelled then new, left-wing arrival Podemos to 20 percent of the vote in 2015.

“While it’s unclear how to interpret the (Google) data, what we do know is that it’s better to be popular and to be a newcomer, and that Vox will benefit in some form,” he said.

For now, the chances of Vox taking a major role in government remain slim, however.

The El Pais survey put the Socialists on around 30 percent, making them the frontrunners and likely to form a leftist bloc with Podemos, back down at around 14 percent.

The unofficial soundings suggest little change in the two parties’ combined vote, or the total vote of the rightist bloc.

That makes it unlikely that either bloc will win a majority on Sunday, triggering horse-trading with smaller parties favoring Catalan independence – the single most polarizing issues during campaigning – that could easily collapse into fresh elections.

(Election graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2ENugtw)

(Reporting by John Stonestreet and Belen Carreno, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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The Amish population in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County is continuing to grow each year, despite the encroachment of urban sprawl on their communities.

The U.S. Census Bureau says the county added about 2,500 people in 2018. LNP reports that about 1,000 of them were Amish.

Elizabethtown College researchers say Lancaster County’s Amish population reached 33,143 in 2018, up 3.2% from the previous year.

The Amish accounted for about 41% of the county’s overall population growth last year.

Some experts are concerned that a planned 75-acre (30-hectare) housing and commercial project will make it more difficult for the county to accommodate the Amish.

Donald Kraybill, an authority on Amish culture, told Manheim Township commissioners this week that some in the community are worried about the development and the increased traffic it would bring.

___

Information from: LNP, http://lancasteronline.com

Source: Fox News National

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Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera has warned that if Democratic 2020 presidential candidates don’t take the crisis at the border seriously, they’ll do so at their own risk.

Speaking with “Fox & Friends” hosts on Friday morning, Rivera discussed the influx of candidates entering the race, including former Vice President Joe Biden, and gave an update on the newest developments at the border.

“If [Democrats] don’t take it seriously they ignore it at their peril,” Rivera said.

He went on to discuss the fact that Mexico is experiencing the same problems dealing with volumes of people at the border as the United States is. Processing facilities, as many have argued, are understaffed and underresourced, resulting in conditions that have been controversial.

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“It is very, very difficult when hundreds and hundreds become thousands and thousands ultimately become tens of it is very difficult to have an orderly system,” he said.

Rivera asserted his opinion that the United States could lessen the influx of migrants coming into the country by investing in the development of Central American countries, where many are fleeing from violence and economic instability.

“I believe, as I have said before on this program, that we have to stop the source of the migrant explosion, by a comprehensive system of political and economic reform in Central America where people have the incentive to stay home,” Rivera said.

“I think we have help Mexico with its infrastructure. Mexico has a moral burden, as the president made very clear, not to let unchecked herds of desperate people flow through 2,000 miles of Mexican territory to get our southern border.”

Rivera also brought up President Trump’s controversial comments about Mexican immigrants during his campaign in 2016.

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The Fox News correspondent said that having been so excited about Trump’s campaign, the comments made him feel “deflated” as a Hispanic American.

However, as the crisis at the border has accelerated over the last few years, Rivera argued that ultimately, the president’s comments weren’t incorrect.

“He is now in a position where he can justly say I was right, that the that the anarchy at the border doesn’t serve anybody,” Rivera said. “Maybe he said it in a language I felt was a little rough and insensitive, but there is no doubt.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of the OPEC is seen at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

April 26, 2019

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he called the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and told the cartel to lower oil prices.

“Gasoline prices are coming down. I called up OPEC, I said you’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,” Trump told reporters.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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