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Qatar Petroleum signs initial deals to boost local energy industry

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Qatar Petroleum is seen at its headquartes in Doha
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Qatar Petroleum is seen at its headquartes in Doha, Qatar, July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer

February 18, 2019

DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar Petroleum signed preliminary deals worth more than 9 billion Qatari riyals ($2.47 billion) on Monday with oil services firms Schlumberger and Baker Hughes to boost the local energy industry.

Qatar, the world’s top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter which is facing a trade boycott by some Arab states, wants to reduce reliance on imports and lift domestic production.

“As part of our national duty to develop the industry in Qatar and to promote self-reliance, we saw the need to localize many of the supporting industries in the sector,” QP Chief Executive Officer Saad al-Kaabi said at an event to sign memorandums of understanding with Schlumberger and Baker Hughes.

The preliminary agreements would involve investment in production facilities, training and development, Kaabi said.

Another oil services firm McDermott signed a joint venture deal with Qatar’s energy shipping and transport firm Naqilat to build maritime platforms for offshore and onshore structures, Kaabi said, without giving a value.

Qatar expected to save about 9 billion riyals a year through import substitution after building up its local energy industry, Kaabi, without giving a target date.

Qatar aims to boost its annual LNG output by 43 percent by 2023/24 to 110 million tonnes per year from 77 million now.

(Reporting by Eric Knecht; Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Edmund Blair)

Source: OANN

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BOJ offers bleakest view in 6 years on Japan’s regional economies

FILE PHOTO : Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a news conference at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO : Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a news conference at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo, Japan October 31, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

April 8, 2019

By Leika Kihara

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan on Monday cut its assessment for three of the country’s nine regions, the biggest number of downgrades in six years, suggesting that the hit to exports and factory output from slowing overseas demand was broadening.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the economy was expected to continue expanding moderately with robust domestic demand offsetting some of the weaknesses in exports.

“Core consumer inflation is expected to gradually accelerate toward 2 percent as the output gap remains positive, and medium- to long-term inflation expectations heighten,” Kuroda told a quarterly meeting of the BOJ’s regional branch managers.

But the central bank warned that weakening global growth and simmering Sino-U.S. trade tensions were taking a toll on some Japanese regions reliant on overseas demand.

“We have had to cut our assessments on exports and output for some regions because we’re hearing more complaints about the impact of the global economic slowdown than three months ago,” said a BOJ official briefing reports on the quarterly report.

The report cited several companies that put off investment in new equipment due to uncertainty over the global outlook.

“We decided to forgo a plan to build a new semi-conductor equipment plant as Sino-U.S. trade frictions heighten uncertainty over the global economy,” a machinery maker in Kumamoto, southern Japan, was quoted as saying.

The BOJ raised its assessment for one region, while it maintained its view for five regions.

Under a policy dubbed yield curve control, the BOJ guides short-term interest rates at minus 0.1 percent and the 10-year government bond yield around zero percent in an effort to achieve its 2 percent inflation target.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chris Gallagher and Sam Holmes)

Source: OANN

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Editorial Roundup: Excerpts from recent editorials

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

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April 25

The Japan News on the bombings in Sri Lanka:

This was a despicable, inexcusable act of violence that targeted innocent people.

Terrorist bombings struck Colombo and elsewhere in Sri Lanka almost simultaneously, killing and injuring hundreds of people, including Japanese nationals.

The blasts targeted churches where many Christians had gathered for Easter events, and luxury hotels that have many foreign guests. There were explosions at eight venues, including suicide attacks.

Sri Lankan authorities have detained members of a domestic Islamic extremist group that allegedly conducted the attacks. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the government believes "there may be links" between this group and the Islamic State extremist group.

IS has claimed responsibility for the bombings and released footage that purported to show the men who committed the attacks. The authenticity of these claims is unclear, but based on the targets chosen and the elaborate methods used, it seems IS provided some kind of support to the group that carried out the bombings.

