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Major UK financial firms make little progress on gender pay gap

FILE PHOTO: Jayne-Anne Gadhia, when CEO of Virgin Money, speaking at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference in London, Britain
FILE PHOTO: Jayne-Anne Gadhia, when Chief Executive of Virgin Money, speaking at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference in London, Britain November 9, 2015. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

April 5, 2019

By Carolyn Cohn and Lawrence White

LONDON (Reuters) – Major financial services firms in Britain have made very little progress in narrowing the gap between male and female pay and more than a third have gone backwards, a Reuters analysis of gender pay data shows.

Financial firms have on average reduced pay disparities by just over half a percentage point in the last year, the analysis of 89 of the biggest companies showed, highlighting the lack of progress in the sector with the worst average pay gap in Britain.

The poor figures come despite finance companies publicizing a raft of initiatives to close the gap, from hiring more women in senior roles to mandating mixed gender shortlists and promoting flexible working.

Pay disparities in Britain have come under the spotlight since the government forced businesses to submit gender pay gap figures annually from last year.

The data shows the difference between average hourly male and female pay, and tends to reflect the smaller number of women at senior levels, where financial services firms have a poor record.

Reuters surveyed 89 major banks, asset managers, hedge funds, insurers and other financial services firms in Britain, including all the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 financial services firms that had reported gender pay data by Thursday.

On average, the firms showed a narrowing in the mean gender pay gap of just 0.6 percentage points compared with a year earlier, the survey showed.

For a graphic on UK financial sector gender pay gap, see – https://tmsnrt.rs/2I3vy6C

For an interactive version of the graphic, click here https://tmsnrt.rs/2HYgZkH.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the former chief executive of Virgin Money, who runs the government-backed Women in Finance charter, criticized finance firms for not doing enough.

“Businesses need to realize that they will not succeed unless they embrace diversity as a key driver of results and growth,” she said.

“They need to focus on it, measure it, set targets and hold senior executives accountable for making progress – year in year out.”

Virgin Money – which was bought by rival CYBG last year – had itself faced criticism for reporting a wide gender pay gap of 32.5 percent for 2017. The bank narrowed the gap to 29.7 percent last year.

Only three firms had a gender pay gap below last year’s mean national average.

Fifteen of the 48 major British, U.S. and other international banks surveyed reported a widening in the gender pay gap of their UK employees, and 32 of all the firms did so.

Firms with more than 250 employees in Britain had until April 5 to submit gender pay data, the second year of this government requirement.

The overall mean hourly gender pay gap based on employers who reported in 2018 was 14.3 percent, according to government data, but that widened to 30 percent for the financial sector according to an Investment Association (IA) study published this week.

In addition to a “motherhood penalty” and behavioral biases, the IA said that in financial services, there were “limitations in real meritocracy”.

HSBC had the biggest gender pay gap of the companies surveyed, at 61 percent, a widening of two percentage points from a year ago.

“We are committed to improving our gender balance and recognize that this will require sustained focus over the long-term,” the bank said in a statement.

It added it was taking a number of specific steps, including an “aspirational target” for 30 percent of senior leadership roles to be filled by women by 2020. On this measure, it said it had progressed from 22 percent in 2012 to 28.2 percent at the end of 2018.

Within some of the companies looked at, individual operating units performed particularly badly.

Across all the firms surveyed, State Street Global Advisors, the asset management arm of custody bank State Street, showed a year-on-year widening in the pay gap of 13.9 percentage points. The overall bank, though, saw a 0.1 percentage point reduction.

“While we have made significant on-going efforts to improve, we recognize that there is much more work to be done,” a spokeswoman for State Street said.

FTSE 100 asset manager Hargreaves Lansdown was most successful in narrowing its pay gap, more than halving it to 13.7 percent from 28.8 percent, which the firm attributed to hiring more women in its third to sixth tiers of seniority although it noted its median gap rose.

Consumer credit firm Provident Financial’s home credit division had the smallest gender pay gap, at 4.9 percent.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn, Lawrence White, Simon Jessop, Maiya Keidan, Iain Withers and Sinead Cruise; Editing by Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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Statue vandals seem to have mistaken WWII hero for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, museum officials say

Vandals in North Carolina may be in need of a history lesson after having set fire to a statue honoring a World War II hero they apparently mistook for a Confederate general, officials said earlier this week.

