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China’s factory activity picks up slightly, but Asia broadly weak

Men work on a production line manufacturing robotic arms at a factory in Huzhou, Zhejiang
Men work on a production line manufacturing robotic arms at a factory in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, China January 8, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

April 1, 2019

By Marius Zaharia

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Factory activity in China showed a slight, surprising recovery last month, in a sign that stimulus injected into Asia’s growth engine may be yielding results, but worries of a global slowdown persisted due to weakness elsewhere in the region.

Even in China, growth in new domestic and export orders was marginal. Factory activity in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan shrank further, adding to expectations of a dovish turn from central bankers in the region.

The U.S.-China tariff war and slowing Chinese demand after a campaign to reduce financial risk-taking have caused broad damage, hurting everyone from small firms in the supply chains of Chinese manufacturers to global tech behemoths such as Apple and across the map from Australia to South Korea and Japan.

Later on Monday, euro zone activity surveys were expected to show contraction due to its own trade frictions with the United States, Brexit uncertainty, and fallout from the U.S-China trade dispute.

The weak external environment is feeding back into the U.S. economy, prompting the Federal Reserve to abruptly end its policy tightening last month and causing the Treasury yield curve to briefly invert last year – a potential signal of a looming recession.

Fed’s pause has changed the game for many Asian central banks and investors are betting on a growing list of potential rate cutters.

“The PMI data … is telling us that the stimulus measures that have been put in place by the Chinese authorities since the middle of last year are finally starting to have an impact,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ.

“Now, of course, this is just one month. I’m expecting Asian central bankers to continue to be accommodative and some of them to cut interest rates. There’s no doubt that overall growth still slowed.”

China’s Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) expanded at the strongest pace in eight months in March, rising to 50.8 from 49.9 in February, above the 50-mark dividing expansion from contraction and the highest level since July 2018.

An official survey on Sunday also showed modest expansion.

Economists also cautioned there were seasonal factors in play, with activity in March traditionally picking up markedly whenever the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays fell in February, as they did this year.

If the trend is sustained, it could mark the turnaround that China’s policymakers had hoped for after some heavy fiscal and monetary stimulus, including five cuts in bank reserve requirements in the past year, although analysts say more such measures may still be in the pipeline.

BofA Merrill Lynch analysts took note of the “green shoots” from the March PMI readings, but said real activity growth could have stayed under pressure in the first quarter, especially given the tougher environment for exports.

“We believe policymakers will stick to their commitment on policy easing to stabilize growth,” the BofA Merrill Lynch analysts said in a note to clients.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said last month the government has additional monetary policy measures that it can take, and will even cut “its own flesh” to help finance large-scale tax cuts.

On the trade front, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that talks with China were going very well, but cautioned that he would not accept anything less than a “great deal” after top U.S. and Chinese trade officials wrapped up two days of negotiations in Beijing.

BROAD WEAKNESS

Activity in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines grew at a modest pace, but in economies with a larger impact on regional growth the outlook remained bleak.

South Korea’s factory activity in March contracted for a fifth straight month.

Japanese manufacturing activity contracted at a slower pace in March than the previous month, but output fell at the sharpest rate in nearly three years. Japanese business confidence worsened to a two-year low in the first quarter of this year, a central bank survey showed.

Corporate spending in Asia is likely to fall for the first time in three years, with capital expenditure at 2,137 Asian companies seen slipping an average 4 percent this year, a Reuters analysis of Refinitiv data showed.

An analysis by Oxford Economics showed nominal Asian export growth fell 3.8 percent year-on-year in January-February combined, primarily driven by a sharp fall in North Asian exports, although growth in Southeast Asia was also weak.

“So far, there are few signs that the global trade cycle has bottomed, and we see global growth still synching lower in the near term,” said Joachim Fels, global economic advisor for PIMCO, adding, however, that the Fed’s change of tack and China stimulus could lead to stabilization or even a moderate pick-up.

“These factors could enable a soft landing of sorts for the global economy – albeit with further air pockets along the flight path.”

(Reporting by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Source: OANN

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Puppy rescued after carried off by owl, dropped on golf course

A 12-week-old puppy was rescued after an owl carried her away and dropped her on a golf course in Arizona on Friday, according to a rescue organization.

The puppy Latte suffered puncture wounds from the owl's talons. The wounds were visible in the dog's skull, Foothills Animal Rescue said in a release. She is now recovering.

