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Meghan McCain: My Father Was Trump's 'Kryptonite'

Late Sen. John McCain was President Donald Trump's "kryptonite in life" and he's still his "kryptonite in death," Meghan McCain said Monday while pushing back against the president after he attacked her father on Twitter over the weekend.

"Listen, he spends his weekend obsessing over great men because he knows it, and I know it, and all of you know it: he will never be a great man," McCain, a co-host of ABC's "The View," said during the program, while commenting that rather than spending time with his family and friends, the president spends it on waging attacks.  

"All of us have love and families, and when my father was alive, up until adulthood, we would spend our time together cooking, hiking, fishing, really celebrating life, and I think it's because he almost died," McCain said. "And I just thought, 'your life is spent on the weekend not with your family, not with your friends, but you're obsessing, obsessing over great men you could never live up to.' That tells you everything you need to know about his pathetic life right now."

McCain died in 2018 after a year-long battle with brain cancer. Over the weekend, Trump attacked him for his ties to a dossier linking the president with Russia, and about his vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act. He also said that McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for five years, was "last in his class" at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Meghan McCain over the weekend tweeted to Trump that "no one will ever love you the way they loved my father."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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China has to learn from Japan’s lost decade: former official

FILE PHOTO: Property buildings are seen against the dawn sky in Beijing
FILE PHOTO: Property buildings are seen against the dawn sky in Beijing, China, April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA. GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD

March 12, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – China needs to learn lessons from Japan’s lost decade and control future levels of debt, the country’s former central bank governor said on Tuesday.

Debt levels in China are too high, but the Chinese government is taking steps to try to deleverage the economy, Zhou Xiaochuan said in a speech at Chatham House in London.

“Japan had very fast development and later then a so-called lost decade,” he said. “The Chinese economy may have a similar overleveraged problem and we need to absorb the knowledge and lessons from what happened.”

The lost decade refers to a period of economic stagnation in Japan that began in the 1990s.

(Reporting by Tom Arnold; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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AOC Calls Omar ‘One of the Most Effective Voices Right Now’

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Rep. Ilhan Omar accuses President Trump of lying about “border crisis,” calls wall “monument to racism”

Controversial freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., responded to a tweet from President Trump Wednesday by accusing him of “lying about the border” and calling the often debated border wall a “monument to racism.”

“This is a fake emergency! Donald Trump is lying about the border in order to build his monument to racism,” Omar tweeted Wednesday.

Omar was responding to a tweet by Trump calling on Congress to “eliminate the loopholes” and saying if they don’t act, he would close “large sections” of the border.

NIELSEN: IT'S A 'CAT 5' IMMIGRATION CRISIS

“Congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the Border! If no action, Border, or large sections of Border, will close. This is a National Emergency!,” the president tweeted.

The president has threatened to close the border this week, prompting outrage from Democrats, and called on Mexico to help prevent illegal immigration by using its own “strong” immigration laws. He also threatened to shut down aid to three Central American countries.

Omar, in just her fourth month in Congress has become a lightning rod for controversy.

Last February, she was accused of tweeting anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli messages, then re-ignited the flames in March when she once again suggested that groups supportive of Israel were pushing members of Congress to have "allegiance to a foreign country."

The backlash resulted in a watered-down resolution condemning hatred that was originally aimed at Omar.

The president during that time called on Omar to resign from Congress.

HOUSE PASSES BROAD RESOLUTION DENOUNCING RACISM WITHOUT NAMING REP. OMAR

Last month, she reportedly made comments critical of former President Barack Obama, suggesting he was a “pretty face” who got away with “murder.”

Omar then disputed the comments, saying the interviewer from Politico ‘distorted’ her comments, then releasing audio.

However, many journalists defended the characterizations and said Omar’s audio actually proved the opposite.

Just this week the Minnesota’s Campaign Finance Board announced it was wrapping up an investigation into whether Omar used campaign funds improperly, including $6,000 dollars on a divorce attorney and personal travel.

Fox News' Lukas Mikelionis contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Trump maintains ‘no collusion, no obstruction,’ says it’s time to ‘investigate the investigators’ in Russia probe

President Trump on Monday said it was time to “investigate the investigators,” doubling down on Attorney General Bill Barr’s summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings in the Russia investigation.

“Mueller, and the A.G. based on Mueller findings (and great intelligence), have already ruled No Collusion, No Obstruction. These were crimes committed by Crooked Hillary, the DNC, Dirty Cops and others! INVESTIGATE THE INVESTIGATORS!” Trump tweeted early Monday.