A white marble monument of U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William C. Lee, who commanded the 101st Airborne Division's "Screaming Eagles" during World War II, was doused with flammable liquid and set on fire last week, museum officials said. The statue bears black scorch marks running up its left side.

The suspects seem to have confused Lee with Gen. Robert E. Lee, who led the Confederate army during the Civil War some 80 years earlier, officials said.

WHICH CONFEDERATE STATUES WERE REMOVED? A RUNNING LIST

“I was surprised that anybody would do that to this museum statue,” Mark Johnson, curator of the General William C. Lee Airborne Museum in Dunn, told Goldsboro's WNCN-TV. “This is not a Civil War museum and this is not Robert E. Lee.”

Aside from their last name, the two Lees have nothing in common, according to Johnson. The former Lee was known as the father of the U.S. Airborne Army and an international war hero of World War II, he told the station.

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The statue is expected to be cleaned and repaired, which could cost several hundred dollars, WNCN reported.

Authorities are asking anyone with information that leads to an arrest to call 910-892-2222 and are offering a $1,000 reward.

Source: Fox News National

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Climate change protesters bring London to halt, demonstrator glues himself to subway train, 300 arrested in 2 days

London was brought to a standstill Wednesday morning after militant climate change protesters cause havoc for a third day in a row, climbing and gluing themselves on subway trains, causing road closures and other disruption, leading to an arrest of nearly 300 people in the past 48 hours.

The protesters calling themselves Extinction Rebellion, which were also responsible for a naked protest in the British Parliament earlier this month, are demanding the government to legally commit to reducing net carbon emissions to zero in the next six years and are willing to go to jail for the cause.

TOPLESS CLIMATE CHANGE PROTESTERS ARRESTED AFTER INTERRUPTING BREXIT DEBATE IN BRITISH PARLIAMENT

Londoners’ morning commute was particularly disrupted after the protesters climbed on top of a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) train in East London, prompting shutdown or severe delays on numerous underground lines.

Police and officials stand by as climate activists protest atop a Dockland Light Railway carriage at Canary Wharf station in London, as part of the ongoing climate change demonstrations in the capital, Wednesday April 17, 2019. The environment protest group Extinction Rebellion are calling for general public protests with civic disobedience held over several days, to highlight what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change.

Police and officials stand by as climate activists protest atop a Dockland Light Railway carriage at Canary Wharf station in London, as part of the ongoing climate change demonstrations in the capital, Wednesday April 17, 2019. The environment protest group Extinction Rebellion are calling for general public protests with civic disobedience held over several days, to highlight what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change. ((Kirsty O'Connor/PA via AP))

The group has been clashing with police officers and blocking traffic in Central London, including near Parliament, since Monday, resulting in at least 290 arrests, the BBC reported.

The scale of the arrests forced the police to reveal that “contingency plans are in place should custody suites become full.”

The road is blocked by demonstrators during a climate protest at Marble Arch in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. The group Extinction Rebellion is calling for a week of civil disobedience against what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change.

The road is blocked by demonstrators during a climate protest at Marble Arch in London, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. The group Extinction Rebellion is calling for a week of civil disobedience against what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

In addition to furious Londoners, the methods of the protest were criticized by left-wing London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said that while he believes climate change must be tackled, he was “extremely concerned” about the disruptions.

“It is absolutely crucial to get more people using public transport, as well as walking and cycling, if we are to tackle this climate emergency - and millions of Londoners depend on the Underground network to get about their daily lives in our city,” he tweeted.

“Targeting public transport in this way would only damage the cause of all of us who want to tackle climate change, as well as risking Londoners' safety and I'd implore anyone considering doing so to think again.”

EXTINCTION REBELLION: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTESTS HALT TRAFFIC

The militant protesters also glued their hands to the train carriages as they touted their success in causing mayhem in the capital, prompting the authorities to turn off the transportation system’s public Wi-Fi to stop them from coordinating actions, the Daily Mail reported.

Some commuters said the protest was “ridiculous” because it only forced commuters to use their cars rather than using the considerably more environmentally-friendly subway.

