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On the roster: Washington goes soft - Beto O’Rourke, hipster hacker - Trump issues first veto, slaps back at Congress’ rebuke - It's Mueller time (almost) - Life, liberty and the finger
WASHINGTON GOES SOFT The Irish have a wonderful way to refer to days like this one in Washington: “soft.”
The air is cool but not chilly and certainly a little damp. The winds are mild and when the sun breaks through from time to time it reveals a glorious brilliance and sapphire-blue skies behind.
Yes, spring is springing here in America’s Mid-Atlantic and it is, as always, stirringly, heart-rendingly beautiful. Other places in America may have consistently better weather, but no place in America has a finer pageant of seasons than ours. An army of daffodils is rising up even now to protect our title.
But the effects on the population are noticeable. Children begin to slouch toward a touch of languid insolence and adults begin to stir at the thought of all the wonderful things they want to see and do in these fine days. Spring fever is here indeed.
With that in mind, perhaps we can best hold your attention with some newsy nuggets from a very unusual day and week in politics.
- How racist and sexist do Democrats believe Americans to be? Serious question. In 2008, there were plenty of Democrats who either openly or not-so-openly said that as much as they liiiikedBarack Obama that America just wasn’t “ready” for an African-American president. A similar argument was had about the party’s 2016 female nominee. There’s visible discontentment within the Democratic base that three members of the 2020 top tier are white dudes: Bernie Sanders, Beto O’Rourke and Joe Biden. Democrats have not selected a male person of pallor as their nominee for 15 years. And there’s no doubt that no matter how many “this is what a feminist looks like” t-shirts they wear, the B brothers will come in for continued criticism of their gender and ethnicity. But also don’t forget that many Democrats believe that sexism and racism were major forces against their Obama and Hillary Clinton. So if you are concerned about pervasive racism and sexism among Americans today might there be an incentive to actually pick a nominee who could avoid these issues?
- It’s starting to dawn on Democrats that they picked a terrible time to give up their top-down, tightly controlled nominating process. The party has changed its nominating rules to open up the process to Sanders, who got shafted by party insiders in 2016. It will come at a considerable cost. The folks at FiveThirtyEight observe that with now more than a dozen credible contenders in the race, the chances of a contested convention are rising by the day. And if that moment – which would be the Dems’ first since 1952 – should come in Milwaukee next year, the party will be badly ill-equipped to keep the peace.
- White House whisperers tell Politico that President Trump is fixating on Biden as perhaps his most dangerous general election opponent. Trump may very well be right. Biden is the best known and best liked of any Democrat running for the party’s nomination. But Republicans should bear in mind that one of the other candidates might well emerge over the next 10 months as a more formidable opponent. Remember how Democrats in 2016 were gearing up the fight an establishment Republican and worked to stir up the GOP base in favor of long-shot candidates like… oh yeah, the guy who is now the sitting president of the United States.
-Jeb Bush has a lot in common with Hillary Clinton. They are both considered the less successful, more serious members of their respective political dynasties. Now we can add another one: Coming back from the political wilderness to make trouble for their political party. In an interview with David Axelrod set to air this weekend, the former Florida governor and exclamation point enthusiast called for a primary challenge to President Trump. “I think someone should run just because Republicans ought to be given a choice,” Bush said. “It’s hard to beat a sitting president, but to have a conversation about what it is to be a conservative, I think it’s important.” Bush also had encouraging words for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is currently considering a 2020 presidential run.
