Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Maga First News with Peter Boykin

8:00 am 9:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Thailand’s coup maker could face tough transition to civilian leadership

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha speaks during a news conference after a weekly cabinet meeting, after the general election, at Government House in Bangkok
Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha speaks during a news conference after a weekly cabinet meeting, after the general election, at Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

March 26, 2019

By Chayut Setboonsarng and Panu Wongcha-um

BANGKOK (Reuters) – For five years, Thailand’s Prayuth Chan-ocha ruled undisputed as the head of a junta that had grabbed power from a democratically elected government – now, he looks poised to become a civilian prime minister himself.

It would likely be a tough transition for the imperious former army chief, who can hope to stay on despite Sunday’s inconclusive general election thanks to changes critics say his government made to skew the parliamentary system in the junta’s favor.

Prayuth will need patience and compromise to work for the first time with an opposition and coalition allies: these are not qualities associated with a leader who, after a career in the military, appears more comfortable with command and control.

His government will have to develop “some significant savvy at parliamentary wheeling and dealing to … govern without resorting to threats,” said Anthony Nelson, director at the D.C.-based advisory firm, Albright Stonebridge Group.

The election came at a sensitive time – just six weeks before the coronation of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who assumed the throne after the death of his father, who reigned for 70 years. Any government that emerges will take over after the elaborate May 4-6 coronation.

“Investors will be watching closely the next several months to see if Thailand’s political stability holds through the coronation and the formation of the next cabinet,” Nelson said.

Prayuth’s pro-army party said the former general’s leadership skills will help him adapt to a civilian role.

“He’s a highly merciful person. If he is in a civilian government, you will see him turn over a new leaf. You will see good things from him,” Anucha Nakasai, a board member of the Palang Pracharat party, told Reuters.

NUMBER CRUNCHING

Prayuth’s ambition to extend his rule through the ballot box is not assured. The results of Sunday’s poll are still unclear and although the Palang Pracharat appears to have won the popular vote, there is a chance that it will fall short of the parliamentary seats required to rule.

If Prayuth does make it, his government may be vulnerable to charges that he did so only because of a constitutional change introduced three years ago by the junta that made it very difficult for its opponents to win an election.

His legitimacy won’t be helped by suspicions that the election was manipulated to thwart a party loyal to the junta’s populist nemesis, self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Prayuth will also have to make concessions to coalition partners, whose price for support may be powerful cabinet seats.

His biggest challenge, however, might be in parliament.

He can become prime minister thanks to the near-certain backing of the junta-appointed members of the 250-seat Senate that would give him the overall majority of 376 parliament seats that is required to form a government.

However, his coalition may not command a majority in the 500-strong lower House of Representatives and could be outnumbered by a “democratic front” of opposition parties, the biggest of which will be a Thaksin-linked party.

That would make the government vulnerable to confidence motions brought by the opposition. It would also be recipe for legislative log jams and political deadlock, and potentially a public backlash that triggers renewed social unrest.

The military coup of 2014 ended a decade of street protests by Thaksin’s bitter opponents, the “yellow shirts” of the urban elites and monarchists, and counter-protests by Thaksin’s “red shirt” loyalists.

“Policy-making is likely to become more public and contested,” said Nattabhorn Juengsanguansit, director at Asia Group Advisors, a government relations advisory.

“Unlike during the past five years (when) the cabinet faced little political opposition to proposals, the increased number of stakeholders empowered by the elections will invigorate a public debate on policy directions and force the Palang Pracharat and its allies to publicly defend policy choices.”

She said these factors could delay the passage of a budget and further hold up other projects such as the auction of monopoly concessions for airport duty-free shops and a multi-billion-dollar high-speed rail network.

GRUMPY GENERAL

Prayuth was born in 1954 to a military family in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, and his army career was forged during a turbulent period.

He was in pre-cadet school in 1973 when student protests brought down a military regime, ushering in democratic rule. Three years later, he was at the prestigious Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy when right-wing mobs massacred dozens of left-leaning student protesters leading to another military takeover.

In the military, Prayuth was known for decisiveness and devotion to the revered monarchy. He rose in the ranks to become army chief, and in 2014 staged Thailand’s 13th successful coup.