Police officers speak to protestors under a lorry, during a civic disobedience event to block Waterloo Bridge in London, Wednesday, April 17, 2019. The group Extinction Rebellion is calling for a week of civil disobedience against what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change.

Police officers speak to protestors under a lorry, during a civic disobedience event to block Waterloo Bridge in London, Wednesday, April 17, 2019. The group Extinction Rebellion is calling for a week of civil disobedience against what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Transport disruptions reportedly affected 500,000 people over the last few days, while retailers located on the high street say they lost about $12 million in sales in the last two days due to the protests.

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Farhana Yamin, a protester who was arrested on Tuesday, apologized to Londoners on BBC Radio 4 but insisted that such actions are justified.

“I totally want to apologize to people using public transport. But at the same time we need to take actions that are disruptive so everyone understands the dangers we're facing right now,” she said.

“I'm not someone who goes out on to the streets and disrupts and gets arrested for no reason at all. But I feel people should understand that we are at a critical moment in our humanity's history.”

Source: Fox News World

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Arrests at London climate-change protests top 1,000

Extinction Rebellion protest in London
FILE PHOTO: Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg speaks during the Extinction Rebellion protest at Marble Arch in London, Britain April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

April 22, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – The number of environmental campaigners arrested during eight days of direct action in London topped 1,000 on Monday, police said, adding that Waterloo Bridge, one of the sites blockaded by the protests, had re-opened to traffic.

Climate group Extinction Rebellion has targeted sites in central London, such as Oxford Circus and Parliament Square, in a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience with the aim of stopping what it calls a global climate crisis.

Police said 1,065 people had been arrested in connection with the protests, and they had charged 53 with offences including obstructing the highway.

Oxford Circus and Parliament Square were re-opened to traffic on Sunday, they said, while Waterloo Bridge was cleared overnight.

Police had appealed to activists to move to Marble Arch, where they are allowing protests to continue.

Swedish teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg addressed crowds at Marble Arch on Sunday, urging them to never give up their campaign to save the planet.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle, editing by Louise Heavens)

Source: OANN

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Ahold says on course to meet U.S. online sales growth targets

The Ahold Delhaize logo is seen at the company's headquarters in Zaandam
The Ahold Delhaize logo is seen at the company's headquarters in Zaandam, Netherlands August 23, 2018. Picture taken August 23, 2018. REUTERS/Eva Plevier

February 27, 2019

By Anthony Deutsch

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Ahold Delhaize, which operates supermarkets in Europe and the United States, is on track to meet a 20 percent U.S. online sales growth target this year as it opens automated grocery distribution points along the East Coast, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Frans Muller, promoted to the top job last July, said in an interview that Ahold, which makes roughly two-thirds of its sales in the United States, plans to open several more of the automated hubs in 2019.

The comments came after Ahold said on Wednesday that group net consumer online sales rose 25 percent to 1.1 billion euros in the fourth quarter at constant exchange rates.

In the Netherlands, where it also operates the non-food Bol.com retailer, Ahold saw strong online sales growth of 28 percent. In the U.S., online sales rose 12 percent at constant exchange rates to 203 million euros in the three months through Dec. 31.

Overall, Ahold said its core earnings rose 9.5 percent in the fourth quarter, bolstered by strong online sales growth, meeting market expectations.

Muller has said the company hopes to make acquisitions to meet targets of 20 percent online U.S. sales growth in 2019 and 30 percent in 2020.

“We are on track for 2019 to make our 20 percent. That’s all planned for and I am excited about reaching 30 percent,” Muller told Reuters. “I think the market is there.”

Speaking about acquisitions, Muller said, “we see more opportunities in the U.S. The market is consolidating. We have a strong base and strong brands along the East Coast.”

In November, Ahold announced plans to roll out small, automated warehouses to increase order picking and cut delivery times, part of a revamp of its ecommerce business to help fight competitors like Kroger, Walmart and Amazon.

Muller said several new centers will be opened this year, with a higher number in 2020, but gave no specific number.

Ahold’s underlying income increased to 691 million euros ($786 million) in the three months through Dec. 31, in line with forecasts. Ahold shares slipped 1.8 percent by 0835 GMT.

Ahold, which operates the ‘Stop & Shop’ and ‘Food Lion’ chains in the United States, confirmed its 2019 target of 750 million euros in gross synergies from the merger with Delhaize.

