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An Evil So Great That America May Not Be Able To Ever Recover From It

Approximately 800,000 children go missing in the United States every year, and many of them end up in the hands of sex traffickers. 

After you read what I have to share with you, I guarantee that you will start watching your children much more carefully when they are in public.  Earlier today I received an email from one of my readers encouraging me to check out John W. Whitehead’s latest article.  So I did, and I was absolutely horrified by what I learned.  In America today, authorities believe that the number of under-age sex workers is somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000.  Those children are purchased millions of times a year, and it has become a 9.5 billion dollar industry.  Every major city in the U.S. has a problem with child slavery, but there are certain areas (such as Washington D.C.) that have become central hubs.  This is a major national crisis, and yet for some reason very few members of Congress are making this issue a priority.

Lately I have been writing a lot about how America has become a completely lawless nation, and this is a perfect example.  According to Whitehead, some of the children being bought and sold are as young as 9 years old…

Children, young girls—some as young as 9 years old—are being bought and sold for sex in America. The average age for a young woman being sold for sex is now 13 years old.

This is America’s dirty little secret.

Sex trafficking—especially when it comes to the buying and selling of young girls—has become big business in America, the fastest growing business in organized crime and the second most-lucrative commodity traded illegally after drugs and guns.


Now that the Deep State coup has been exposed, insiders say President Trump is ready to use every tool he has to finally defeat the Deep State. Alex explains how more than ever now is the time for patriots to support the president’s America First agenda.

As investigative journalist Amy Fine Collins notes, “It’s become more lucrative and much safer to sell malleable teens than drugs or guns. A pound of heroin or an AK-47 can be retailed once, but a young girl can be sold 10 to 15 times a day—and a ‘righteous’ pimp confiscates 100 percent of her earnings.”

With all of the law enforcement resources at our disposal, our nation could destroy this industry if it really wanted to do so.

In his article, Whitehead says that a single child “might be raped by 6,000 men during a five-year period of servitude“.

Just one child.

And since there are at least 100,000 child slaves in the United States today, we are talking about potentially millions of men that are committing acts of evil so horrific that they should immediately be given the death penalty.

Once a nation has fallen this low, how can it ever recover?

In one federal case, a child slave testified that “she was forced to have sex with as many as 20 men a night”

As David McSwane recounts in a chilling piece for the Herald-Tribune: “In Oakland Park, an industrial Fort Lauderdale suburb, federal agents in 2011 encountered a brothel operated by a married couple. Inside ‘The Boom Boom Room,’ as it was known, customers paid a fee and were given a condom and a timer and left alone with one of the brothel’s eight teenagers, children as young as 13. A 16-year-old foster child testified that he acted as security, while a 17-year-old girl told a federal judge she was forced to have sex with as many as 20 men a night.”

This sort of evil is taking place every night in America, and it should be eradicated.

But our national leaders don’t seem too interested in making that happen.

Every single day, young girls are being abducted and forced into slavery.  They are sold to men for as little as $25, and their pimps make up to $200,000 per childevery year.

Of course many of the children forced into such a lifestyle don’t live very long.  According to Whitehead, the average life expectancy for these victims is just seven years

Those being sold for sex have an average life expectancy of seven years, and those years are a living nightmare of endless rape, forced drugging, humiliation, degradation, threats, disease, pregnancies, abortions, miscarriages, torture, pain, and always the constant fear of being killed or, worse, having those you love hurt or killed.

Stopping this horror should be right at the top of the list of our national priorities, and yet I very rarely hear any politician even mention this crisis.

And even if we put an end to all sex trafficking, we would still have a massive national child abuse problem to deal with.

The following numbers come from the National Center for Victims of Crime

  • 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse;
  • Self-report studies show that 20% of adult females and 5-10% of adult males recall a childhood sexual assault or sexual abuse incident;
  • During a one-year period in the U.S., 16% of youth ages 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized;
  • Over the course of their lifetime, 28% of U.S. youth ages 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized;
  • Children are most vulnerable to CSA between the ages of 7 and 13.

We have now raised several generations of Americans that have absolutely no moral foundation, and so we shouldn’t be surprised that evil is multiplying all around us.

If America is going to have any sort of a positive future, we must turn from lawlessness, but instead our nation continues to run away from God very rapidly.

It has gotten so bad that top political leaders such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton really struggle to even say the word “Christian”.

A political solution is not going to solve the problems that I have talked about in this article.  What we really need is a spiritual revolution, and we need it as soon as possible.