In March, the United States declared that all territory that was under IS control had been recaptured. However, the group's radical thinking continues to spread over the internet and through other channels. There is a lingering risk that the tentacles of these beliefs could reach into societies plagued by poverty, discrimination and other problems.

Alarmingly, there is a possibility Sri Lankan authorities missed signs that a terrorist attack was coming. Although foreign intelligence agencies had warned of a planned suicide bombing attack on Christian churches, the Sri Lankan prime minister and Cabinet ministers reportedly did not receive this information.

Tensions could be rekindled.

Political wrangling between Wickremesinghe and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena apparently formed a backdrop to these events. It is essential that a government operates in unison and quickly deals with a possible terrorist attack to prevent it from happening. The Sri Lankan government must seriously take to heart that it was one step behind in dealing with the situation and take steps to prevent any recurrence.

Cooperation with investigative agencies in the United States and elsewhere also will be crucial for fully uncovering the truth of what happened.

Beginning in the 1980s, Sri Lanka's government, which was led by the majority Buddhists, clashed fiercely with an extremist Hindu group that was demanding a separate, independent state. Terrorist bombings perpetrated by the extremists often occurred, but the nation's security situation had improved since the civil war ended in 2009.

There are concerns the latest attacks could again trigger heightened tensions between people of different religions and ethnicities. A chain of terrorist attacks and retaliation must not be allowed to occur.

About 40,000 Japanese visit Sri Lanka each year for tourism and other purposes. The Foreign Ministry has called for Japanese people to avoid nonessential and nonurgent travel to Sri Lanka. Many people are planning overseas trips for the upcoming 10-day Golden Week holiday. Travelers should make sure they check the latest information about the security situation in their holiday destination.

Sharing information with other nations is essential for counterterrorism measures. Japan should spearhead discussions on this issue, including at the summit meeting of the Group of 20 major and emerging economies to be held in Osaka in June.

Online:

http://the-japan-news.com/

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April 24

Evening Standard on U.S. President Donald Trump's planned visit to the U.K. in June:

Many of us have issued hasty invitations we later regret to people we don't know that well — but Theresa May topped the scale with her offer of a state visit to Britain when she saw Donald Trump in the first week of his presidency.

Naively, she hoped it would mark the start of a warm alliance between them, leading to an easy trade deal after Brexit.

Instead, President Trump pocketed her offer, went on to praise Boris Johnson as someone who "would be a great prime minister", made London the target of some of his most boorish tweets and never had any intention of opening up US markets to our goods without flooding Britain with low-standard food products in return.

Now the Democrats have taken control of the House of Representatives he can't even offer that — as a more thoughtful US visitor, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, reminded us last week.

So how should we react to news that the President is set to turn up for a state visit at the start of June, amid events marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings?

We could just wish he wasn't coming. But that won't stop him.

He'll enjoy provoking protesters who will, in return, enjoy taking to the streets to taunt him. Maybe the Extinction Rebellion crowd will try to stay camped in trees in Parliament Square until then. He's a better target for their call for action on climate change than a British Government which agrees it exists, after all.

Or we could hide in the detail and ask whether Mr. Trump deserves the honour of a state rather than a working visit.

But this is pointless. Some first-term presidents have been given one but most haven't and the difference is more in the title than anything else.

It's not the white-tie dinner at Windsor Castle that people object to. It's the presence of the President himself.

So the question which matters is simply: should he come here? And the answer to that has to be yes — just as President Macron was right to welcome him to Paris.

We can't pick and choose other world leaders. Diplomacy demands that countries engage, even when the leaders involved are undiplomatic.

Online:

https://www.standard.co.uk

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April 24

Houston Chronicle on the recent execution of a man for a 1998 killing of a black man:

The execution Wednesday of John William King for the 1998 lynching of James Byrd Jr., who was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to death, won't bring the victim back to life. It won't erase the heartbreak of the loved ones Byrd left behind. Neither will it remove the stain that the atrocity left on the East Texas town of Jasper, where the murder occurred. So, what purpose will King's execution serve?