Bonnie Ziegler, a foster mom, had left Latte and three other puppies out for a supervised potty break Friday morning at her home in north Scottsdale, but only three dogs returned, the rescue said. Latte, the fourth puppy, could not be found.

"I didn't hear a sound and the other puppies didn't bark. It was as if she just vanished," Ziegler said, according to the rescue. "We immediately started searching and soon our neighbors joined in. We posted a notice on Next Door (a neighborhood social network app) in the hopes someone might find her."

SPIKE'S FAMILY REUNION AND NEW PUPPY BEGINNINGS

Nearly 12 hours after Latte's disappearance, golfers at Troon Golf Club found the injured puppy dehydrated and weak under a tree near the 16th hole, the release said.

Ziegler was then contacted by a neighbor who saw the information on Next Door and alerted the foster mom.

Latte did not suffer any broken bones and is good spirits, the rescue said. She is expected to remain in foster care for a few more weeks. She may already have an adopter, but the rescue will make formal announcement if she needs a home.

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The puppy's veterinary costs amount to about $4,500, and the rescue is seeking the public's help to cover it.

The rescue is a non-profit organization and cage-free shelter that provides a temporary safe haven for homeless dogs and cats.

Source: Fox News National

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Defiant Schiff maintains results of FBI’s original Russia probe ‘not yet’ known, despite Mueller conclusion

Facing calls from Republicans to step down over his "collusion" claims, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Thursday maintained there is still much to learn following the end of Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation—shifting focus to the original FBI counterintelligence probe that started it all.

A summary of Mueller’s report was released by Attorney General Bill Barr over the weekend and announced that after an exhaustive investigation that lasted nearly two years, the special counsel found no evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign.

TRUMP VOWS TO RELEASE FISA DOCS NOW THAT MUELLER PROBE IS CONCLUDED, SLAMS 'TREASONOUS' FBI

But while some version of Mueller’s report will likely be released in the near future, Schiff, D-Calif., said during a committee hearing on Thursday that the most important pieces of information would come from the original counterintelligence investigation launched under former FBI Director James Comey.

“We do not yet know the result of the counterintelligence investigation led by Comey and then Mueller,” Schiff said in his opening statement. “It is not clear whether, or to what extent, the Mueller report, which is focused on prosecutorial decisions, will even discuss counterintelligence findings.”

He added: “But the counterintelligence concerns that animated the investigation in the first place may ultimately have the more profound impact on our security and policy, and we therefore await the publication of the Mueller report to find out.”

The comments come as all Republicans on the committee called on Schiff Thursday to step down as chairman, over his repeated claims to have evidence of collusion. “Your actions both past and present are incompatible with your duty as Chairman of this Committee,” their letter to Schiff stated. “We have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your Constitutional responsibility and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman of this Committee.”

A day earlier, Schiff told The Daily Beast that he has started negotiations with the intelligence community to get answers about the Mueller investigation’s findings, and reportedly signaled that the FBI’s counterintelligence probe that evolved into the Mueller investigation could still be ongoing.

“At this point, we don’t know whether any of the counterintelligence findings are part of the Mueller report,” Schiff told The Daily Beast. “We have initiated discussions with the intelligence community to make sure that we obtain whatever is found in the counterintelligence investigation, or whether [that inquiry] is still ongoing.”

The FBI declined to comment to Fox News when asked if the initial counterintelligence probe led by the bureau was ongoing or complete.

The FBI’s initial counterintelligence probe began in the summer of 2016 and was internally called “Crossfire Hurricane.”

Former FBI counsel Lisa Page said during a transcribed interview with the House Judiciary Committee last year that the FBI only had a “paucity” of evidence at the start of the investigation. Page also said the FBI “knew so little” about whether allegations against the Trump campaign were “true or not true” at that time.

LISA PAGE TRANSCRIPTS REVEAL DETAILS OF ANTI-TRUMP 'INSURANCE POLICY,' CONCERNS OVER FULL-BLOWN PROBE

President Trump, this week, vowed to release the full and unredacted Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants and related documents used by the FBI to probe his campaign and former campaign aide Carter Page.

Redacted versions of the FISA documents already released have revealed the FBI extensively relied on documents produced by ex-British spy Christopher Steele, who worked for Fusion GPS—a firm hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to compile opposition research on Trump. The FBI relied on much of Steele’s work to obtain the warrants to surveil Carter Page.