Source: InfoWars

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Senate nears threshold to block Trump


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On the roster: Senate nears threshold to block Trump - Harris won’t run, GOP needs candidate - 2020 early-state Dem activist temperature check - It’s election day in Chicago - You’re doing it wrong

SENATE NEARS THRESHOLD TO BLOCK TRUMP
Raleigh News & Observer: “North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis plans to break with President Donald Trump over his national emergency declaration, which would allow him to go around Congress to secure funds for a southern border wall. Tillis, a Republican, wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post explaining his decision to vote for a resolution of disapproval, rebuking Trump. The Democratic-led U.S House is expected to pass the resolution Tuesday evening, a move that would require the Senate to consider the resolution within three weeks. … ‘As a conservative, I cannot endorse a precedent that I know future left-wing presidents will exploit to advance radical policies that will erode economic and individual freedoms,’ Tills wrote. Tillis, who is up for re-election in 2020, is the third Republican to publicly pronounce his or her intention to vote for the resolution of disapproval. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have also indicated they are likely to support the resolution.”

What are other Republicans saying? - WaPo: “Few Republican Senators have released definitive statements on the resolution, but many have made statements on the emergency. … At least six Republican senators, Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), have expressed opposition to the national emergency since it was declared. All six support more border security but saw the move as executive overreach and potentially unconstitutional. … Republicans are also concerned the national emergency could spawn numerous court battles, which it already has, and a lengthy judicial review. …  At least eleven GOP senators, including [Lindsey] Graham and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), early proponents of the national emergency, have expressed support for the declaration, which they described as a necessary use of executive power and which some saw as a fulfillment of Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall.”

Wisconsin Gov. Evers withdraws troops from border - AP: “Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Monday ordered the state’s National Guard troops to withdraw from the border with Mexico, drawing the ire of a Republican congressman from Illinois who serves as a pilot in the Wisconsin detachment. Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker ordered troops to Arizona in June to assist with administrative duties along the border. Evers, a Democrat, issued an executive order Monday withdrawing them. Evers announced the order late Monday afternoon. … Adam Kinzinger, a Republican congressman from Illinois, tweeted on Monday that he is a member of the Wisconsin National Guard and criticized Evers for his decision. In a series of tweets, he said he was sent to the border as a member of the Wisconsin National Guard and his crew caught a man crossing the border with 70 pounds of methamphetamine. ‘Wonder the damage that would do in Milwaukee...’ he tweeted.”

THE RULEBOOK: POWER IN CHECK
“The power of making treaties is an important one, especially as it relates to war, peace, and commerce; and it should not be delegated but in such a mode, and with such precautions, as will afford the highest security that it will be exercised by men the best qualified for the purpose, and in the manner most conducive to the public good.” – John Jay, Federalist No. 64

TIME OUT: WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND  
Smithsonian: “Scholars have long known that Charles Dickens was cruel to his wife, Catherine. In their early letters, the novelist addressed her affectionally … but that tone changed dramatically some two decades into their marriage once he met and began an affair with then-18-year-old actress Ellen Ternan. … Catherine's side of the breakup tale has remained mostly obscured from history until now. Her rarely heard perspective comes back with vengeance thanks to a trove of 98 previously unseen letters that show Charles … was actually gas lighting his wife as they separated. The missives were unearthed by University of York professor John Bowen, who specializes in 19th-century fiction. He first became aware of their existence when he noticed them listed in an auction catalogue from 2014. … The letters were written by Dickens family friend and neighbor Edward Dutton Cook to a fellow journalist, and they include details about the couple’s separation, which Catherine shared with Cook in 1879, the year she died.”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance 
Average approval:
 41.8 percent
Average disapproval: 54.4 percent
Net Score: -12.6 points
Change from one week ago: no change  
[Average includes: Fox News: 46% approve - 52% disapprove; Gallup: 44% approve - 52% unapproved; CNN: 42% approve - 54% disapproval; IBD: 39% approve - 57% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 38% approve - 57% disapprove.]

HARRIS WON’T RUN, GOP NEEDS CANDIDATE
Politico: “Republican Mark Harris announced on Tuesday that he will not run in the new election for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, citing his compromised health. A new election was called last week after Harris’ campaign was the subject of fraud allegations that tainted the midterm election. The state board of elections declined to certify the race between Harris and Democrat Dan McCready in 2018, instead voting last week to order a new election. ‘Given my health situation, the need to regain full strength, and the timing of this surgery the last week of March, I have decided not to file in the new election for Congressional District 9,’ Harris said in a statement. ‘It is my hope that in the upcoming primary, a solid conservative leader will emerge to articulate the critical issues that face our nation.’ Harris said he will support Stony Rushing, a Union County commissioner, in the Republican primary for the district.”

N.C. special election draws attention to 2020 - Roll Call: “What may be the most high-profile special election of 2019 is likely to attract national attention as a harbinger of things to come in a competitive state next year. … In a nationalized political environment, the outcome would contribute to the narrative about North Carolina heading into 2020, when GOP Sen. Thom Tillis is up for his first re-election. Inside Elections rates the Senate race Tilts Republican. The demographically shifting state is also a must-win for Trump, who carried it by less than 4 points in 2016. Republicans fear a divisive and messy 9th District primary in a high-profile special election could jeopardize the seat and complicate their efforts in other federal races next year. … Democrats have the advantage of time and money. McCready has been consistently fundraising — raising more than $500,000 by the end of 2018 — well before the new election was called for.”