King's death by injection occurred less than two weeks after a white man was arrested for setting fire to three black churches in Louisiana. The proximity of those events makes one wonder if race relations have changed since Byrd was lynched. Clearly there have been improvements in the past 21 years, but the FBI says hate crimes in America, most of them motivated by race or ethnicity, have increased. Few compare to what happened to Byrd.

While walking home late at night, he accepted a ride from three white guys in a pickup. The driver was Shawn Berry. The other two, King and Lawrence Russell Brewer, had been members of a skinhead prison gang called the Confederate Knights of America. They attacked Byrd, beat him into submission, wrapped one end of a chain around his ankles, the other end to the truck's ball, and dragged him for three miles. Part of Byrd's body was found near a cemetery; the rest a mile and a half up the road.

It wasn't hard for police to find Byrd's assailants. They clumsily left evidence where it was easily found. All three men were convicted of capital murder. Brewer was executed in 2011. Berry, who cooperated with authorities, was sentenced to life in prison and will be eligible for parole in 2038. King's fate was set after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-minute appeal Wednesday evening.

King was a walking, talking advertisement for racism. His many body tattoos included a black man hanging from a tree, a robed Ku Klux Klansman, a swastika, and the words "Aryan Pride." Prosecutors said King was as an "exalted cyclops" of the Confederate Knights of America and recruited white troops for an imagined race war.

Did King's execution have a purpose other than vengeance? Executions usually don't. Research has shown them to also be poor deterrents to future crimes. Capital punishment has more to do with retribution than justice. But King's execution could be different. That's if his story of unbridled racism could be used to bury the misguided notion that memorials and traditions honoring the Confederate States of America should be treated with reverence.

Klan and skinhead groups use emblems that link them to the Confederacy for a specific reason: Like them, the rebel states were united by racism. Failing to preserve slavery, the former Confederate states continued to treat black people as inferior to whites by enacting segregation laws that stayed on the books into the 1960s.

Many African-Americans and others view commemorations of the Confederacy as endorsements of the historical subjugation of black people. That doesn't mean other folks can't be proud of their ancestors. They were fighting for a racist cause, but most were soldiers, not murderers like King and two others who killed Byrd. That pride, however, shouldn't be endorsed by state governments whose citizens also include people who aren't descendants of Confederate soldiers and sympathizers.

...

Online:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com

___

April 24

The Free Press of Chattanooga, Tennessee, on U.S. President Donald Trump, the phrase "Easter worshippers," and Christian voters:

Democrats, with good reason, have frequently chided deeply religious American Christians for voting for Donald Trump in 2016.

The president, who is a thrice-married, frequently mean-spirited, largely nonreligious individual, nevertheless has favored legislation important to that segment of voters.

Religious voters, if they can't have a candidate whose personal life inclines closely to their values — a Jimmy Carter or a George W. Bush, who were more forward about their religious convictions — at least want somebody who talks a good game but follows the talk with action.

Right or wrong, they see Trump that way. But, increasingly, they see neither the convictions nor the talk from Democrats.

Take last weekend's bombings in Sri Lanka, which targeted a Christian minority in a predominantly Buddhist country. Nearly 300 people died and more than 500 were injured at three churches, three hotels and a housing complex.

Whether or not Democrats played follow the leader or had a strategy in some convoluted way for responding, former President Barack Obama weighed in on Twitter at 10:02 a.m. on Easter Sunday by saying "the attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity."

By definition, "Easter worshippers" are Christians, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to use that term.

It was mindful of Obama's presidency when he was unable to characterize the radical Muslims carrying out terrorist attacks as members of the Islamic faith. He didn't want to lump the terrorists in with good Muslims, he said, and impugn an entire religion.

The president, of course, had also pointed out at the 2015 National Prayer Breakfast that Americans should not "get on our high horse" about radical Islam since "people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ" centuries ago.

Yet, the terrorists continued to slaughter innocents in the name of Islam.

On Sunday, following Obama's tweet, at 10:45 a.m. U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, D-California, tweeted that he was "deeply saddened over the horrific acts of violence against Easter worshippers and tourists."