His reputation for testiness came almost immediately.

Thais became accustomed to their junta leader losing his temper in public: he once threatened to throw a podium during a press briefing, and another time mused that he could “probably just execute” a roomful of reporters.

But he did display a softer side heading into the election.

He appeared on state television cooking a chicken curry for villagers and riding a tractor with farmers, and a ballad that he wrote himself played repeatedly on the radio.

However, Joshua Kurlantzick of the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations said that Prayuth’s track record – repression of opponents, an intolerance of criticism and a failure to understand the role of the media – suggested he would struggle to adapt to “a somewhat democratic setting”.

(Writing by John Chalmers and Kay Johnson; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Source: OANN

0 0

Lori Loughlin dropped from Hallmark channel roles after cheating scandal

FILE PHOTO: Actress Lori Loughlin arrives at the People's Choice Awards 2017 in Los Angeles
FILE PHOTO: Actress Lori Loughlin arrives at the People's Choice Awards 2017 in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok/File Photo

March 14, 2019

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Crown Media Family Networks, the company that owns the Hallmark cable channel, stopped working with its “Garage Sale Mysteries” star, Lori Loughlin, after she was charged in a college admissions scandal, it said on Thursday.

“We are no longer working with Lori Loughlin and have stopped development of all productions that air on the Crown Media Family Network channels” involving the actress, the company said in a statement.

Hallmark’s announcement follows an earlier one from LVMH’s Sephora beauty chain, which said it was ending its partnership with Loughlin’s daughter, Olivia.

Olivia Giannulli, the 19-year-old daughter of “Full House” actress Loughlin and designer Mossimo Giannulli, is a social media “influencer” who goes by the name Olivia Jade online.

Products from her makeup collaboration had been removed from Sephora’s website by Thursday afternoon. It was not immediately clear whether her products were available in stores.

“After careful review of recent developments, we have made the decision to end the Sephora Collection partnership with Olivia Jade, effective immediately,” a Sephora representative wrote in an email on Thursday.

A representative for Olivia Giannulli could not immediately be reached for comment.

Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were accused on Tuesday of paying bribes of $500,000 in a scheme that involved cheating on college entrance exams to help their daughter and another daughter, Isabella Giannulli, get into the University of Southern California, according to court documents.

Loughlin and her husband were taken into federal custody and later released on separate $1 million bonds on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York; editing by Bill Tarrant)

Source: OANN

0 0

The Departed: History will likely remember invective President Trump has lobbed at John McCain

We hear from the dead all the time in Congress.

Those who have passed are part of the daily lingo on Capitol Hill.

The senator’s office is over in Hart. Republicans are meeting in the Mansfield Room. Cannon Rotunda? I thought you said the live shot was in the Russell Rotunda. Are you going to the hearing in Longworth?

Here’s a key to decode the references:

The Hart Senate Office Building is named for the late Sen. Phil Hart (D-MI). The Mansfield Room is a formal space in the Capitol, named after the late Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield (D-MT). The Cannon Rotunda is in the Cannon House Office Building, named after the late House Speaker Joe Cannon (R-IL). The Russell Rotunda is in the Russell Senate Office Building, the namesake of Sen. Richard Russell (D-GA). TV news crews often do live hits and interviews from both rotundas. And the Longworth House Office Building is named after the late Speaker Nicholas Longworth (R-OH).

JOHN MCCAIN'S YOUNGEST DAUGHTER SLAMS TRUMP IN RARE PUBLIC STATEMENT

Statues of late Congressional figures, American presidents and other persons of historical importance saturate the Capitol complex. President Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King Jr. in the Capitol Rotunda. Rosa Parks and Thomas Edison in Statuary Hall. Sakakawea and Helen Keller in the Capitol Visitor’s Center.

I recently unearthed two dusty CD’s of public radio stories I did about Congress between 2004 and 2006. What struck me about these aural time capsules was how many lawmakers spoke from the grave in the reports:

Sens. Ted Stevens (R-AK), George Voinovich (R-OH), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Craig Thomas (R-WY), Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Pete Domenici (R-NM), along with Reps. John Dingell (D-MI), Steven LaTourette (R-OH), Vern Ehlers (R-MI), Leonard Boswell (D-IA) and Julia Carson (D-IN).