- What’s a ‘Jexodus’ anyway? The president tweeted about it this morning. And its apparently a follow up on Team Trump’s efforts to use professional celebrity Kanye West to sell something called “Blexit,” the purported mass exit of black voters from the Democratic Party in favor of Trump’s GOP. This portmanteau is Jewish + exodus = Jexodus. Coupla points here: First, the original Exodus was Jewish so isn’t that kind of redundant? Second, there’s no sign of such a thing. One way that Republicans often misunderstand Jewish voters is by imagining that it is their Jewishness that makes them Democratic. The major American metropolitan areas with the largest concentration of Jewish Americans – led by New York, Philadelphia and Miami by one estimate – are overwhelmingly Democratic. If you took a sampling of almost any major sect or ethnic group in those places they would also be overwhelmingly Democratic. Republicans’ staunch support for Israel has no doubt won many converts, but the partisan percentages for Jewish voters remain remarkably consistent. According to one poll, 67 percent of Jews backed Democrats in 2018 compared with 20 percent for the GOP.
- Trump had to take down a different tweet today. He had blasted out his ominous-sounding claim in an interview with a nationalist web site in which he warned of coming political violence. “I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad.” But Trump’s account took down the tweet this morning when the president wanted to broadcast his expression of sympathy for the victims of a mass murder of Muslim worshipers in New Zealand. We suppose it’s good that the White House understands how such loose talk about civil strife is inappropriate. But if that’s so, wouldn’t that argue against ever saying such things in the first place?
- As the daffodils prepare to raise their heads to face the glorious sun, we hope that you are preparing for your own splendid weekend. See you Monday.
THE RULEBOOK: LOLZ “It is evident from the state of the country, from the habits of the people, from the experience we have had on the point itself, that it is impracticable to raise any very considerable sums by direct taxation.” – Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 12
TIME OUT: RATH DÉ ORT History: “Every March 17, the United States becomes an emerald country for a day. Americans wear green clothes and quaff green beer. Green milkshakes, bagels and grits appear on menus. In a leprechaun-worthy shenanigan, Chicago even dyes its river green. Revelers from coast to coast celebrate all things Irish by hoisting pints of Guinness and cheering bagpipers, step dancers and marching bands parading through city streets. These familiar annual traditions weren’t imported from Ireland, however. They were made in America. In contrast to the merry-making in the United States, March 17 has been more holy day than holiday in Ireland. Since 1631, St. Patrick’s Day has been a religious feast day to commemorate the anniversary of the 5th-century death of the missionary credited with spreading Christianity to Ireland. For several centuries, March 17 was a day of solemnity in Ireland with Catholics attending church in the morning and partaking of modest feasts in the afternoon.”
SCOREBOARD Trump job performance Average approval: 41.6 percent Average disapproval: 53.8 percent Net Score: -12.2 points Change from one week ago: down 1.4 points [Average includes: Gallup: 39% approve - 57% disapprove; Monmouth University: 44% approve - 52% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 38% approve - 55% disapprove; IBD: 41% approve - 53% disapprove; NBC/WSJ: 46% approve - 52% disapprove.]
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BETO O’ROURKE, HIPSTER HACKER Reuters: “While a teenager, [Beto O'Rourke] acknowledged in an exclusive interview, he belonged to the oldest group of computer hackers in U.S. history. … An ex-hacker running for national office would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. But that was before two national elections sent people from other nontraditional backgrounds to the White House and Congress, many of them vowing to blow up the status quo. Arguably, there has been no better time to be an American politician rebelling against business as usual. Still, it's unclear whether the United States is ready for a presidential contender who, as a teenager, stole long-distance phone service for his dial-up modem, wrote a murder fantasy in which the narrator drives over children on the street, and mused about a society without money."
Racks up endorsements, even on Gillibrand’s turf - The Texas Tribune: “Four Democratic members of Congress quickly endorsed former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke's presidential bid within hours of his official announcement Thursday. U.S. Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney and Kathleen Rice, both of New York; Stephanie Murphy of Florida; and Veronica Escobar of El Paso all announced their support for O'Rourke to be their party's nominee for president in 2020. All four are part of the younger generation of Democratic House members. All joined the chamber either with O'Rourke in 2013 or afterwards. ‘I have endorsed Beto O’Rourke in every election he’s run — including this exciting run for President of the United States — because he is an extraordinary public servant, driven by compassion and a desire to unify,’ Escobar, who succeeded O'Rourke in his El Paso-based district in January, said in a post on Facebook.”