At 11:08 a.m., Jared Polis, the Democratic governor of Colorado, tweeted that he was heartbroken "to learn about the attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka."

At 12:59 p.m., former San Antonio, Texas, Mayor Julian Castro, who is a declared 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, tweeted that "the evil of these attacks on Easter worshippers and tourists in Sri Lanka is deeply saddening."

And, finally, at 1:17 p.m., former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she was "praying for everyone affected by today's horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers" — at least she didn't say "tourists" — "in Sri Lanka."

The wording, though perhaps just Democrats falling in behind their former leader's phrase, was nonetheless eerie.

If Democrats can't embrace the word "Christian" or "Jesus" — a video of once and future House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trying to do just that in 2010 went viral — how will they attract deeply religious voters who chose Trump, flaws and all?

Several already have made attempts and wound up as the hypocrites they accuse the president of being.

Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a self-avowed Christian, is the latest to fall in the trap. In a recent interview with USA Today, he allowed as to how God has chosen a side.

"We need to not be afraid to invoke arguments on why Christian faith is going to point you in a progressive direction," he said.

Buttigieg went on to say he was "reluctant to comment on another person's (faith)," then preceded to comment negatively on Trump's. Since then, he's also trashed the Christian faith of Vice President Mike Pence.

On Monday, though, during a CNN town hall in New Hampshire, perhaps knowing some who might be on the fence about Trump might be watching, he decided God hadn't chosen sides.

"At the very least," Buttigieg said, "we should be able to establish that God does not have a political party."

For him and for the rest of the crowded Democratic field, it's a matter of authenticity. Voters didn't find it in Obama, who got 4.5 million fewer votes in 2012 than in 2008 but won a second term against a weak Republican. Some of them oddly found it in Trump, who wasn't the solid family man his predecessor was but was willing to give voice to — and try to accomplish — what members of the electorate wanted.

The deeply religious part of that electorate is no different. They're not looking for perfection — and wouldn't ever find it, anyway — but do want a candidate who gives more than lip service to their faith and then works toward honoring what has been promised.

We don't believe at this point skeptical Trump voters have found such a candidate on the Democratic side.

Online:

https://www.timesfreepress.com

___

April 23

The Ledger of Lakeland, Florida, on allowing guns in schools:

For much of last week, residents of Littleton, Colorado, paused to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.

Two student gunmen murdered a dozen students and a teacher that spring day, then committed suicide, the culmination of a plot designed to kill 500 people using guns and homemade bombs. The shock of such violence on a pacific, affluent suburban school campus shook much of America, and causes Columbine to live on in our consciousness, even as its death toll has been superseded by massacres at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

During last week's tearful recollections, candlelight vigils, survivors' updates, and the weird and sad tale of a reportedly Columbine-obsessed young woman from Florida whose trek to Colorado led many to fear violence during the activities but ended with her taking her own life, many may have missed the story of Evan Todd.

Twenty years ago Todd was a 15-year-old sophomore in the school library working on an English paper when the shooters entered the room. They immediately shot in his direction, wounding him, and then made their way around the room, shooting 22 fellow students, killing 10. At one point one of the shooters approached Todd, pressed a gun against his head and asked why he shouldn't be killed. Todd recalled stammering an answer about never having done anything to either of them, and after a pause, the shooters left the library, and let Todd live. He was the last student to speak to them.

Todd has said he believes prayer saved his life that day. But since then, he has pushed for a different kind of intervention in instances such as Columbine.

Todd has become a gun-rights activist, including carrying a concealed weapon of his own, and his pet cause is allowing teachers to carry guns in schools.

This month, as the Columbine anniversary neared, he told a Colorado radio reporter, "What actually stops these from happening? And in the world we live in, a firearm is one of those ways. And a firearm would have saved lives at Columbine."

"Had I not gone through it, I don't know if I would have the same perspective," Todd added. "But I've seen evil in this world. And ignoring it never does anything."