2020 EARLY-STATE DEM ACTIVIST TEMPERATURE CHECK
Five Thirty Eight: “[Political scientist Seth Masket] reached out to the 60 activists twice recently… Each time, [he] heard back from roughly 35 of the activists. Of those, only nine said they had committed to a candidate… That level of indecision doesn’t seem all that unusual given the size of the field. Most modern presidential nomination contests have an obvious front-runner, but when they don’t (as was the case with the Democratic field in 1988), activists may take their time choosing a candidate. Several … suggested that they may wait until the summer or fall of 2019 [or wait until they] meet with the candidates before making up their minds. … Overall, in February, there were five candidates — [Kamala Harris], [Cory Booker], Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar — who were being considered or had been committed to by more than 35 percent of these activists. It is notable to see Brown’s and Klobuchar’s names included in this group, since at the beginning of February, each had received little national media attention and neither had gained much traction in the polls.”

Klobuchar, Harris approach Iowa with same goal but different reasons - Atlantic: “Demographically and economically, Iowa isn’t actually that representative… Enter two candidates … who both see the state as crucial… Amy Klobuchar and Kamala Harris need the same thing, but they need it for opposite reasons. … For Klobuchar, Iowa is her neighbor to the south… A win in the Iowa caucuses could validate her pitch that the 2020 election is calling out for someone who can link the years her grandfather spent working in a mine to the ‘grit’ to stand in a snowstorm for her own campaign announcement two weeks ago, and connect a purported hard-nosed pragmatism to years of big wins in her home state. … But the state is key for [Harris] too: She wants a top finish here next February that would solidify her as a front-runner and give her the momentum going into a four-week blitz around the country…”

Biden team ‘collecting resumes’ ahead of  final decision - Fox News: “A decision by former Vice President Joe Biden on running for the White House could still be more than a month away, but that’s not stopping members of his team from taking the initial steps to build a campaign structure. ‘They’re collecting resumes but making no commitments,’ a source close to Biden’s inner circle told Fox News on Tuesday. ‘They’re thinking about where people fit’ into a possible presidential campaign. The source asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely. … ‘We know we’ll lose people,’ the source acknowledged, with regard to the time Biden is taking to reach a decision. But those concerns don’t appear to weigh too heavily on the former vice president when it comes to his timetable.”

Sanders believes he can win in ‘Trump Country’ - Politico: “Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at times Monday sounded like he was already running against President Trump in a general election, rather than the crowded field of Democrats he must first do battle with in the 2020 primary. During a televised town hall on CNN, Sanders criticized Trump for abandoning working Americans, promised to campaign in ‘Trump Country,’ and even gave a nod to a county in Pennsylvania that voted for Trump after backing Barack Obama twice. … Sanders also attempted to reach out to voters of color, speaking at length about racial disparities, including the wealth gap between black and white Americans. Sanders said he believes he can defeat Trump in Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, four swing states that were key to the president’s victory in 2016.”

Sanders will release his tax returns - National Journal: “Sen. Bernie Sanders is preparing to release his tax returns, sources with knowledge of his plans told National Journal. The display of personal financial transparency goes well beyond what the Vermont independent did during his 2016 presidential bid, when he failed to produce a comprehensive look at prior returns. One source familiar with the campaign’s internal discussions suggested that 10 years of filings would be released. The Sanders campaign did not respond to detailed questions about his plan by press time. Sanders brought in roughly $1.75 million in book royalties across 2016 and 2017, on top of his $174,000 Senate salary. But he still ranks among the least wealthy senators, according to the most recent public data.”

Gillibrand defends Green New Deal, big-money fundraisers - Fox News: “Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand compared the Green New Deal to NASA's race for the Moon in the 1960s, telling Fox News' ‘Special Report’ Monday night that ‘global climate change ... is the greatest threat to humanity we have.’ … Gillibrand and [Chris Wallace] then had a lively exchange over Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren's vow to not hold any ‘big-money fundraisers’ during her campaign. Wallace asked Gillibrand if she saw any contradiction between Warren's promise and Gillibrand's plans to hold a March fundraiser at the home of Pfizer executive Sally Susman. … ‘Of course, I’m going to ask Americans all across this country to support my campaign,’ Gillibrand said.”