“I have plans to declassify and release. I have plans to absolutely release," Trump said during an exclusive interview on “Hannity” Tuesday night. "I have some very talented people working for me, lawyers, and they really didn't want me to do it early on. ... A lot of people wanted me to do it a long time ago. I'm glad I didn't do it. We got a great result without having to do it, but we will. One of the reasons that my lawyers didn't want me to do it, is they said, if I do it, they'll call it a form of obstruction."

Trump added: "At the right time, we will be absolutely releasing."

Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News Politics

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Fiennes cousins, actor and explorer, adventure on the Nile for TV

FILE PHOTO: British explorer Ranulph Fiennes listens during a news conference after his arrival at Heathrow Airport in London
FILE PHOTO: British explorer Ranulph Fiennes listens during a news conference in a hotel, after his arrival at Heathrow Airport in London March 4, 2013. The 68-year-old was forced to pull out of an expedition across Antarctica during winter due to frostbite. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo

February 26, 2019

By Lisa Keddie

LONDON (Reuters) – Squeezing through tiny tunnels into a mummy’s tomb is not something to rattle veteran British explorer Ranulph Fiennes.

Yet for his younger cousin, who brought him to Egypt to film a TV show, the experience was stirring.

“I constantly felt I was in an Indiana Jones set. I keep (saying): ‘Oh no, not snakes’!” actor Joseph Fiennes told Reuters of the scene in “Fiennes Return to the Nile”, a three-part documentary airing on the National Geographic channel this month.

The program marks the 50th anniversary of an expedition that Ranulph, now 74, made up the River Nile and explores whether his actor cousin is cut from the same cloth as the man sometimes known as the greatest living explorer.

The show is at times like an upper-crust version of car show “Top Gear”, with the two Englishmen charging over desert sand dunes in a four-wheel-drive, trading banter in a Cairo traffic jam or learning how to charm deadly snakes.

But if the viewer is in any doubt of Ranulph’s bona fides as an intrepid adventurer, at one point he uses a workbench and a rusty saw to demonstrate how he cut off his own frostbitten fingertips after an ill-fated walk to the North Pole.

For good measure, he shows off what look like tiny cigar stubs but are actually his severed digits. “There’s four,” he tells Joseph. “I don’t know what happened to the other one.”

Joseph, 48, known for “The Handmaid’s Tale” and the title role in the Oscar-winning “Shakespeare in Love”, compared his unflappable elder cousin to the slower but ultimately victorious character in the Aesop fable “The Tortoise and the Hare”.

“I was just racing off and gallivanting up here and into this tunnel and down a pyramid there and actually getting very exhausted at the end of the day,” he told Reuters.

“Ran just has this ability to keep the energy on a very even keel.”

If the program is a success, Ranulph would be keen to take his cousin on another adventure.

“I’m not quite so sure that he’s terribly keen on my idea but there you go,” he said, as Joseph gritted his teeth and replied: “As long as it’s not ice and water, I’m okay.”

(Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

Source: OANN

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Pregnant Florida woman allegedly stabbed boyfriend for looking at picture of another woman, cops say

A pregnant Florida woman allegedly stabbed her boyfriend for looking at a photo of another woman on his friend’s cellphone, officials said Friday.

Julitza Emily Gonzalez, 25, was arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after officers responded to a report of a stabbing at a Zephyrhills home, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

FLORIDA DOG FOUND WITH MOUTH TAPED SHUT ADOPTED BY SHERIFF'S OFFICE, 'DEPUTIZED'

Gonzalez was in the room when her boyfriend’s roommate showed him a photo of a woman the roommate wanted to date, FOX13 News reported, citing an arrest report. The boyfriend looked at the picture, which reportedly sparked an argument between him and his pregnant girlfriend.

The roommate left the room but the shouting continued and the roommate told investigators he started to hear someone go through drawers in the kitchen, according to the station.

The next time he was seen, the boyfriend then ran into his roommate’s room with a stab wound in his stomach. The alleged victim told his roommate, “That b---h stabbed me,” officials said.

Gonzalez entered the room after him and asked, “Why would you look at that girl on the phone?” FOX13 News reported, citing the arrest report.

Investigators discovered a blood-soaked 5-inch kitchen knife, deputies said. Gonzalez denied stabbing her boyfriend and said he might have fallen on the knife instead, the station reported.

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The stabbing victim’s condition wasn’t immediately clear.