That reiterated a message he shared last year, both with the media around the 19th anniversary of the massacre and to community groups and state lawmakers in campaigning for a bill permitting teachers to carry guns, which was proposed by one of Todd's former schoolmates and a survivor of the massacre.

...

Gun opponents repeatedly maintain this is a bad idea that does nothing to enhance school safety. In fact, as the gun-control group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America argues, panicky, ill-trained teachers will make things more dangerous. That's quite a commentary about the judgment of people we entrust with our children for six to eight hours each day.

Additionally, we know it's a fallacy to argue that more guns means more murder. The gun-related homicide rate in America today is half what it was a quarter-century ago, even as millions more guns have been sold in that time. And we know from reviews of both Columbine and Douglas high schools that law enforcement did not respond adequately to save lives, thus leaving victims, like Evan Todd, to the mercy of the killers.

The urge to deny people the right to defend themselves — and in the case of Florida schools, to defend children — from homicidal maniacs is a strange one. Lawmakers cannot make teachers or anyone else carry guns, but if we learn anything from the recent Columbine retrospective, it should be that prohibiting self-defense via gun can be a matter of life and death.

Online:

https://www.theledger.com

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April 22

The New York Times on the U.S. Supreme Court considering whether federal employment law protects LGBTQ workers:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of a person's sex. On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to address whether gay and transgender workers are covered by the landmark provision, in a trio of cases — two concluding that federal law protects such employees, and one resolving that it doesn't.

The cases open the door for the justices to settle the issue for the whole nation. The cases are expected to be decided by the summer of 2020 — that is, in the heat of the presidential campaign, when voters will be judging candidates in part on where they stand on gay and transgender rights. That will make this a political issue, to be sure, but there is significantly more at stake for individual workers.

The Justice Department sowed confusion in 2017 when it went against the stated position of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that oversees enforcement of Title VII, and argued before an appeals court that Congress never intended to extend protections to gay workers. That much may be true; the law as written makes no mention of sexual orientation or transgender status. Which could also explain a separate brief filed in October, in which the department told the Supreme Court that Title VII, as lawmakers wrote it, "does not apply to discrimination against an individual based on his or her gender identity."

With the passage of time, however, a number of courts, including the Supreme Court, have interpreted the prohibition against sex discrimination generously. Over the past 55 years, thanks to that forward-looking reading of the law, Title VII has addressed harms that Congress never foresaw, such as forbidding sexual harassment and gender stereotyping.

Relying on some of those precedents — and the guidance of the E.E.O.C., which in recent years has extended the reach of Title VII to lesbian, gay and transgender employees — modern-day courts have also begun to reconsider their prior decisions on such rights in the workplace, expanding the reach of the law.

As Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in a unanimous 1998 ruling in favor of a male worker who was subject to same-sex harassment, "statutory prohibitions often go beyond the principal evil to cover reasonably comparable evils, and it is ultimately the provisions of our laws rather than the principal concerns of our legislators by which we are governed."

So Congress may not have the last word on this matter. What's more, absent direct action from lawmakers, the Supreme Court would be wise to keep the current progress of the law in place — and not undermine its own prior cases that helped make the American workplace more welcoming and inclusive to all.

Online:

https://www.nytimes.com

Source: Fox News National

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Trump declares ‘country is full’ in Fox News interview, says US can no longer accept illegal immigrants

President Trump, in an interview with Fox & Friends that aired Saturday morning, declared the “country is full” and said the U.S. immigration system can no longer absorb a mass influx of illegal immigrants, but praised Mexico for stopping border crossings after his threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border.

“No, we're witnessing people that are going to be brought out of the country, the country is full,” Trump told Fox News’ Griff Jenkins after being asked whether the second generation of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is forming amid new immigrant arrivals, many accompanied by children.

“We have our system full. We can't do it anymore,” Trump continued, slamming the 1997 Flores settlement as “a horror show” for forcing the government to release migrant minors from detention after 20 days.

“We go by this horrible Flores situation. You know that decision is a horror show. We have to release after 20 days and we build big detention areas but they fill up immediately,” he said.