IT’S ELECTION DAY IN CHICAGO
USA Today: “Voters head to the polls Tuesday to pick a new mayor to take on the challenges weighing down the nation’s third-largest city: Billions of dollars in unmet pension obligations, endemic corruption and persistent gun violence. A record 14 candidates are on the ballot. Most of the candidates announced they were running after two-term Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced in September that he wouldn’t seek a third term. The field includes eight people of color and ten who have never held elected office. … Under Chicago’s election rules, if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in an April 2 runoff. No candidate is polling at more than 14 percent, according to a survey published Sunday by 270 Strategies.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Trump lands in Vietnam for Kim Jong Un summit - Fox News

Pergram: Cohen on Capitol Hill could be crucial to understanding the direction of both parties before 2020 - Fox News

Nikki Haley re-enters political world through new policy group - WaPo

Dem to face primary challenge for Cory Gardner’s seat - The Colorado Sun

AUDIBLE: ‘DON’T LOOK BACK’
“I can remember college, you take a test and people gather around to talk about the test. I was never part of that gathering because there was not a damn thing I could do about what I'd written, so I didn't do that. I took the test; that's all I could do. Don't look back.” – Former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid in a wide-ranging interview with CNN discussing his legacy, the Bush era and other topics.

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG
WSBTV: “A Florida man stole more than $30,000 in rare coins and cashed them in for a fraction of their value at change machines at area grocery stores, investigators said. Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office investigators said Shane Anthony Mele, 40, stole the rare presidential coins, valued at $1,000 each, and other items worth a total of $350,000, the Palm Beach Post reports. Investigators said Mele sold some of the coins to a pawn shop for $4,000, then exchanged the majority of them through CoinStar change machines at grocery stores, which would only give face value for them, a fraction of their worth. Mele was arrested and charged with grand theft and unrelated drug charges.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“Great leaders are willing to retire unloved and unpopular as the price for great exertion.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing for the Houston Chronicle on Nov. 6, 2004.

Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Cargill names new head of grain trading and processing

FILE PHOTO: A Cargill logo is pictured on the Provimi Kliba and Protector animal nutrition factory in Lucens
FILE PHOTO: A Cargill logo is pictured on the Provimi Kliba and Protector animal nutrition factory in Lucens, Switzerland, September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

April 4, 2019

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Food and agriculture group Cargill Inc has appointed Joe Stone as its new head of agricultural supply chain, effective June 1, the U.S.-based company said on Thursday.

David Webster will take over the head of Cargill’s feed making animal nutrition business, a role vacated by Stone, Cargill said in a statement.

Longtime Cargill executive GJ van den Akker will retire as enterprise lead for Cargill’s Agricultural Supply Chain in 2020, the company said. The supply chain business includes origination, trading, processing, and distribution of crops like corn, wheat and soybeans.

Cargill, the largest privately-held U.S. company, has cut spending to offset the U.S.-China trade war, swine fever in Asian hogs and slumping U.S. ethanol prices.

(Reporting by Caroline Stauffer and Karl Plume; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Source: OANN

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Bernie Sanders faces new challenges in crowded 2020 U.S. presidential race

FILE PHOTO: Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during a news conference on
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during a news conference on "Raise the Wage Act" legislation on Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

February 19, 2019

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Bernie Sanders is back for another White House run, but this one promises to be far different than the improbable 2016 presidential campaign that made the Vermont senator a political force.

In the 2020 race, Sanders, who announced his latest bid on Tuesday, will have to fight to stand out in a crowded field of progressives touting issues he brought into the Democratic Party mainstream four years ago. At 77, he also will face questions about his age and relevance in a party increasingly embracing more diverse and fresh voices.

While many of his supporters are sticking with him, some are waiting to see how the Democratic field seeking to challenge Republican President Donald Trump shapes up.

“2020 is not 2016. He had his moment and 2020 may not be his moment,” said Ron Abramson, a New Hampshire immigration lawyer and a Sanders delegate to the 2016 Democratic nominating convention who now is undecided.

Sanders enters the race with clear strengths: broad name recognition, an ability to raise money from small-dollar donors and passionate supporters who flocked to his insurgent 2016 campaign against one of the best-known figures in American politics, Hillary Clinton.

Sanders, an independent democratic socialist who aligns with Democrats in the Senate, pushed Clinton and the party to the left in 2016 and drew fervent support from young and liberal voters with an agenda supporting universal healthcare, raising the hourly minimum wage to $15 and free public college tuition.

Those are mainstream positions for the party now, with Democratic presidential contenders including fellow Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker promoting similar views.

“Some of us get to open doors and others get to walk through them,” said Arnie Arnesen, a liberal radio host and former New Hampshire state legislator who calls herself a Sanders admirer. “Bernie opened the door for progressive politics, but I think he has to recognize there are new voices and a new bench.”

Sanders also will face lingering resentment in some Democratic quarters over the 2016 campaign. His challenge to eventual nominee Clinton split the party and generated tension between its establishment and liberal wings that still exists.

DIVERSITY

Sanders already has moved to correct some 2016 missteps.

In January, he apologized to women campaign workers who said they had been harassed or mistreated by male campaign staffers, and he acknowledged the campaign’s “standards and safeguards were inadequate.”