COMEY SCOFFS AT BARR TESTIMONY, CLAIMS 'SURVEILLANCE' IS NOT 'SPYING' 

The president’s tweet comes following a week of mounting scrutiny on the attorney general for his testimony that “spying did occur” on the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election.

Democrats blasted Barr, and accused him of “peddling conspiracy theories.”

But despite the backlash from Democrats over his use of the term, Barr's testimony appeared to refer to intelligence collection that already has been widely reported and confirmed.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page are currently the subject of a Justice Department inspector general investigation looking at potential misconduct in the issuance of those warrants. That review also reportedly is scrutinizing the role of an FBI informant who had contacts with Trump advisers in the early stages of the Russia investigation.

A person familiar with Barr’s thinking denied that the attorney general was trying to fuel conspiracy theories or play to the conservative base.

“When he used the word spying, he means intelligence collection,” the source told Fox News last week, also noting Barr’s history as a CIA analyst in the 1970s. “He wasn’t using it in the pejorative sense, he was using it in the classic sense.”

TRUMP DEFENDS BARR, SAYS THERE 'ABSOLUTELY' WAS SPYING AGAINST HIS CAMPAIGN

The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘spying’ as: “to collect information about something to use in deciding how to act,” or to “observe furtively.”

The use of the term as it applies to the FBI’s surveillance in 2016 has been fiercely disputed. The New York Times, even as it reported last year on how the FBI sent an informant to speak to campaign advisers amid concerns about suspicious Russia contacts, stated that this was to “investigate” Russia ties, and “not to spy.”

Barr’s testimony, though, suggested he makes no distinction between the two. He also stressed that the question for him is whether that “spying” was justified.

“I want to make sure there was no unauthorized surveillance,” Barr testified.

The president has defended the attorney general repeatedly since the comments were made, saying that they were “absolutely true.”

“There was absolutely spying into my campaign,” Trump said last week. “I’ll go a step further and say it was illegal spying. Unprecedented spying.”

Whether proper or improper, the issue of surveillance of the Trump campaign has been widely documented.

The FISA warrants, for example, were the subject of a GOP House Intelligence Committee memo last year. That memo alleged the unverified anti-Trump dossier provided much of the basis for law enforcement officials to repeatedly secure FISA warrants against Page, though Democrats have pushed back on parts of the GOP report.

Meanwhile, Barr announced last week that he is conducting a Justice Department review of the “conduct” of the original Russia investigation.

“[I’m] trying to get my arms around all of the aspects of the counterintelligence investigation that was conducted in the summer of 2016,” Barr said last week.

That review comes amid Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s investigation, where he is reportedly probing the involvement of FBI informant Stefan Halper — whose role first emerged last year. During the 2016 campaign, Halper reportedly contacted several members of the Trump campaign, including Page, and former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos. Halper also reportedly contacted former campaign aide Sam Clovis.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also vowed to lead an investigation into "the other side" following the release of Barr's summary.

During his testimony, Barr promised to release the full Mueller report “within a week,” maintaining his original promise to have the report to Congress and the public, with redactions, by mid-April. It is unclear when the report will be released.

BARR REVEALS HE IS REVIEWING 'CONDUCT' OF FBI'S ORIGINAL RUSSIA PROBE

Last month, Mueller transmitted his more than 300-page report to the Justice Department for review. Barr’s summary stated that the special counsel found no evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians during the 2016 election.

Mueller also was reviewing possible obstruction of justice on the part of the president, but did not come to a conclusion on the topic, and instead, leaving it to Barr.

Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said that the evidence from the case was “not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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The Latest: Man arrested in North Dakota quadruple slayings

The Latest on bodies found at a business in Mandan, North Dakota (all times local):

9:25 p.m.

Police in North Dakota say they've arrested a 44-year-old man in the slayings of four people earlier this week at a business in Mandan, near the capital city of Bismarck.

Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler says surveillance video identified a vehicle of interest and helped lead them to the suspect, who lived in the small town of Washburn about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of Mandan.

Ziegler also revealed for the first time that the victims had been stabbed or shot.

Ziegler says a motive for the killings isn't yet known. He says the suspect lived in a trailer park owned by the business, RJR Maintenance and Management.

Ziegler says the man is being held on four counts of felony murder.

___

6:55 p.m.