Source: Fox News National

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Tycoon Tapie goes on trial in long-running French business saga

FILE PHOTO: French businessman Bernard Tapie arrives to attend the inauguration of the Altice Campus in Paris
FILE PHOTO: French businessman Bernard Tapie arrives to attend the inauguration of the Altice Campus in Paris, France, October 9, 2018. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo

March 11, 2019

By Emmanuel Jarry

PARIS (Reuters) – The tycoon at the center of a decades-old French legal battle that has dragged politicians and business leaders in its wake goes on trial on Monday accused of fraud.

Bernard Tapie, the larger-than-life businessman and one-time chairman of Olympique Marseille football club, is embroiled in a fight over a fraught 1993 corporate deal and the compensation he won from the state 15 years later.

The case has already been through the civil courts and prompted a 2016 trial of Christine Lagarde, now head of the International Monetary Fund but at the time finance minister, for her role in the saga. She was convicted of negligence but escaped fines or jail time.

Six people will now be tried in a criminal court, including Tapie, 76, and Stephane Richard, the chief executive of telecoms group Orange <ORAN.PA>, who is accused of being complicit in the disputed state payment.

Richard was Lagarde’s chief of staff in 2008.

The complex case harks back to when Credit Lyonnais bank bought Tapie’s stake in the then-struggling sportswear company Adidas 26 years ago.

The bank, which was government owned at the time, later sold its stake on for a much higher price, leading the businessman to accuse it of defrauding him.

Tapie was awarded a 403 million euro ($453 million) state-funded payout as part of a 2008 settlement approved by Lagarde. But litigation continued and he was ordered by a French court to return the funds in 2015, with the ruling confirmed by other judges in 2017.

The businessman, who is suffering from cancer, is also being tried for misusing public funds. He told France’s JDD newspaper that he was stopping any form of treatment for his illness so he could stay lucid during the trial.

“This trial is one of the most important moments of my life,” Tapie said. “What matters to me is that we establish, resoundingly, that I was not the crook.”

Richard, who is accused of hiding some aspects of the compensation deal from Lagarde, denies any wrongdoing.

“He is looking forward to being able to explain himself in public and demonstrate that the allegations against him are baseless,” his lawyer Jean-Etienne Giamarchi said.

The French government, which has a 23 percent stake in Orange, has said Richard will have to step down if he is convicted.

The trial is due to last until April 5. The accused face potential maximum prison sentences of five to seven years, and fines of up to 375,000 euros.

(Writing by Sarah White; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

Total operating revenue rose 2 percent to $10.58 billion.

(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By James Oliphant

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PAST VS. FUTURE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘ONE OF US’

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Funeral of journalist Lyra McKee in Belfast
FILE PHOTO: Pallbearers carry the coffin of journalist Lyra McKee at her funeral at St. Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

April 26, 2019

BELFAST (Reuters) – Detectives investigating the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Northern Ireland last week suspect the gunman who shot her dead is in his late teens as they made a further appeal to the local community who they believe know his identity.

McKee’s killing by an Irish nationalist militant during a riot in Londonderry has sparked outrage in the province where a 1998 peace deal mostly ended three decades of sectarian violence that cost the lives of some 3,600 people.

The New IRA, one of a small number of groups that oppose the peace accord, has said one of its members shot the 29-year-old reporter dead in the Creggan area of the city on Thursday when opening fire on police during a riot McKee was watching.

The killing, which followed a large car bomb in Londonderry in January that police also blamed on the New IRA, has raised fears that small marginalized militant groups are exploiting a political vacuum in the province and tensions caused by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

Police released footage on Friday of immediately before and after the shooting showing three men who were involved in the rioting and identified one as the gunman who they believe is in his late teens. 

“I believe that the information that can help us to bring those responsible for her murder to justice lies within the community. I need the public to tell me who he is,” Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy told reporters.

Murphy said those involved in the disorder on the night were teenagers or in their early 20s, and that about 100 people were on the ground watching the trouble as it unfolded.

He added that police believed the gun used in the attack was of a similar caliber to those used before in paramilitary type attacks in Creggan. 

“I recognize that people living in Creagan may find it’s difficult to come forward to speak to police. Today, I want to provide a personal reassurance that we are able to deal with those issues sensitively,” Murphy said, echoing similar appeals in recent days.

(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson, editing by Padraic Halpin and Toby Chopra)

Source: OANN

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