He has been trying to reach out to black and Hispanic leaders after having trouble winning over minority voters in 2016. That could prove challenging again as a white man competing against female, black and Hispanic candidates.

“I really want to be sure the person who I ultimately support is going to take a hard look at diversity and ensure they are reaching out to all communities, particularly people of color and women,” said Lucy Flores, a former Nevada state legislator and U.S. congressional candidate who backed Sanders last time but is uncommitted for 2020.

Ray Buckley, chairman of the Democratic Party in New Hampshire, an influential state with an early nominating contest where Sanders won 60 percent of the vote in 2016, said Sanders’ inner circle of top supporters there is largely with him. But most prominent party activists are shopping the field, Buckley said.

Some Sanders allies expect the crowded field to help him, fracturing the vote enough to give Sanders and his dedicated following more clout.

“It’s going to be real hard for some of the other candidates to stand out, whereas Senator Sanders already has the name recognition and support,” said Tim Smith, a state legislator in New Hampshire and a member of the state’s steering committee for Sanders.

Sanders also will benefit from grassroots groups such as Organizing for Bernie-Draft Bernie and People for Bernie Sanders, which have been building support and organizing for him ahead of his announcement.

His supporters said his decades-long commitment to progressive issues will resonate with voters choosing among candidates with similar views.

“These aren’t platitudes to him,” said Katherine Brezler, co-founder of People for Bernie Sanders. “Having to push somebody to believe these things is not where I need to be. Bernie would not have to be educated about these issues.”

His strengths on the issues, however, may not be enough.

“We need somebody who can tap a broader segment of the electorate,” said Abramson, the 2016 Sanders delegate.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Bill Trott)

Source: OANN

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Trump considered Ivanka for World Bank nomination: ‘She’s very good with numbers’

President Trump said he contemplated nominating his daughter, Ivanka Trump, to head the World Bank, according to a new interview.

The president spoke with The Atlantic in a profile titled: “Inside Ivanka’s Dreamworld.”

Trump talked about his children to the magazine and said he was proud of them.

TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN ON PLAN TO SHIP MIGRANTS TO SANCTUARY CITIES, SAYS 'RADICAL LEFT' SHOULD BE HAPPY

“Barron is young, but he’s got wonderful potential,” he said. “And Tiffany’s doing extremely well. Don is, uh, he’s enjoying politics; actually, it’s very good. And Eric is running the business along with Don, and also very much into politics. I mean, the children—the children have been very, very good.”

When Trump spoke of Ivanka, who serves as a White House senior adviser, he claimed she would be “very hard to beat” if she ever ran for the Oval Office.

“She’s a natural diplomat,” he said of his eldest daughter. “She would’ve been great at the United Nations, as an example.”

IVANKA TRUMP FIRES BACK AT DC ART EXHIBIT SHOWING LOOKALIKE VACUUMING CRUMBS

When asked why he didn’t nominate Ivanka to be a United Nations ambassador, the president said he would be called out for nepotism.

“If I did, they’d say nepotism, when it would’ve had nothing to do with nepotism. But she would’ve been incredible,” he told The Atlantic before adding “I even thought of Ivanka for the World Bank … She would’ve been great at that because she’s very good with numbers.”

Trump said Ivanka had a “tremendous presence when walks into the room” and stayed calm under pressure.

“She’s got a great calmness … I’ve seen her under tremendous stress and pressure. She reacts very well—that’s usually a genetic thing, but it’s one of those things, nevertheless.” Trump said of his 37-year-old daughter.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

The commander-in-chief ended up nominating David Malpass to be the president of the World Bank. He was elected to the job last week.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Berlin backs Deutsche Bank merger despite risk of shortfall: sources

FILE PHOTO: Christian Sewing, CEO of Deutsche Bank AG, addresses the media during the bank's annual news conference in Frankfurt
FILE PHOTO: Christian Sewing, CEO of Deutsche Bank AG, addresses the media during the bank's annual news conference in Frankfurt, Germany, February 1, 2019. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo

March 10, 2019

By John O’Donnell and Tom Sims

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Berlin is so worried about the health of Deutsche Bank that it pushed for a merger with rival Commerzbank even though it could open up a huge financial shortfall, a German official told Reuters.

Deutsche Bank’s management board has agreed to hold talks with Commerzbank about the feasibility of a merger. The state owns a 15 percent stake of Commerzbank and is expected to be a shareholder in the new group.

The German official said that any tie-up would likely result in a multi-billion-euro hole because a switch in bank ownership legally triggers a revaluation of assets such as government bonds.

They would be revalued at a market price which is typically lower than the one registered on the accounts. A second source, who is familiar with the talks, said they also expected a shortfall after the potential merger.

Rating agency Moody’s has said that a takeover could result in a “downward valuation adjustment for parts of Commerzbank’s asset base”.