Barnstorms Iowa -Texas Tribune: “Making his debut Thursday in Iowa, hours after announcing his presidential campaign, Beto O'Rourke all but picked up where he left off in his blockbuster U.S. Senate run last year, bringing his off-the-cuff, frenetic campaign style to the towns that outline the Mississippi River. It was a return to form for O'Rourke, who has made ample public appearances in recent weeks but few that allowed him to practice the retail-heavy politics that animated his bid against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. If the style wasn't new, the setting certainly was. ‘This is my first time to ever visit Iowa,’ O'Rourke declared Thursday morning inside a coffee shop in Keokuk, where he kicked off the three-day Iowa swing. … Many of his rivals have already logged multiple trips to the state and made multiple hires, though if the reception O'Rourke got Thursday was any indication, he has not yet missed his moment.”
Bernie’s campaign becomes the first in history to unionize - AP: “Campaign workers for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 Democratic campaign have unionized, becoming the first presidential campaign workers in history to do so. The United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 confirmed Friday that Sanders’ campaign workers were the first to win union representation. UFCW Local 400 President Mark P. Federici says he expects the decision will mean that Sanders’ campaign workers have pay parity and transparency, as well as no gender bias and harassment. Earlier this year, Sanders apologized to female staffers on his 2016 campaign who said they experienced sexual harassment from male staffers. The New York Times reported allegations of unwanted sexual advances, as well as pay inequity. Sanders’ campaign manager Faiz Shakir says the Vermont senator is honored to be the first presidential candidate with a unionized workforce.”
Bernie’s wife closes family non-profit amid ethics worries -AP: “The Sanders Institute, a think tank founded by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' wife and son, is shutting down, at least for now, amid criticism that the nonprofit has blurred the lines between family, fundraising and campaigning. The Vermont-based institute has stopped accepting donations and plans to suspend all operations by the end of May "so there could not even be an appearance of impropriety," Jane Sanders told The Associated Press. …. Jane Sanders, who also serves as a chief adviser to her husband's presidential campaign, is not compensated for her role at the institute. Her son, David Driscoll, is paid $100,000 a year as co-founder and executive director. Driscoll previously was an executive for Nike and the Vermont snowboarding firm Burton, but had no previous nonprofit experience, according to his LinkedIn profile.”
Ouch: Bernie campaigns with big bandage after bathroom mishap - Politico: “Sen. Bernie Sanders cut his head on a glass shower door on Friday morning and received seven stitches, his campaign announced. But the 2020 candidate was given a ‘clean bill of health’ and will attend all of his previously scheduled campaign events over the next couple days. Arianna Jones, a Sanders spokeswoman, said ‘out of precaution, he went to a walk-in clinic’ to have the cut checked out.”
Harris keeps focus on South Carolina - Guardian: “This was the third trip [Sen. Kamala Harris] has made to South Carolina since launching her campaign, making it her most visited of the first four primary states in next year’s election. There is now established thought in Democratic circles that winning South Carolina, with its diverse voting constituency, provides the real gateway to the party’s nomination rather than the starting states of New Hampshire and Iowa with their overwhelmingly white electorate. Senior campaign aides say Harris will give equal time to all four early states throughout the race. Recent public polls place the senator third here at 13%, behind the more familiar names of Joe Biden, who has yet to declare a bid, and Bernie Sanders, who ran against Hillary Clinton in 2016 but failed to win the state. She placed fourth in a recent poll among caucus goers in Iowa.”