TRUMP VISITS SOUTHERN BORDER AMID GROWING CRISIS, DECLARING THAT ‘OUR COUNTRY IS FULL’

The comments come in the wake of an escalating immigration crisis, with data suggesting Customs and Border Protection is on track to apprehend almost 1 million illegal immigrants at the border this year, and threats to close the southern border.

Trump visited the border area in California on Friday, on his way to events in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. He blamed the border situation on the current immigration system and the Democrats' opposition to his border security measures.

“There's never been so many people coming up and that's because they're gaming the system and the system is changed for the worse because of what happened with Democrats and what they've done in terms of Congress,” Trump said.

“There's never been so many people coming up and that's because they're gaming the system and the system is changed for the worse because of what happened with Democrats and what they've done in terms of Congress.”

— President Trump

“So if we change the laws it would be very easy. But in the meantime, Mexico, if they stop the people from coming in, we won't have a lot of people coming at the border.”

BORDER SLOWDOWN LEAVES PORTS OF ENTRY VULNERABLE TO DRUG TRAFFICKING, CRITICS SAY

Trump said he’s not interested in having a summit with Latin American leaders, as Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has shown progress in helping to combat illegal border crossings.

“No, no I don't need a summit. I think we've done very well without the summit,” he said, adding that presidents of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador “understand” the seriousness of his administration and the aims to stop the illegal immigration.

“They understand we stopped. We're saving 550 million dollars. And I respectfully told and I thank him very much because for the last four days it's been great. You see that whole stream is drying up,” Trump said, referring to his warning days ago to close the southern border.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“They could stop them at the southern border, their southern border. And you look at what's happening now. They pulled in fifteen hundred, one thousand five hundred yesterday they brought them back. They pulled in over a thousand the day before. Over a thousand the day before that today I haven't gotten the number but I mean it's a lot.”

The full interview will be shown on "Fox & Friends," starting at 6 a.m. ET saturday.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Florida authorities seeking driver who allegedly stopped for person crossing, then hit them with car

Authorities in Florida are on the hunt for a driver who they allege purposefully hit someone with a car after initially letting them pass by.

The Feb. 23 interaction between the driver and pedestrian in Oakland Park, Fla., was caught on tape and shared by the Broward Sheriff’s Office in a news release Wednesday. The incident happened around 8 p.m. in a Publix supermarket parking lot, authorities said.

The video showed a vehicle as it “stops to allowing a pedestrian to walk in front of his car,” the sheriff’s office said.

FLORIDA AUTHORITIES ARREST DAD ACCUSED OF KILLING WIFE, YOUNG DAUGHTER WITH MACHETE

“As the victim finishes crossing the vehicle, the driver accelerates and turns in the direction of the victim,” according to the news release.

Following this, the video showed the individual on the ground. The vehicle then fled the scene, the sheriff’s office said. The encounter left the individual with a broken leg, according to authorities.

“This driver’s actions are bizarre, cruel and reckless. They are also aggravated battery,” the sheriff’s office said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The driver was also captured on video as he went into the store shortly before the encounter in the parking lot, according to authorities.

The driver is “a heavyset male with a fair complexion” who has short brown hair, a close-cut brown beard and at the time was wearing a red hat and t-shirt, khaki shorts and black sneakers, the sheriff’s office said.

Source: Fox News National

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Golf: Hole-in-one powers Kim to four-stroke lead in Texas

PGA: Valero Texas Open - Second Round
Apr 5, 2019; San Antonio, TX, USA; Kim Si-woo watches his drive on the 15th hole during the second round of the Valero Texas Open golf tournament at TPC San Antonio - AT&T Oaks Course. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

April 6, 2019

(Reuters) – A jubilant Kim Si-woo aced the 16th hole to push his lead to four strokes after the second round of the Texas Open at San Antonio on Friday.

A group of six players, including headliners Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, were left in second place after the overnight leader’s hole-in-one.

Kim, who started the day with a one-stroke advantage, drove a nine iron to the green at the 167-yard par-three then watched the ball bounce into the hole.