A second German official said Deutsche’s future was in question because high costs left it with little profit. Asked about a merger between the two banks, a third official said one was urgently needed to reduce the number of branches in an overcrowded market.

Both said a buoyant jobs market in Germany made it easier to make staff cuts without prompting large protests because those employees would be easily able to find other work.

Spokespeople for both banks, the German finance ministry and the economy ministry declined to comment for this story.

Deutsche Bank has said it is stable. Last month, as it announced a return to profit in 2018, its chief executive Christian Sewing said it was “on the right track” for growth and lower costs.

The banks will make a decision about whether to pursue a merger within weeks, a fifth source said.

“In 2016 … Deutsche went to the brink,” said the first official. “They haven’t really got out of that hole…It’s legitimate to ask:… how dangerous is that with systematic relevance?”

While having the government of Europe’s largest economy as a shareholder would give the group some weight, it would also be humbling for Deutsche Bank, once a symbol of German strength on Wall Street and London.

Its share price has tumbled after a string of scandals and fines including a $7 billion plus penalty in 2016 for selling U.S. home loans that unraveled in the financial crash.

A key measure of its default risk, a form of insurance known as credit default swaps, has risen.

Deutsche’s significance was underscored by the International Monetary Fund in 2016 when it said the bank’s links to the world’s largest lenders made it a bigger potential risk to the wider financial system than any other global bank.

Berlin has been examining options for Deutsche for many months. Senior German officials even participated in informal, exploratory discussions in recent months with Switzerland’s UBS about a merger with Deutsche, two more sources said.

But there was little appetite in Switzerland for making UBS bigger or for merging with a weaker Deutsche, so German officials reverted to Commerzbank, those people said. A UBS spokesman declined to comment.

CONFIDENCE SHAKEN

The sources said it was not clear how any shortfall would be filled or even what size it would be.

The first source said that capital shortfall would be in the order of billions of euros although he noted that some people said there would be no need for fresh capital.

The new group could get financial support from a new fund that will be set up to support strategic industries in the face of competition from China.

German officials have identified Deutsche Bank as a national “champion” and the fund is expected to provide state backing or guarantees that would help companies raise cash from pension funds or insurers.

“I would get in private capital,” said a fourth German official. “An international bank is strategic.” It is not clear how big the fund will be.

Officials also see the potential merger as a way to protect Commerzbank from being snapped up by a foreign rival, which could make Deutsche’s problems worse.

Some experts are skeptical, however. Jan Krahnen, a member of the academic advisory board of the German finance ministry, said he had “strong reservations” because building such a “national champion…is blatantly against the spirit of Europe.”

Achim Wambach, president of influential German think tank ZEW research institute, said it was unclear whether such a tie-up would improve financial stability.

Klaus Adam, a professor of economics at the University of Oxford and also a member of the advisory panel to the finance ministry, said Deutsche Bank’s “reputation problems” could rub off on Commerzbank.

Customers’ and peers’ faith in Deutsche was shaken after the 2016 fines. A raid on the bank by police in November as part of an investigation into money laundering and two other scandals further shook confidence and hurt revenues.

Such matters “of course…were not helpful in the fourth quarter of 2018,” the bank’s co-deputy CEO Karl von Rohr said.

(Editing by Anna Willard)

Source: OANN

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Jet Airways lenders ‘reasonably hopeful’ of successful bids for grounded airline

FILE PHOTO: Jet Airways aircrafts are seen parked at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi
FILE PHOTO: Jet Airways aircrafts are seen parked at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India, April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis/File Photo

April 18, 2019

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Lenders to India’s Jet Airways Ltd said on Thursday they are “reasonably hopeful” that the bidding process for the grounded airline will end successfully.

Jet Airways, once India’s largest private airline, on Wednesday evening halted all flight operations indefinitely after lenders led by State Bank of India declined to extend more funds to keep it going.

“The lenders after due deliberations decided that the best way forward for the survival of Jet Airways is to get the binding bids from potential investors who have expressed EOI and have been issued bid documents on 16th April,” the lenders said in a statement, referring to expressions of interest.

“Lenders are reasonably hopeful that the bid process is likely to be successful in determining fair value of the enterprise in a transparent manner.”

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta, writing by Jamie Freed; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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FILE PHOTO - Otto Frederick Warmbier is taken to North Korea's top court in Pyongyang North Korea
FILE PHOTO – Otto Frederick Warmbier (C), a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea since early January, is taken to North Korea’s top court in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo March 16, 2016. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States did not pay any money to North Korea as it sought the release of comatose American student Otto Warmbier.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump had approved payment of a $2 million bill from North Korea to cover its care of the college student, who died shortly after he was returned to the United States after 17 months in a North Korean prison.

(Reporting by Makini Brice and Susan Heavey)

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Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London
Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London, Britain, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Gerhard Mey

April 26, 2019

By Hanna Rantala

LONDON (Reuters) – Irish rockers The Cranberries are saying goodbye with their final album released on Friday, a poignant tribute to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan who died last year.