Klobuchar: It takes a tough boss to deal with Putin -Mediaite: “With presidential candidate and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) dealing with, sometimes wild, reports about mistreatment of her staff in the Senate, Klobuchar defended her management style – saying toughness is needed on the world stage. ‘Your campaign was shaken up in the early days by multiple reports, negative reports about how you’ve treated your past at times. Your answer was, too, I can be too hard. What’s too hard,’ CNN’s Poppy Harlow asked. ‘…If, you know, they felt that something was unfair or they felt bad about something, but I still think that you have to demand good product. When you are out there on the world stage and dealing with people like Vladimir Putin, yeah, you want someone who is tough,’ she added. ‘You want someone that demands the answers and that is going to get things done. That’s what I’ve done my whole life.’”
Booker cops to romance with actress Rosario Dawson -Fox News: “Presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker confirmed on Friday that he’s dating actress Rosario Dawson. ‘I am dating Rosario Dawson and I’m very happy about it,’ the New Jersey Democrat told reporters following a campaign stop in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary along the road to the White House. ‘She’s a wonderful actor,’ Booker highlighted. The 39-year old actress broke the news on Thursday, saying ‘yes, very much so,’ when asked by TMZ at Washington’s Reagan-National airport if she was involved with Booker, who turns 50 next month. ‘He’s a wonderful human being. It’s good to spend some time together when we can. Very busy.’ … If Booker wins the White House, he would become just the third bachelor in the nation’s history to serve as president.”
TRUMP ISSUES FIRST VETO, SLAPS BACK AT CONRESS’ REBUKE AP: “President Donald Trump issued the first veto of his presidency on Friday, overruling Congress to protect his emergency declaration for border wall funding. Flanked by law enforcement officials as well as the parents of children killed by people in the country illegally, Trump maintained that he is not through fighting for his signature campaign promise, which stands largely unfulfilled 18 months before voters decide whether to grant him another term. ‘Congress has the freedom to pass this resolution,’ Trump said, ‘and I have the duty to veto it.’ A dozen defecting Republicans joined Senate Democrats in approving the joint resolution on Thursday, which capped a week of confrontation with the White House as both parties in Congress strained to exert their power in new ways. It is unlikely that Congress will have the two-thirds majority required to override Trump’s veto, though House Democrats have suggested they would try nonetheless.”
The week trump lost Congress -NYT: “Time and again … lawmakers on Capitol Hill warned him not to push them too far. This week, in a remarkable series of bipartisan rebukes to the president, Congress pushed back. On Wednesday, with seven Republicans breaking ranks, the Senate joined the Democrat-led House in voting to end American military aid to Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen in protest over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post. On Thursday morning, the House voted unanimously on a nonbinding resolution to make public the findings of the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. And on Thursday afternoon, 12 Republican senators abandoned the president to pass legislation, already adopted by the House, that would block Mr. Trump from declaring a national emergency to build his border wall — an act of defiance that he has vowed to overturn with the first veto of his presidency.”
Senators facing 2020 re-election stick with Trump on emergency funding -Politico: “Two weeks ago, Sen. Thom Tillis said President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration violated the separation of powers and created a dangerous precedent, stating in an op-ed that he would vote to reverse it. On Thursday, the North Carolina Republican flipped and sided with Trump on the border vote. While a dozen Senate Republicans joined Democrats to support a resolution undoing Trump’s move to fund a border wall, Tillis and all but one other Republican up for reelection in 2020 — Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — stuck with the president. The list includes Sen. Cory Gardner of blue-trending Colorado and Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed this year but will face Arizona voters again in 2020 after losing a tough race in 2018. The vote underscores how little Republicans on the ballot in 2020 want to break with the president, even on an issue that divided the party and in states where Trump’s approval rating is low.”