We talk about the departed all the time.

Senators invoke the “Byrd Rule” when discussing the complex, budget reconciliation process, named after the late Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd (D-WV). The “Byrd Rule” bars provisions attached a budget reconciliation measure which would add significantly to the deficit. Joe Cannon has come up a lot of late. Cannon faced a rebellion from lawmakers after he ran the House with an iron fist. The creation of the “motion to recommit” or “MTR” grew out of that uprising. An MTR is the last chance for the minority party to kill or alter legislation on the floor. Some Democrats want to change the MTR as Republicans have recently prevailed on two MTR’s on the floor, against the wishes of most Democrats.

DIRECTOR JUDD APATOW SLAMS DONALD TRUMP'S 'CULT-LIKE' FOLLOWERS OVER JOHN MCCAIN JABS

We bring this all up because President Trump is again railing about the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

McCain has seemingly crept under the President’s skin. And so Mr. Trump is unloading broadsides against the late senator and 2008 GOP presidential nominee. President Trump has said he “never liked McCain,” rekindling an old feud with the Arizona Republican. The President lashed out at McCain for not supporting a Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. As a result, a host of lawmakers from both sides are now rallying to the defense of McCain, who laid in state in the Capitol Rotunda late last summer.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants to rename the Russell Senate Office Building after McCain.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is one of President Trump’s biggest backers and perhaps McCain’s most loyal colleague. But Graham says he doesn’t “like it” when the President attacks his late friend.

TRUMP SAYS JOHN MCCAIN 'WAS HORRIBLE, WHAT HE DID WITH REPEAL AND REPLACE'

In an interview with Georgia Public Broadcasting, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) called Mr. Trump’s onslaught about McCain “deplorable” and “damaging.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called McCain “a rare patriot and genuine American hero” via Twitter. Yet some criticized McConnell for only defending McCain and not denouncing Mr. Trump’s disparagements.

The President’s aggressive condemnations of McCain even compelled the McCain Institute for International Leadership, associated with Arizona State University, to publish a news release titled “The Facts About John McCain.” The missive talked about McCain’s military service, time as a prisoner of war and included a lengthy justification about the senator’s position on health care.

“John McCain opposed Obamacare and fully supported ‘repeal and replace,’” punched back the release. “John McCain voted against the bill presented to the U.S. Senate – his famous ‘thumbs down’ – because it was ‘repeal,’ without ‘replace.’”

In an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business, President Trump reiterated that he is “not a fan” of McCain, even suggesting that the furor over McCain is the press’s fault.

“You people bring it up,” said the President.

Yet it was President Trump who again began tearing into McCain after a period of dormancy.

“What he did to the Republican party and to the nation, the sick people who could have had great health care… Not good,” said Mr. Trump.

It’s not strange to hear about deceased lawmakers in Washington. So many of them are etched into the day-to-day patter of Capitol Hill that most who utter their names probably don’t even know much about the name of a room or a building they’re talking about. Rayburn. Dirksen. LBJ. And it may not be long until something in the Senate is named after John McCain. It’s as though these figures are kind of still living, influencing events.

There’s a thing in Star Wars about the dead. On multiple occasions, those who have passed on sometimes return as a “Force ghost.” They speak to the living and stage-manage events from the grave.

After Darth Vader cut down Obi-Wan Kenobi in a lightsaber duel, the latter returned via metempsychosis as a Force Ghost. Kenobi periodically re-emerges, instructing Luke Skywalker from the great beyond.

Death in Congress is a little bit like what happens in Star Wars.

People still talk about “Sarbanes-Oxley,” a major piece of consumer and financial regulation legislation. It’s named after former Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) and the late Rep. Mike Oxley (R-OH) who crafted the measure. Every college student in the country knows about “Pell Grants,” named after the late Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-RI). Americans have long held tax-free “Roth IRA’s,” engineered by the late Sen. William Roth (R-DE). The “Hyde Amendment” is a provision sponsored by the late Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL) prohibiting the use of federal dollars for abortions. There is even “McCain-Feingold.” McCain teamed up with former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) to regulate campaign financing.