“In the End” is the eighth studio album from the band that rose to fame in the early 1990s with hits likes “Zombie” and “Linger”, and includes the final recordings by O’Riordan, who drowned in a London hotel bath in January 2018 due to alcohol intoxication.

Work on the album began during a 2017 tour and by that winter, O’Riordan and guitarist Neil Hogan had penned and demoed 11 tracks.

With O’Riordan’s vocals recorded, Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler completed the album in tribute to her.

“When we realized how strong the songs were, that was the deciding factor really… There was no point… trying to ruin the legacy of the band,” Noel Hogan said in an interview.

“It was obvious that Dolores wanted this album done because when you hear the album, you hear the songs and how strong they are, and she was very, very excited to get in and record this.”

The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1989 with another singer. O’Riordan replaced him a year later and the group went on to become Ireland’s best-selling rock band after U2, selling more than 40 million records.

O’Riordan, known for her strong distinctive voice singing about relationships or political violence, was 46 when she died.

“She was actually in quite a good place mentally. She was feeling quite content and strong and looking forward to a new phase of her life,” Lawler said.

“A lot of the lyrics in this album are about things ending… people might read into it differently but it was a phase of her personal life that she was talking about.”

The group previously announced their intention to split after the release of “In The End”.

“We are absolutely gutted we can’t play (the songs) live because that’s something that’s been a massive part of this band from day one,” Noel Hogan said.

“A few people have said to us about maybe even doing a one off where you have different vocalists… as kind of guests of ours. A year ago that’s definitely something we weren’t going to entertain but I don’t know, I think it’s something we need to go away and take time off for the summer and have a think about.”

Critics have generally given positive reviews of the album; NME described it as “(seeing) the band’s career go full-circle” while the Irish Times called it “an unexpected late career high and a remarkable swan song for O’Riordan”.

Their early songs still play on the radio. This week, “Dreams” was performed at the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Londonderry last week as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.

“We wrote them as kids, as a hobby and 30 years later they are on radio and on TV, like all the time… That’s far more than any of us ever thought we would have,” Noel Hogan said.

“That would make Dolores really happy because she was very precious about those songs. Her babies, she called them and to have that hopefully long after we’re gone… that’s all any band can wish for.”

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; additoinal reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

April 26, 2019

By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce a bill Friday that offers new protections for U.S. military families facing unsafe housing, following a series of Reuters reports revealing squalid conditions in privately managed base homes.

The Reuters reports and later Congressional hearings detailed widespread hazards including lead paint exposure, vermin infestations, collapsing ceilings, mold and maintenance lapses in privatized base housing communities that serve some 700,000 U.S. military family members.

(View Warren’s military housing bill here. https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dy5aht)

(Read Reuters’ Ambushed at Home series on military housing here. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/usa-military)

The Massachusetts Democrat’s bill would mandate both regular and unannounced spot inspections of base homes by certified, independent inspectors, holding landlords accountable for quickly fixing hazards. The military’s privatization program for years allowed real estate firms to operate base housing with scant oversight, Reuters found, leaving some tenants in unsafe homes with little recourse against landlords.

The bill would also require the Department of Defense and its private housing operators to publish reports annually detailing housing conditions, tenant complaints, maintenance response times and the financial incentives companies receive at each base. The provisions aim to enhance transparency of housing deals whose finances and operations the military had allowed to remain largely confidential under a privatization program since the late 1990s.

The measure would also require private landlords to cover moving costs for at-risk families, and healthcare costs for people with medical conditions resulting from unsafe base housing, ensuring they receive continuing coverage even after they leave the homes or the military.

“This bill will eliminate the kind of corner-cutting and neglect the Defense Department should never have let these private housing partners get away with in the first place,” Warren said in a statement Friday.

The proposed legislation comes after February Senate hearings where Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, slammed private real estate firms for endangering service families, and sought answers about why military branches weren’t providing more oversight.

Her legislation would direct the Defense Department to allow local housing code enforcers onto federal bases, following concerns they were sometimes denied access. Warren’s office said a companion bill in the House of Representatives would be introduced by Rep. Deb Haaland, Democrat of New Mexico.

In response to the housing crisis, military branches are developing a tenant bill of rights and hiring hundreds of new housing staff. The branches recently dispatched commanders to survey base housing worldwide for safety hazards, resulting in thousands of work orders and hundreds of tenants being moved. The Defense Department has pledged to renegotiate its 50-year contracts with private real estate firms.

Congress has been quick to take its own measures. Earlier legislation proposed by senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, along with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, would compel base commanders to withhold rent payments and incentive fees from the private ventures if they allow home hazards to persist.

(Editing by Ronnie Greene)

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FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar

(Reuters) – Deloitte quit as Ferrexpo’s auditor on Friday, knocking its shares by more than 20 percent, days after saying it was unable to conclude whether the iron ore miner’s CEO controlled a charity being investigated over its use of company donations.