Police say they have detained a person of interest in the investigation into the killings of four people at a North Dakota business.

Mandan police said in a release Thursday evening that investigators are following up on a tip that led them to Washburn, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of Mandan.

Police released no further information and say it's an ongoing investigation.

The bodies of an owner and three employees were found early Monday at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan, just outside Bismarck. Police haven't said how they were killed or suggested a possible motive.

The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation and McLean County Sheriff's Office are also investigating the case.

___

10 a.m.

Police have declined to release details of a 911 call that alerted authorities to the killings of four people at a North Dakota business.

The bodies of an owner and three employees were found early Monday at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan, just outside Bismarck. Police haven't said how they were killed or suggested a possible motive. They said they haven't identified any suspects.

The Associated Press requested audio and a transcript of the 911 call, but police denied the request Thursday, citing a provision of the state's open records law that allows authorities to withhold such information during an active investigation.

Police did confirm that a Wednesday search in a field about half a mile from the business was related to the investigation. They also created a 24-hour public tip phone line.

___

6:40 a.m.

A combined memorial service will be held for a North Dakota business owner and three employees found slain earlier this week.

The service for Robert Fakler, William and Lois Cobb, and Adam Fuehrer will be held Tuesday morning at Bismarck Community Church.

Their bodies were discovered early Monday at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan, a city just across the Missouri River from Bismarck. Police have classified the case as a "multiple homicide," but investigators haven't said how the four died or identified the suspect.

Fakler co-owned the business, while the Cobbs and Fuehrer were employees.

Eastgate Funeral and Cremation Service director Bob Eastgate tells the Bismarck Tribune the families decided to have a combined service because the four were good friends.

The memorial service is open to the public.

Source: Fox News National

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Mueller should testify, Dems should be able to ‘ask him whatever they want:’ Judge Nap

Special Counsel Robert Mueller should testify before Congress and answer lawmakers’ questions regarding his report of the Russia investigation into President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, Judge Andrew Napolitano said.

The Fox News senior judicial analyst said on “Fox & Friends” early Thursday morning – just hours before Attorney General William Barr is expected to release the highly anticipated report – said there is a “tremendous desire on the of Americans to see what is there.”

“This has consumed us for two years,” Napolitano added.

IN MUELLER REPORT'S RELEASE, TRUMP LOOKS FOR VINDICATION, BUT NEW FIGHTS LOOM

Napolitano said the report will be a 400-page summary of the documents, interviews and notes the special counsel has amassed over the past two years and it will be lightly redacted. That said, Democrats are going to look at everything see what they can use against the president.

“If there is anything in there that they can use to undermine his legitimacy or undermine his credibility or weaken his re-election chances, of course, they are going to do it,” he said. “That's what they do. They are the other side.”

Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein scheduled a 9:30 a.m. ET press conference to discuss the Mueller report’s public release. The Department of Justice said Wednesday that certain members of Congress will be able to see the report “without certain redactions” after its public release.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Napolitano said certain ranking members of the Intelligence Committee have top security clearance to see anything.

“Now, can they reveal what they see? If they do, they are going to undermine their credibility,” he added. “They will never have a secret shared with them again.”

It was not immediately clear exactly when on Thursday the DOJ would release the redacted version of the nearly 400-page investigation into Russian election meddling, but the document was expected to be delivered to lawmakers and posted online by noon.

Barr has said redactions in the report's release are legally mandated.to protect four broad areas of concern: sensitive grand jury-related matters, classified information, ongoing investigations and the privacy or reputation of uncharged "peripheral" people.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Democrat New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, has said he is prepared to issue subpoenas "very quickly" for the full report if it is released with blacked-out sections, likely setting in motion a major legal battle.

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei’s factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain must get to the bottom of the leak of confidential discussions during a top-level security meeting about the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains, British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

News that Britain’s National Security Council, attended by senior ministers and spy chiefs, had agreed on Tuesday to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core elements was leaked to a national newspaper.

The leak of secret discussions has sparked anger in parliament and amongst Britain’s intelligence community. Britain’s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill has launched an inquiry and written to ministers who were at the meeting.

“My understanding from London (is) that an investigation has been announced into apparent leaks from the NSC meeting earlier this week,” said Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

“To my knowledge there has never been a leak from a National Security Council meeting before and therefore I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here,” he told Reuters in a pooled interview.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation. The majority of the ministers at the NSC meeting have said they were not involved, according to media reports.