The South Korean world number 61 tossed his club aside and thrust both arms into the air in celebration at his second career hole-in-one.

Kim, aiming for his third PGA Tour victory, ended the round at 12-under 132 thanks to four birdies and the ace in his second consecutive 66.

Spieth and Fowler, who both shot 68 for the second round in a row, shared second with fellow Americans Harold Varner (66) and Adam Schenk (66) as well as Canadian Corey Conners (67) and Kim’s compatriot Lee Kyoung-hoon (67).

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina, editing by Nick Mulvenney)

Source: OANN

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No-deal Brexit may have steep costs for some sectors: WTO chief

FILE PHOTO: Pro-Brexit protesters take part in the March to Leave demonstration in London
FILE PHOTO: A British flag flutters during the March to Leave demonstration in Parliament square in London, Britain March 29, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

April 5, 2019

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – If the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without a deal it could have “very significant” costs for some parts of the British economy, Roberto Azevedo, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said on Thursday.

The British government is scrambling to find parliamentary consensus over the terms of its departure from the European Union ahead of an April 12 deadline, prompting warnings from some officials that the risk of a no-deal exit is increasing.

Azevedo said in Mexico City that economists were best placed to estimate the potential impact of a no-deal Brexit, which would leave the British economy trading on WTO rules.

“But I would say there will be costs, and the costs may be very significant in some sectors, and maybe less significant in other sectors. But overall, there will be an impact, we all know that,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Separately, Azevedo sounded a note of caution on ongoing efforts to resolve a dispute over the future of the WTO’s Appellate Body, the top court of global trade.

Washington has long argued that WTO judges have routinely broken with procedures and exceeded their mandates, and in a bid to force reforms, the U.S. government has blocked the appointment of judges to the Appellate Body.

If continued, the tactic could render the body inoperable by December, when terms end for two of the remaining three judges. Under WTO rules, three judges are required to hear appeals.

Azevedo said WTO member states were seeking to find a way around the impasse, noting that it was chiefly a U.S. concern.

“The truth is that it’s difficult to know if we’re advancing or not,” he said, “because the Americans haven’t been contributing in a very active way to these discussions.”

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

Source: OANN

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Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta
Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta, Cyprus, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Stefanos Kouratzis

April 26, 2019

NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cypriot police searched on Friday for more victims of a suspected serial killer, in a case which has shocked the Mediterranean island and exposed the authorities to charges of “criminal indifference” because the dead women were foreigners.

The main opposition party, the left-wing AKEL, called for the resignation of Cyprus’s justice minister and police chief.

Police were combing three different locations west of the capital Nicosia for victims of the suspected killer, a 35-year-old army officer who has been in detention for a week.

The bodies of three women, including two thought to be from the Philippines, have been recovered. Police sources said the suspect had indicated the location of the third body, found on Thursday, and had said the person was “either Indian or Nepali”.

Police said they were searching for a further four people, including two children, based on the suspect’s testimony.

“These women came here to earn a living, to help their families. They lived away from their families. And the earth swallowed them, nobody was interested,” AKEL lawmaker Irene Charalambides told Reuters.

“This killer will be judged by the court but the other big question is the criminal indifference shown by the others when the reports first surfaced. I believe, as does my party, that the justice minister and the police chief should resign. They are irrevocably exposed.”

Police have said they will investigate any perceived shortcomings in their handling of the case.

One person who did attempt to alert the authorities over the disappearances, a 70-year-old Cypriot citizen, said his motives were questioned by police.

The bodies of the two Filipino women reported missing in May and August 2018 were found in an abandoned mine shaft this month. Police discovered the body of the third woman at an army firing range about 14 km (9 miles) from the mine shaft.

Police are now searching for the six-year-old daughter of the first victim found, a Romanian mother who disappeared with her eight-year-old child in 2016, and a woman from the Phillipines who vanished in Dec. 2017.

The suspect has not been publicly named, in line with Cypriot legal practice.

A public vigil for the missing was planned later on Friday.

(Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Gareth Jones)

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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