Legislation and Congressional infrastructure are usually where we continue to hear from former leaders, impacting the daily lives of Americans, long after they died. President Trump’s fixation with McCain is different. Mr. Trump routinely changes the ground rules in politics.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

No one can recall if other Presidents lobbed opprobrium toward late Senate Majority Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) or late House Speaker Sam Rayburn (D-TX). But it’s likely historians will remember the invective President Trump lobbed at McCain.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Eight years on, water woes threaten Fukushima cleanup

Storage tanks for radioactive water are seen at tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture
Storage tanks for radioactive water are seen at Tokyo Electric Power Co's (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, Japan February 18, 2019. Picture taken February 18, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato

March 11, 2019

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

OKUMA, Japan (Reuters) – Eight years after the Fukushima nuclear crisis, a fresh obstacle threatens to undermine the massive clean-up: 1 million tons of contaminated water must be stored, possibly for years, at the power plant.

Last year, Tokyo Electric Power Co said a system meant to purify contaminated water had failed to remove dangerous radioactive contaminants.

That means most of that water – stored in 1,000 tanks around the plant – will need to be reprocessed before it is released into the ocean, the most likely scenario for disposal.

Reprocessing could take nearly two years and divert personnel and energy from dismantling the tsunami-wrecked reactors, a project that will take up to 40 years.

It is unclear how much that would delay decommissioning. But any delay could be pricey; the government estimated in 2016 that the total cost of plant dismantling, decontamination of affected areas, and compensation, would amount to 21.5 trillion yen ($192.5 billion), roughly 20 percent of the country’s annual budget.

Tepco is already running out of space to store treated water. And should another big quake strike, experts say tanks could crack, unleashing tainted liquid and washing highly radioactive debris into the ocean.

Fishermen struggling to win back the confidence of consumers are vehemently opposed to releasing reprocessed water – deemed largely harmless by Japan’s nuclear watchdog, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) – into the ocean.

“That would destroy what we’ve been building over the past eight years,” said Tetsu Nozaki, head of the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Co-operative Associations. Last year’s catch was just 15 percent of pre-crisis levels, partly because of consumer reluctance to eat fish caught off Fukushima.

SLOW PROGRESS

On a visit to the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi plant last month, huge cranes hovered over the four reactor buildings that hug the coast. Workers could be seen atop the No. 3 building getting equipment ready to lift spent fuel rods out of a storage pool, a process that could start next month.

In most areas around the plant, workers no longer need to wear face masks and full body suits to protect against radiation. Only the reactor buildings or other restricted areas require special equipment.

Fanning out across the plant’s property are enough tanks to fill 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Machines called Advanced Liquid Processing Systems, or ALPS, had treated the water inside them.

Tepco said the equipment could remove all radionuclides except tritium, a relatively harmless hydrogen isotope that is hard to separate from water. Tritium-laced water is released into the environment at nuclear sites around the world.

But after newspaper reports last year questioned the effectiveness of ALPS-processed water, Tepco acknowledged that strontium-90 and other radioactive elements remained in many of the tanks.

Tepco said the problems occurred because absorbent materials in the equipment had not been changed frequently enough.

The utility has promised to re-purify the water if the government decides that releasing it into the ocean is the best solution. It is the cheapest of five options a government task force considered in 2016; others included evaporation and burial.

Tepco and the government are now waiting for another panel of experts to issue recommendations. The head of the panel declined an interview request. No deadline has been set.

NRA chief Toyoshi Fuketa believes ocean release after dilution is the only feasible way to handle the water problem. He has warned that postponing the decision indefinitely could derail the decommissioning project.

STORING INDEFINITELY

Another option is to store the water for decades in enormous tanks normally used for crude oil. The tanks have been tested for durability, said Yasuro Kawai, a plant engineer and a member of Citizens’ Commission on Nuclear Energy, a group advocating abandoning nuclear energy.

Each tank holds 100,000 tons, so 10 such tanks could store the roughly 1 million tons of water processed by ALPS so far, he said.

The commission proposes holding the tritium-laced water, which has a half life of 12.3 years, in tanks for 123 years. After that, it will be one thousandth as radioactive as it was when it went into storage.

Although experts caution that tanks would be vulnerable to major quakes, Japan’s trade and industry minister, Hiroshige Seko, said the committee would consider them anyway.