Sasse, Tillis face conservative backlash -WashEx: “While consistent constitutional conservatives including Sens. Mike Lee and Rand Paul held firm, other conservatives who often warn about the erosion of checks on executive power, prominently Sens. Ted Cruz and Ben Sasse, caved. Thom Tillis, who actually wrote an op-ed outlining why he would vote against the measure, changed his mind when it came to vote. In explaining away his decision, Sasse said: "…I think that law is overly broad and I want to fix it, but at present Nancy Pelosi doesn't, so I am therefore voting against her politically motivated resolution. As a constitutional conservative, I believe that the NEA currently on the books should be narrowed considerably.” … He is setting up a classic false choice. Sasse has in the past lamented the tendency of people to put their preferred outcomes over respecting process and institutional checks on power, and yet here he is, embracing a move because of the policy outcome.
IT'S MUELLER TIME (ALMOST) Fox News: “For weeks, rumors have been swirling that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is nearing the end of his years-long Russia investigation — and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are eager to make his final report public. The House of Representatives unanimously voted (420-0) Thursday in favor of a resolution to urge Attorney General William Barr to release Mueller’s full report to Congress and the country for the sake of ‘transparency.’ The probe was intended to examine Russian election interference and whether President Trump's campaign colluded with Russian officials during the 2016 election -- and has since resulted in charges for several former Trump campaign associates, though none have directly related to collusion. Trump called the investigation ‘illegal’ and ‘conflicted’ this week, arguing Mueller should have never been appointed in the first place. … When the investigation — which began in May 2017 — concludes, Mueller will release his final report to Barr, who has been overseeing the special counsel since he took office in February.”
Graham ready to deploy countermeasures -Politico: “Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham is demanding answers from the Justice Department about former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s explosive allegation that top officials there discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office. In a letter to Attorney General William Barr on Friday, Graham said his panel intends to investigate the allegations and gave Barr a two-week deadline to turn over any documents relating to conversations between McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein about the 25th Amendment or about covertly recording Trump. Last month, during a media blitz to promote his new book, McCabe said that after the abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey, Rosenstein had offered to wear a wire into the White House and furthermore had brought up whether Trump could be removed from office using the 25th Amendment.”
To investigate or to legislate? -NPR: “Nowhere else in the House of Representatives is the tension between legislation and investigation more present than on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where a bipartisan infrastructure deal could be in the making — even as the Democrats on the committee launch a reinvigorated investigation into the D.C. Trump Hotel. ‘I have to do my duty over here and get questions answered,’ committee Chairman Peter DeFazio told NPR. ‘But I also need to pursue vigorously working with the White House to try and move an infrastructure package. And I'm willing and able to do both, and I think that the president will understand that if he really wants to do infrastructure.’ Trump famously declared at his latest State of the Union address that members of Congress could choose between working with him on passing bills or probe his business and administration — not both.”
PLAY-BY-PLAY House Democrats scramble to head off GOP legislative trolling -Politico
AUDIBLE: CHILLY “…consider this our resolution of disapproval.” – Editorial from The Denver Post rescinding the newspaper’s 2014 endorsement of Sen. Cory Gardner. Gardner, facing a tough re-election fight, carried President Trump’s water, voting against the congressional resolution of disapproval for the president’s emergency declaration.
ANY GIVEN SUNDAY This weekend Mr. Sunday will sit down with Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Ind. and 2020 Presidential Candidate. Watch “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.” Check local listings for broadcast times in your area.
#mediabuzz - Host Howard Kurtz has the latest take on the week’s media coverage. Watch #mediabuzz Sundays at 11 a.m. ET.
Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.
LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE FINGER NPR: “If you've ever been tempted to make a rude gesture at a police officer, you can rest assured that the Constitution protects your right to do so, a federal appeals court says. In the sequence of events described by the court, a woman in Michigan, Debra Cruise-Gulyas, was pulled over in 2017 for speeding. The officer showed leniency, writing her up for a lesser violation known as a nonmoving violation. As she drove away, apparently insufficiently appreciative of the officer's gesture, Cruise-Gulyas made a certain gesture of her own. Or as the court put it, ‘she made an all-too-familiar gesture at [Officer Matthew Minard] with her hand and without four of her fingers showing.’ Minard was not amused. He pulled her over again and rewrote the ticket for speeding. Cruise-Gulyas sued, arguing she had a First Amendment right to wiggle whatever finger she wanted at the police. … The court's ruling means Cruise-Gulyas' lawsuit can proceed in a lower court.”
AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES… “One day, we shall all have to account for what we did and what we said in this scoundrel year. For now, we each have our conscience to attend to.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in the Washington Post June 9, 2016.
Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Liz Friden contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces on occasion of the 71st anniversary of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Pyongyang, North Korea in this February 8, 2019 KCNA Photo. KCNA via REUTERS
February 26, 2019
By James Pearson and Khanh Vu
HANOI (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un became the first leader of his isolated country to travel to Vietnam since his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, visited in 1964 when he arrived on Tuesday for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Vietnam’s model of reform is being widely touted as the economic path for impoverished North Korea to follow as the United States leads efforts to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program and bring it back to the international fold.
But Vietnam’s transformation has required political change and levels of individual freedoms that would require major reforms for the Kim family, which is afforded godlike status by state propaganda.
In imagery that could have powerful propaganda value at home, Kim Jong Un will mimic aspects of his grandfather’s trip to Vietnam by traveling to some of the same locations visited by the elder Kim, two sources with direct knowledge of security and logistics planning told Reuters.
“This is legacy politics,” said Christopher Green, a North Korea expert with the International Crisis Group.
“North Korea will want to play up Kim’s succession to the role of his grandfather, who successfully built up North Korea’s international legitimacy after the establishment of the state.”
Even Kim Jong Un’s long train journey through North Korea and thousands of kilometers across China to reach Vietnam is similar to the grand train voyages his grandfather once took.
His armored train is made up of carriages decked out with pink leather chairs and big-screen televisions.
In Vietnam, one of his destinations will be the northern coastal province of Quang Ninh, the sources said. It is home to Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO world heritage site dotted with steep-sided islands which attracted more than 12 million tourists last year.
Kim Il Sung visited Ha Long Bay in 1964 during his second visit to Vietnam.
RED CARPET, RED RIVER
Kim’s train arrived at the Vietnamese border station of Dong Dang early on Tuesday, where he disembarked to travel the 170 km (105 miles) to Hanoi by car.
Top Vietnamese officials were on hand to receive him at the station with a red-carpet including a guard of honor and North Korean and Vietnamese flags flying.
Kim’s close aide, Kim Chang Son, who has been in Hanoi for several days preparing for the summit, was spotted at the station before Kim’s arrival. His sister, who has emerged as an important aide to Kim and traveled with him from Pyongyang, was spotted getting off the train before he disembarked.
Kim will meet Trump on Wednesday and Thursday.
Over the weekend, Vietnam announced that it will ban traffic on the road from the station to Hanoi on Tuesday.
Kim may be looking to learn from Vietnam’s experience of manufacturing products for international companies, meaning a visit to a factory could also be on the cards.
A source with direct knowledge of the plan said a high level North Korean delegation is scheduled to visit a plant operated by start-up Vietnamese automaker Vinfast in Haiphong province on Wednesday afternoon.
The plan is subject to change.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics operates a massive smartphone factory in Bac Ninh, another province popular with Vietnamese and international manufacturers.
A source with direct knowledge of the matter said Samsung Electronics had not been informed of any visit by Kim, or instructed by Vietnamese authorities to host him.
In Hanoi, North Korean and U.S. flags flew along main thoroughfares and a bridge crossing the Red River into the city.
Trump and Kim are expected to meet for their second summit in Hanoi’s Government Guesthouse, an elegant, colonial-era building in the city center, or at the nearby Metropole Hotel, sources have told Reuters.
Trump will arrive in Vietnam on Tuesday evening.
He will meet Vietnam’s president, who is also general secretary of the ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, on Wednesday morning, the ministry said.
