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Dems Block Bill to Stop Infanticide – and Politico Smears GOP

If anyone wonders why so many people hate, detest, despise the establishment media, witness Politico’s “news” article Monday night about Senate Democrats’ defeat of the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.

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Biden jokes about hugging in 1st appearance since improper contact allegations, later voices remorse

In his first public appearance since allegations of improper contact with women threatened his yet-to-be-announced White House bid, former Vice President Joe Biden appeared to make light of the controversy surrounding his well-publicized past getting too close for comfort with fellow politicians, their family members and others.

Yet minutes later, talking with reporters, a more somber Biden emphasized that "I’m sorry I didn’t understand more."

BIDEN TEAM CHARGES AHEAD WITH PLANS FOR 2020 CAMPAIGN

And referring to his likely presidential campaign announcement, Biden said, "I am very close to making a decision to stand before you all relatively soon." Asked why the hold-up, Biden quickly answered, "The holdup is to put everything together."

The comments reflected a likely candidate still wrestling with how to address the controversy. But at the start of the event – a speech before a friendly audience, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers – he defaulted to a familiar approach, with a seemingly off-the-cuff quip that played well in the room, but necessarily to the rest of the country.

Biden was introduced by the union's male president, Lonnie Stephenson, and embraced him. The former vice president immediately joked that: “I just want you to know I had permission to hug Lonnie.”

The comment elicited cheers from the mostly male audience of largely blue-collar workers that Biden feels he can count on as he moves closer to launching third White House bid.

But Lucy Flores, the first woman to come forward with allegations of improper touching, tweeted, "It’s clear @JoeBiden hasn’t reflected at all on how his inappropriate and unsolicited touching made women feel uncomfortable. To make light of something as serious as consent degrades the conversation women everywhere are courageously trying to have."

About 15 minutes into his speech while talking about the need to license to braid hair in some states, Biden stopped himself and said “I should be careful,” which brought laughter from the union crowd.

And a moment later, the former vice president looked at some of the children in the crowd and said, “hey, all those kids you want to come up on the stage? It’s OK.” As some of the children walked up to the stage and shook hands with Biden, he again joked, saying “I got their permission.”

BARACK OBAMA STILL BELIEVES JOE BIDEN WOULD MAKE 'AN EXCELLENT PRESIDENT'

But speaking with reporters after his speech, Biden took a more somber tone.

"I’m sorry I didn’t understand more. I’m not sorry for any of my intentions. I’m not sorry for anything I’ve ever done. I’ve never been disrespectful intentionally to a man or a woman," he stressed.

And Biden explained that "it is incumbent on me and everybody else to make sure that if you embrace someone, if you touch someone, it’s with their consent, regardless of your intentions."

"It’s my responsibility to do that," he added.

Biden, known as a hugger and back-slapper on the stump, lamented that, "I think it going to have to change somewhat how I campaign."

Biden’s comments to the union crowd, quickly described as tone deaf by some political commentators, seemed to step on comments addressing the controversy that he made Wednesday in a video released on Twitter.

"Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I've heard what these women are saying," Biden tweeted. "Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That's my responsibility and I will meet it."

Biden’s Friday appearance came one week after questions over his affectionate brand of physical politics was thrust into the spotlight thanks to allegations from 2014 Nevada Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Lucy Flores. She said in an essay published in New York Magazine that Biden made her feel "uneasy, gross, and confused" at a campaign rally when she said he kissed her on the back of the head. Flores’ allegations. Her claims quickly went viral and became a top cable news story throughout last weekend and into this week.

In the ensuing days, six other women came forward to recount similar physical encounters with Biden that they say made them feel uneasy.

Those accounts were countered by dozens of testimonials from women – from former Biden staffers to lawmakers – who said they’ve always viewed the former vice president as supportive.

Biden for years has drawn attention for his sometimes-awkward embraces of politicians and their family members. While the gestures have been defended as harmless by his supporters, they’ve been seen as excessive by others, especially with the rise of the #MeToo movement.

Biden allies say that the controversy’s not slowing down the likely launch of a presidential campaign.

An adviser close to the former vice president told Fox News the uproar if anything, “has strengthened his resolve.”

Asked if the developments would slow Biden’s decision-making process, the adviser answered: “Absolutely not.” The source, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, added that a Biden announcement could likely come in late April – after Easter – or soon afterward.

Biden, pushing back against the perception that he's a moderate in a party that's increasingly moving to the left, defended his record. He said he'll stack his record against "anybody how has run or who is running now or who will run."

And highlighting his early public push for same-sex marriage, he said, "I'm not sure when everybody else came out and said they're for gay marriage."

Source: Fox News Politics

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Woodward: FBI, CIA Reliance on ‘Garbage’ Steele Dossier ‘Needs to Be Investigated’

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Source: InfoWars

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Drunk Leftists Attack Infowars Reporter & Crew, Get Arrested

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Ex-Massachusetts Governor Weld to seek 2020 Republican presidential nomination

FILE PHOTO: Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld speaks at a rally in New York
FILE PHOTO: Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld speaks at a rally in New York, U.S., September 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich/File Photo

April 15, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld announced his candidacy on Monday to challenge President Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination.

“In these times of great political strife, when both major parties are entrenched in their ‘win at all cost’ battles, the voices of the American people are being ignored and our nation is suffering,” Weld said in a statement. “It is time for patriotic men and women across our great nation to stand and plant a flag.

Weld, 73, who served two terms as governor, from 1991-1997, enters as a long-shot candidate against an incumbent president who has remained popular within his party. Weld in February had said that he planned to challenge Trump.