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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Utah man fires at police in 6-hour standoff at Burger King

A Utah man who was wanted in a weekend shooting barricaded himself inside a Salt Lake City area fast-food restaurant and fired several times at police during an overnight standoff that ended when the man surrendered after officers fired tear gas into the restaurant, authorities said Wednesday.

Joshua B. Williams, 36, was arrested early Wednesday after firing about 10 rounds at officers during a 6-hour standoff at a Burger King in Magna, Utah, said Unified Police Sgt. Melody Gray.

No officers, restaurant employees or customers were injured, she said.

Officers had been searching for Williams since Saturday when he was suspected of firing several shots at a woman who was letting him stay in her house, said Lt. Dan Bartlett of the suburban Cottonwood Heights Police Department.

Bartlett said officers were in Magna looking for Williams on Tuesday night when Burger King employees called police to report a man had locked himself in the bathroom and was refusing to leave at closing time.

When police arrived, Williams pointed a gun at the officers, Gray said. Officers evacuated along with the restaurant employees, set up a perimeter and called in the SWAT team. That team filled the restaurant with gas several times until at about 5:30 a.m. Williams finally told a robot sent inside the restaurant he wanted out.

Magna is about 14 miles (22 kilometers) from Salt Lake City.

Williams is expected to be booked on several charges related to the standoff and unlawful detention and aggravated assault in the Saturday incident, Gray and Bartlett said.

It was not immediately known if Williams has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.

Williams was sent to prison last October after pleading guilty to felony possession of a firearm by a restricted person, , shows online Utah court records show. He is still on probation in that case.

That same month, Williams also pleaded to two counts of possession of a controlled substance. In 2011, Williams pleaded guilty to use of a dangerous weapon in a fight, and was given two years' probation.

Source: Fox News National

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Writing by William Schomberg)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By Ulf Laessing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FOREX SURCHARGE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., threatened possible jail time for White House officials refusing to comply with subpoenas to testify before the House Oversight Committee.

Connolly, a member of the House panel, made his comments during an interview on CNN on Thursday. He said that “if a subpoena is issued and you’re told you must testify, we will back that up.”

He added: “And we will use any and all power in our command to make sure it’s backed up — whether that’s a contempt citation, whether that’s going to court and getting that citation enforced, whether it’s fines, whether it’s possible incarceration.”

“We will go to the max to enforce the constitutional role of the legislative branch of government.”

His comments came after three officials have refused to comply with congressional requests to testify, CNN noted.

Trump told The Washington Post that his staff should not testify on Capitol Hill, explaining that the White House cooperated fully with special counsel Robert Mueller and “there is no reason to go any further, especially in Congress where it’s very partisan.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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“Outdated laws” need fixing to deal with the surge in illegal immigrant families crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, a top Border Patrol official said Friday.

Migrant families face no consequences if apprehended trying to cross the border illegally under present law, Border Patrol chief of Operations Brian Hastings claimed during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”

“We need a change in the current outdated laws that we’re dealing with for this current demographic and this crisis that we have,” he said.

Hastings said as of Thursday there have been 440,000 apprehensions along the southwest border. There were 396,000 apprehensions all of last year.

SOUTHERN BORDER AT ‘BREAKING POINT’ AFTER MORE THAN 76,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TRIED CROSSING IN FEBRUARY, OFFICIALS SAY

And those numbers continue to rise, he said.

Historically 70 to 90 percent of apprehensions at the border were quickly returned to Mexico, Hastings said.

Now, 83 percent of those apprehended have come from the Central American northern triangle which includes Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, and of those 63 percent are “family units” and children who cannot be returned, he said.

“There are no consequences that we can apply to this group currently,” Hastings said. “We’re overwhelmed. If you look at agents there doing a tremendous job trying to deal with the flow.”

The law dictates children have to be released after 20 days of detention.

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

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says that has forced immigration officials to release entire families because “you don’t want to separate families.”

Recently, he said he is drafting legislation that would allow children to be detained for more than 20 days.

Hastings said agents are frustrated with the situation but are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

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“Up to 40 percent of our agents are processing at any given time,” he said. “That should say that in and of itself is pulling from those border security resources.”

Source: Fox News National

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