Trump has appeared to play down any hope of a major breakthrough at the two-day summit, saying he would be happy as long as North Korea maintained its pause on weapons testing.
(Reporting by James Pearson and Khanh Vu; Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Robert Birsel)
FILE PHOTO: A bitcoin logo is seen at a facility of the Youth and Sports Ministry in Caracas, Venezuela February 23, 2018. REUTERS/Marco Bello
April 4, 2019
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bitcoin’s trading volume dropped to a two-year low in March, digital currency trading tool provider TradeBlock said in a report on Thursday, as investors remained spooked by increased regulatory scrutiny.
Bitcoin volume in the top five digital currency exchanges totaled $2.14 billion last month, the lowest since April 2017 when volume was just $845.7 million.
The original cryptocurrency, bitcoin has dropped more than 70 percent since hitting an all-time high of nearly $20,000 in December 2017, a slump that has spread to all digital currencies.
A global regulatory crackdown led by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has created concerns about greater oversight and acceptance of digital currencies as payments, taking the wind out of the once red-hot virtual assets.
Early this week, however, bitcoin recovered somewhat to hit a roughly five-month high of $5,345 on the Bitstamp platform, after a major order by an anonymous buyer set off a frenzy of computer-driven trading, analysts said.
TradeBlock said in its research that as bitcoin trading volumes fell, digital asset exchanges started increasing the number of assets listed. It cited Coinbase, which has historically listed fewer assets than its peers, taking on two new currencies – Ripple and Stellar Lumens – over the last few months.
Coinbase’s trading volume for March was $1.6 billion, a two-year low as well, TradeBlock data showed.
TradeBlock’s research also showed that as volumes declined, digital currency exchanges began raising trading fees in 2018 and 2019.
“An increase in trading fees is in line with expectations that exchanges are looking to protect revenues, amidst continually dampened trading volumes,” TradeBlock said.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov (L) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) pose for photos after signing documents at the end of a meeting at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China March 28, 2019. Andrea Verdelli/Pool via REUTERS
March 29, 2019
BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese government’s top diplomat has thanked Kazakhstan for its support for a controversial de-radicalization program in China’s far western region of Xinjiang, and said others should follow China’s example.
Critics say China is operating internment camps for Uighurs and other Muslim peoples who live in Xinjiang, although the government calls them vocational training centers and says it has a genuine need to prevent extremist thinking and violence.
Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi said after meeting Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing that China’s de-radicalization measures in Xinjiang had been very effective, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.
The steps had “vigorously protected local security and stability and made an important contribution to promoting regional peace and stability”, Wang said.
They also gave a “useful reference for the international community in cracking down on violent terror forces and banishing extremist thought”, he said.
“We appreciated the Kazakh government’s understanding and support for China’s position, and we will never let any person or any force damage the friendship and mutual trust between China and Kazakhstan,” Wang said.
The government of the Central Asian nation has avoided criticizing China’s Xinjiang policies but has negotiated the release of some two dozen people with dual Kazakh and Chinese citizenships detained in China.
Kazakh police this month detained a Chinese-born activist who has campaigned on behalf of ethnic Kazakhs in China.
Xinjiang is home to a sizeable Kazakh minority, some of whom have also ended up in the de-radicalization facilities, rights groups say.
China has been stepping up a push to counter growing criticism in the West and among rights groups about the program in Xinjiang, which borders Central Asia.
That has included inviting foreign diplomats and reporters to visit on well-chaperoned tours, including a Reuters reporter in January.
China has denied all accusations of rights abuses in Xinjiang and says it has a genuine need to ensure security there, where hundreds have been killed in unrest in recent years blamed by Beijing on Islamist militants and separatists.
Wang said China and Kazakhstan should strengthen their cooperation in the human rights field and ensure people do not try to “politicise” the issue, China’s Foreign Ministry said.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait)
Following attacks by Islamic terrorists that killed hundreds of people in Sri Lanka, BBC News expressed concern for “nervous and afraid” Muslims.