Trump’s campaign raised more than $30 million in the first quarter of 2019, it said on Sunday, far outpacing the sums raised by individual Democratic candidates during that period. The fundraising underscores the willingness of Republican donors to invest in Trump’s re-election bid.

(Reporting by Letitia Stein, Steve Holland and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Vietnam asks Malaysia to free woman accused of Kim Jong Nam’s poisoning

FILE PHOTO: Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong arrives at the Shah Alam High Court on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur
FILE PHOTO: Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, who is on trial for the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader, arrives at the Shah Alam High Court on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Lai Seng Sin/File Photo

March 12, 2019

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Vietnam called on Malaysia on Tuesday to free a Vietnamese woman accused in the 2017 murder of the North Korean leader’s half brother, a day after a Malaysian court dropped a similar charge against an Indonesian woman.

Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Pham Binh Binh, in a telephone call to his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah, asked Malaysia to “ensure a fair trial and free Vietnamese citizen Doan Thi Huong,” the government said in a statement.

Huong’s co-defendant, Indonesian Siti Aisyah, was freed on Monday after a Malaysian court dropped the charge against her.

She and Huong have been accused of poisoning Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with liquid VX at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017. Conviction could carry the death penalty.

Minh said in the phone conversation that senior leaders and the people of Vietnam have paid close attention to the trial, the government statement said.

Huong’s father, Doan Van Thanh, said Siti Aisyah’s release was good news for his family.

“I believe that my daughter will be released too because she is innocent. We haven’t received any information from Malaysia recently, and we are eager to hear from them now,” Thanh told Reuters.

The court is scheduled to presume proceedings on Thursday.

Defense lawyers have maintained that the women were pawns in an assassination orchestrated by North Korean agents.

During the trial, the court was shown CCTV footage of two women allegedly assaulting Kim Jong Nam while he prepared to check in for a flight.

Siti Aisyah and Huong have maintained that they believed they had been hired to participate in a reality TV prank show.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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Pakistani minority Shiites end days-long protest in Quetta

Pakistan's minority Shite Muslims have ended their days-long sit-in after successful talks with the government, which promised more steps to protect them in the southwestern city of Quetta following a suicide bombing there last week.

Members of the Hazara community ended their protest before dawn Tuesday.

Hundreds of Shiites began their protest Friday after the suicide bombing at an open-air market killed 20 people, including Shiites.

The bombing was claimed by Islamic State group, which views Shiites as apostates deserving of death.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan province, which also is the scene of a low-level insurgency by separatists demanding more autonomy and a greater share in the region's natural resources such as gas and oil.

Source: Fox News World

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Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas
Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s foreign minister and a Venezuelan judge, according to a statement on the department’s website.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and a judge, Carol Padilla, were targeted over the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, the Treasury Department said, the latest in a list of officials blacklisted by U.S. authorities for their role in President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Makini Brice and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of
Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of “Avengers: Endgame” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Marvel Studios superhero spectacle “Avengers: Endgame” hauled in a record $60 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices during its Thursday night debut, distributor Walt Disney Co said.

Global ticket sales for the film about Iron Man, Hulk and other popular characters reached $305 million for the first two days, Disney said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Writing by William Schomberg)

Source: OANN

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A bedridden 67-year-old woman and more than a dozen animals were rescued Thursday after a welfare check found that they were living in a home filled with trash, urine, and feces, Florida police said.

Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies said when they arrived at the home in Dunedin around 7:20 p.m. Thursday, they could smell the odor of rotting trash and animal feces as they walked up to the driveway.

“Inside the residence, the odor of feces and urine was so overwhelming that deputies had to don masks,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.

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

Walking throughout the residence, the deputies found 10 emaciated dogs and puppies living in bins filled with their own feces, five large Macaw birds flying freely, rats, bugs and overall squalor.

Puppies discovered living in their own feces inside a Florida home that was filled with trash, urine, and feces.

Puppies discovered living in their own feces inside a Florida home that was filled with trash, urine, and feces. (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)

Deputies said due to the large amounts of trash in the home, they had to clear a path to reach the victim’s bedroom.

“None of the home’s toilets were working and all were found to be overflowing with feces,” deputies said. “The only working sink was located on the opposite end of the house from the victim’s bedroom.”

They said there was no food or water for the victim or the animals.

FLORIDA MAN IN EASTER BUNNY COSTUME CAUGHT IN VIRAL BRAWL IS WANTED IN NEW JERSEY, HAS HISTORY OF ARRESTS

The victim was transported to a local hospital for injuries that were non-life threatening, while the animals were transported to shelters.

The woman’s caretaker, Richard Lawrence Goodwin, 65, was arrested and charged with abuse and neglect of an elderly person, disabled person, and cruelty to animals.

Richard Goodwin, 69, was arrested for abuse and neglect of an elderly and disabled person after deputies found she was living in deplorable conditions.

Richard Goodwin, 69, was arrested for abuse and neglect of an elderly and disabled person after deputies found she was living in deplorable conditions. (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)

The sheriff’s department said this was Goodwin’s second arrest for abuse and neglect of the same victim. He was previously arrested in May 2018.

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Neighbor Victoria Muenzerbeer told FOX 13 that Goodwin and the victim were hoarders and the conditions inside the home were horrible years ago when she visited once.

“I went in and it was absolutely, a human being couldn’t live there,” she said. “The kitchen wasn’t usable and part of the wall was falling in.”

Source: Fox News National

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

April 26, 2019

By Ulf Laessing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FOREX SURCHARGE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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