Hammond said he was unaware of any previous leak from a meeting of the NSC.

“It’s not about the substance of what was apparently leaked. It’s not earth-shattering information. But it is important that we protect the principle that nothing that goes on in national security council meetings must ever be repeated outside the room.”

Allowing Huawei a reduced role in building its 5G network puts Britain at odds with the United States which has told allies not to use its technology at all because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

There have been concerns that the NSC’s conclusion, which sources confirmed to Reuters, could upset other allies in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network – the Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, British ministers and intelligence officials have said any final decision on 5G would not put critical national infrastructure at risk. Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber center of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon
Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon, South Korea, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 26, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – K-pop and drama star Park Yu-chun was arrested on Friday on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, a court said, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.

Suwon District Court approved the arrest warrant for Park, 32, due to concerns over possible destruction of evidence and flight risk, a court spokesman told Reuters.

Park is suspected of having bought about 1.5 grams of methamphetamine with his former girlfriend earlier this year and using the drug around five times, an official at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said.

Park has denied wrongdoing, saying he had never taken drugs, and he again denied the charges in court, Yonhap news agency said.

Park’s contract with his management agency had been canceled and he would leave the entertainment industry, Park’s management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, said on Wednesday.

Park was a member of boyband TVXQ between 2003 and 2009 before leaving the group with two other members, forming the group JYJ.

A scandal involving sex tapes, prostitutes and secret chat about rape led at least four other K-pop stars to quit the industry earlier this year.

The cases sparked a nationwide drugs bust and investigations into tax evasion and police collusion at night clubs and other nightlife spots.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight taxis after landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington
FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight from Los Angeles taxis after landing at Reagan National Airport shortly after an announcement was made by the FAA that the planes were being grounded by the United States over safety issues in Washington, U.S. March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – American Airlines Group Inc cut its 2019 profit forecast on Friday, saying it expected to take a $350 million hit from the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX planes after cancelling 1,200 flights in the first quarter.

The company said it now expects its 2019 adjusted profit to be between $4.00 per share and $6.00 per share.

Analysts on average had expected 2019 earnings of $5.63 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

The No. 1 U.S. airline by passenger traffic said net income rose to $185 million, or 41 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $159 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.

Total operating revenue rose 2 percent to $10.58 billion.

(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

April 26, 2019

By James Oliphant

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Reuters) – Four years ago, Donald Trump campaigned in small towns like Marshalltown, Iowa, vowing to restore economic prosperity to the U.S. heartland.

In his bid to replace Trump in the White House, Pete Buttigieg is taking a similar tack. The difference, he says, is that he can point to a model of success: South Bend, Indiana, the revitalized city where he has been mayor since 2012.

The Democratic presidential contender has vaulted to the congested field’s top tier in recent weeks, drawing media and donor attention for his youth, history-making status as the first openly gay major presidential candidate and a resume that includes military service in Afghanistan.

But Buttigieg’s main argument for his candidacy is that he is a turnaround artist in the mold of Trump, although the Democrat does not expressly invoke the comparison with the Republican president.

“I’m not going around saying we’ve fixed every problem we’ve got,” Buttigieg, 37, said after a house party with voters in Marshalltown. “But I’m proud of what we have done together, and I think it’s a very powerful story.”

Critics argue improving the fortunes of a Midwestern city of 100,000 people does not qualify Buttigieg, who has never held national office, for the presidency of a country of 330 million. Others say South Bend still has pockets of despair and that minorities, in particular, have failed to benefit from its growth.

Buttigieg has told crowds in Iowa and elsewhere that his experience in reviving a struggling Rust Belt community allows him to make a case to voters that other Democratic candidates cannot. That may give him the means to win back some of the disaffected Democratic voters who turned their backs on Hillary Clinton in 2016 to vote for Trump.

Watching Buttigieg at a union hall in Des Moines last week, Rick Ryan, 45, a member of the United Steelworkers, lamented how many of his fellow union workers voted for Trump. The president turned in the best performance by a Republican among union households since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Ryan said he hoped someone like Buttigieg could return them to the Democratic fold.

“He’s aware of the decline in the labor force in America, not just in Indiana or Des Moines or anywhere else,” Ryan said. “Jobs are going overseas. We need a find to way to bring that back.”

Randy Tucker, 56, of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said Trump appealed to union members “desperate for somebody to reach out to them, to help them, to listen to their voice.”

Buttigieg could do the same, he said. “In my heart right now, he’s No. 1.”