BBC News’ live coverage of the aftermath of the bombings, which primarily targeted Catholic Christians, made a point of highlighting how “Sri Lankan Muslims are left nervous and afraid.”
This would be as absurd as worrying about the safety of white people following the Christchurch mosque massacre.
As we highlighted yesterday, instead of focusing on the perpetrators, some media outlets chose to make the issue about the reaction of the ‘far-right’.
The Washington Post published a story entitled Christianity under attack? Sri Lanka church bombings stoke far-right anger in the West.
Another article published by UK outlet LBC cites an analyst who worries that the Sri Lanka massacre “may lead to further violence against Muslims”.
Given that nearly 800 people, many of them Catholics, have just been killed or injured by Muslim extremists, is anyone concerned about Christians?
Buildings are seen in the Porta Nuova district in Milan, Italy, March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini
February 27, 2019
Feb 27 (Reuters) – Morale among Italian manufacturers declined to its lowest level in almost three years and consumer sentiment also declined in February after the economy dipped into recession at the end of last year.
ISTAT’s manufacturing confidence index fell to 101.7 in February from a revised 102.0 in January, national statistics office ISTAT said on Wednesday.
The reading was slightly above the median forecast of 101.4 in a Reuters survey of 11 analysts, but the lowest for the index since August 2016.
ISTAT’s composite business morale index, combining surveys of the manufacturing, retail, construction and services sectors, also declined in February to 98.3, its lowest in four years, from a revised 99.1 in January.
Consumer confidence fell in February to 112.4, the index’s lowest level since August 2017, and lower than a median forecast of 113.0 in a Reuters survey of eight analysts. In January, consumer sentiment was a revised 113.9.
The surveys come after Italy’s economy, the euro zone’s third biggest, slumped into its third recession in a decade in the second half of last year.
Sentiment is declining amid rising tensions within the governing populist coalition. Disagreements between the ruling League party and its 5-Star Movement partner have been bubbling up over a series of issues, including the construction of an Alpine tunnel.
The government forecasts GDP growth of 1 percent this year, but most independent bodies expect it to come in at little more than half that rate.
ISTAT gave the following data on the February manufacturing confidence survey:
(Reporting by Steve Scherer, Rome Newsroom reutersitaly@thomsonreuters.com)
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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)
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)
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)
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)
FILE PHOTO: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
April 26, 2019
(Reuters) – New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s lawyers on Friday are set to ask a Florida judge to toss out hidden-camera videos that prosecutors say show the 77-year-old billionaire receiving sexual favors for money inside a Florida massage parlor.
The owner of the reigning Super Bowl champions plans wants the video to not be used as evidence against him as he contests two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Spa in Jupiter, Florida, along with some two dozen other men.
His legal team is fresh off a win on Tuesday, when they successfully persuaded Palm Beach County Judge Leonard Hanser to block prosecutors from releasing the hidden-camera footage to media outlets, which had requested copies under the state’s robust open records law.
Kraft, who has owned the franchise since 1994, pleaded not guilty, but has issued a public apology for his actions.
His attorneys have argued in court papers that the surreptitious videotaping of customers, including Kraft, inside a massage parlor was governmental overreach and the result of an illegally obtained search warrant.
The warrant, Kraft’s lawyers claim, was secured under false pretenses because police officers cited human trafficking as a potential crime in their application. Prosecutors have since acknowledged that the investigation yielded no evidence of trafficking.
Palm Beach County prosecutors in a court filing on Wednesday said Kraft’s motion should be rejected because he could not have had any expectation of privacy while visiting a commercial establishment to engage in criminal activity.
That prompted an indignant response from Kraft’s attorneys, who said the prosecution’s position on privacy was “unhinged.”
“It should go without saying that Mr. Kraft and everyone else in the United States have a reasonable expectation that the government will not secretly spy on them while they undress behind closed doors,” they wrote.
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