Blooming Land, which coordinates Ferrexpo’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, came under scrutiny after auditors found holes in the charity’s statements.

Ferrexpo on Tuesday said findings of an ongoing independent investigation launched in February indicated some Blooming Land funds could have been “misappropriated”. It did not provide any details or publish its findings.

Shares in Ferrexpo, the third largest exporter of pellets to the global steel industry, were 23.4 percent lower at 206.1 pence at 1022 GMT following news of Deloitte’s resignation.

“Ferrexpo’s shares are deeply discounted vs peers … following the resignation of Deloitte, we expect downside risks to dominate Ferrexpo’s shares near term.” JP Morgan analyst Dominic O’Kane said in a note on Friday.

Swiss-headquartered Ferrexpo did not provide a reason for the resignation of Deloitte, which declined to comment, while Blooming Land did not respond to a request for comment.

Funding for Blooming Land’s CSR activities is provided by one of Ferrexpo’s units in Ukraine and Khimreaktiv LLC, an entity ultimately controlled by Ferrexpo’s CEO and majority owner Kostyantin Zhevago, Ferrexpo said on Tuesday.

Ferrexpo’s board has found that Zhevago did not have significant influence or control over the charity, but Deloitte said it was unable reach a conclusion on this.

Reuters was not immediately able to contact Zhevago.

In a qualified opinion, a statement addressing an incomplete audit, Deloitte said it had been unable to conclude whether $33.5 million of CSR donations to Blooming Land between 2017 and 2018 was used for “legitimate business payments for charitable purposes”.

Deloitte said on Tuesday that total CSR payments made to Blooming Land by Ferrexpo since 2013 total about $110 million.

Ferrexpo, whose major mines are in Ukraine, has said that the investigation was ongoing and new evidence pointed to potential discrepancies.

Zhevago, 45, who ranked 1,511 on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires for 2019 with a net worth of $1.4 billion, owns the FC Vorskla soccer club and has been a member of Ukraine’s parliament since 1998.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Bernard Orr)

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Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique April 26, 2019 in this still image obtained from social media. SolidarMed via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer

JOHANNESBURG/LUANDA (Reuters) – Cyclone Kenneth killed at least one person and left a trail of destruction in northern Mozambique, destroying houses, ripping up trees and knocking out power, authorities said on Friday.

The cyclone brought storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280 km per hour (174 mph) when it made landfall on Thursday evening, after killing three people in the island nation of Comoros.

It was the most powerful storm on record to hit Mozambique’s northern coast and came just six weeks after Cyclone Idai battered the impoverished nation, causing devastating floods and killing more than 1,000 people across a swathe of southern Africa.

The World Food Programme warned that Kenneth could dump as much as 600 millimeters of rain on the region over the next 10 days – twice that brought by Cyclone Idai.

One woman in the port town of Pemba died after being hit by a falling tree, the Emergency Operations Committee for Cabo Delgado (COE) said in a statement, while another person was injured.

In rural areas outside Pemba, many homes are made of mud. In the main town on the island of Ibo, 90 percent of the houses were destroyed, officials said. Around 15,000 people were out in the open or in “overcrowded” shelters and there was a need for tents, food and water, they said.

There were also reports of a large number of homes and some infrastructure destroyed in Macomia district, a mainland district adjacent to Ibo.

A local group, the Friends of Pemba Association, had earlier reported that they could not reach people in Muidumbe, a district further inland.

Mark Lowcock, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, warned the storm could require another major humanitarian operation in Mozambique.

“Cyclone Kenneth marks the first time two cyclones have made landfall in Mozambique during the same season, further stressing the government’s limited resources,” he said in a statement.

FLOOD WARNINGS

Shaquila Alberto, owner of the beach-front Messano Flower Lodge in Macomia, said there were many fallen trees there, and in rural areas people’s homes had been damaged. Some areas of nearby Pemba had no power.

“Even my workers, they said the roof and all the things fell down,” she said by phone.

Further south, in Pemba, Elton Ernesto, a receptionist at Raphael’s Hotel, said there were fallen trees but not too much damage. The hotel had power and water, he said, while phones rang in the background. “The rain has stopped,” he added.

However Michael Charles, an official for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said heavy rains over the next few days were likely to bring a “second wave of destruction” in the form of flooding.

“The houses are not all solid, and the topography is very sandy,” Charles said.

In the days after Cyclone Idai, heavy inland rains prompted rivers to burst their banks, submerging entire villages, cutting areas off from aid and ruining crops. There were concerns the same could happen again in northern Mozambique.

Before Kenneth hit, the government and aid workers moved around 30,000 people to safer buildings such as schools, however authorities said that around 680,000 people were in the path of the storm.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer; Writing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Alexandra Zavis)

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