PAST VS. FUTURE

Buttigieg stresses a key difference in his and Trump’s approaches.

Trump, he tells crowds, is mired in the past, promising to rebuild the 20th century industrial economy. Buttigieg argues the pledge is misleading and unrealistic.

Buttigieg says his focus is on the future, and he often talks about what the country might look like decades from now.

“The only way that we can cultivate what makes America great is to look to the future and not be afraid of it,” Buttigieg said in Marshalltown.

Buttigieg knows his sexual preference may be a barrier to winning some blue-collar voters. But he notes that after he came out as gay in 2015, he won a second term as mayor with 80 percent of the vote in conservative Indiana.

Earlier this month, he announced his presidential bid at the hulking plant in South Bend that stopped making Studebaker autos more than 50 years ago. After lying dormant for decades, the building is being transformed into a high-tech hub after Buttigieg and other city leaders realized it would never again attract a large-scale industrial company.

“That building sat as a powerful reminder. We hoped we would get back that major employer that would fix our economy,” said Jeff Rea, president of the regional Chamber of Commerce.

Buttigieg is praised locally for spurring more than $100 million in downtown investment. During his two terms, unemployment has fallen to 4.1 percent from 11.8 percent.

But a study released in 2017 by the nonprofit group Prosperity Now said not all of the city’s residents had shared in its rebound. The median income for African-Americans remained half that of whites, while the unemployment rate for blacks was double.

Regina Williams-Preston, a city councilor running to replace Buttigieg as mayor, credits him for the revitalized downtown. But she said he had a “blind spot” when it came to focusing on troubled neighborhoods like the one she represents and only grew more engaged after community pressure.

“He understands it now,” she said. “The next step is figuring out how to open the doors of opportunity for everyone.”

‘ONE OF US’

Trump touts the fact that the United States added almost 300,000 manufacturing jobs last year as evidence he made good on his promise to restore the industrial sector. But that growth still left the country with fewer manufacturing jobs than in 2008.

The robust U.S. economy is likely the president’s greatest asset in his re-election bid, particularly in states he carried in 2016 such as Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He won Buttigieg’s home state by 19 points over Clinton in 2016.

Sean Bagniewski, chairman of the Democratic Party in Polk County, Iowa, said Buttigieg would be well positioned to compete with Trump in the Midwest.

“People love the fact that he’s a mayor,” said Bagniewski, who has not endorsed a candidate in the nominating contest. “If you can talk about a positive future, and if you actually have experience that can do it, that’s a compelling vision in Iowa.”

Nan Whaley, the mayor of Dayton, Ohio, which faces many of the same challenges as South Bend, agreed.

“He’s one of us,” Whaley said. “That helps.”

(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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A man looks out at a flooded residential area in Gatineau
A man looks out at a flooded residential area in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

April 26, 2019

MONTREAL/OTTAWA (Reuters) – Rising waters were prompting further evacuations in central Canada on Thursday, with the mayor of the country’s capital, Ottawa, declaring a state of emergency and Quebec authorities warning that a hydroelectric dam was at risk of breaking.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared the emergency in response to rising water levels along the Ottawa River and weather forecasts that called for significant rainfall on Friday.

In a statement on Twitter, Watson asked for help from the Ontario provincial government and the country’s military.

He warned that “flood levels are currently forecasted to exceed the levels that caused significant damage to numerous properties in the city of Ottawa in 2017.”

Spring flooding had killed one person and forced more than 900 people from their homes in Canada’s Quebec province as of 1 p.m. on Thursday, according to a government website.

Ottawa has received 80 requests for service related to potential flooding such as sandbagging, a city spokeswoman said.

The prospect of more rain over the next 24 to 48 hours triggered concerns on Thursday that the hydroelectric dam at Bell Falls in the western part of Quebec could be at risk of failing because of rising water levels.

Quebec’s provincial police said 250 people were protectively removed from homes in the area as of late afternoon in case the dam on the Rouge River breaks.

The dam is now at its full flow capacity of 980 cubic meters per second of water, said Francis Labbé, a spokesman for the province’s state-owned utility, Hydro Quebec. He said Hydro Quebec expected the flow could rise to 1,200 cubic meters per second of water over the next two days.

“We have to take the worst-case scenario into consideration, since we`re already at the maximum capacity,” Labbé said by phone.

The dam is part of a power station that no longer produces electricity, but is regularly inspected by Hydro Quebec, he said.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Ljunggren and Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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