“Long-term storage … has an upside as radiation levels come down while it is in storage. But there is a risk of leakage,” Seko told Reuters. “It is difficult to hold the water indefinitely, so the panel will also look into how it should be disposed of eventually.”

Space is also a problem, said Akira Ono, Tepco’s chief decommissioning officer. By 2020, the utility will expand tank storage capacity by 10 percent to 1.37 million tons, and about 95 percent of total capacity will probably be used by the end of that year, he said.

“Tanks are now being built on flat, elevated spots in stable locations,” Ono said. But such ideal space is getting scarce, he added.

Many local residents hope Tepco will just keep storing the water. If it does get released into the ocean, “everyone would sink into depression,” said fishing trawler captain Koichi Matsumoto.

Fukushima was once popular with surfers. But young people in the area do not go surfing any more because they’ve been repeatedly warned about suspected radioactivity in the water, said surf shop owner Yuichiro Kobayashi.

Releasing treated water from the plant “could end up chasing the next generation of children away from the sea as well,” he said.

Ono says dealing with contaminated water is one of many complex issues involved in decommissioning.

A year ago, when he took over leading the effort, it felt like the project had just “entered the trailhead,” he said. “Now, it feels like we’re really starting to climb.”

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Malcolm Foster and Gerry Doyle)

Source: OANN

0 0

Who are the wealthiest 2020 Dems? With tax returns in, the answer may surprise you

Stressing transparency in government, more than a half-dozen Democrats running for the White House have released their tax returns.

And while the filings are a way for the Democratic candidates to spotlight Republican President Trump’s refusal to release his taxes -- both as a 2016 White House candidate and as a sitting president -- the returns also have revealed that some of the biggest class warriors of the 2020 field happen to be among the wealthiest.

AT FOX NEWS TOWN HALL, BERNIE SANDERS MAKES NO APOLOGIES FOR HIS WEALTH

"This year, we had $560,000 in income," Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont explained Monday night during a Fox News town hall.

Minutes before the start of the town hall in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the independent senator from Vermont’s presidential campaign released his 2018 returns. According to the figures, Sanders and his wife Jane paid a 26 percent effective tax rate on $561,293 in income, and made more than $1 million in both 2016 and 2017. Nearly $400,000 of his income last year came from book sales.

Sanders doubled down on his previous defenses of his wealth, which even some progressives have criticized considering his advocacy for an increase in the tax rates the wealthiest Americans pay.

2020 CANDIDATES' TAX RETURNS: BY THE NUMBERS

"In my and my wife's case, I wrote a pretty good book. It was a bestseller, sold all over the world, and we made money. If anyone thinks I should apologize for writing a bestselling book, I'm sorry, I'm not gonna do it," he said.

And Sanders, who’s faced calls for the past month to release his returns, acknowledged that he had been "fortunate" even as he pushed for a more progressive tax system.

WARREN RELEASES RETURNS MOMENTS AFTER PUSHING WEALTH TAX

Sanders isn’t the only populist senator running for the White House whose tax returns indicate income in the upper six-digits.

Minutes after pushing her proposal to increase taxes on the ultra-wealthy, Sen. Elizabeth Warren released her tax returns last week. The figures show that the Massachusetts Democrat and her husband Bruce – a professor at Harvard University – paid more than $230,000 in taxes last year on just over $846,000 in adjusted income, for an effective tax rate of 27 percent. Warren made about $325,000 in book sales in addition to the $175,000 salary she receives as a senator. Her husband earned around $400,000 from Harvard.

The wealthiest Democrat among those 2020 candidates who’ve so far made their tax returns public is Sen. Kamala Harris of California.

The former Golden State attorney general and her husband – attorney Doug Emhoff – reported an adjusted income of nearly $1.9 million in 2018. They paid nearly $700,000 in taxes, for an effective rate of 37 percent. Besides her Senate income, Harris earned around $320,000 in income from writing a book that was published earlier this year. Her husband earned $1.5 million for his work as an attorney.

While Harris is reporting the most income of the candidates who’ve so far released their 2018 tax returns, former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland appears to be the wealthiest candidate in the field of Democratic presidential nomination contenders.

Last year, the then-three-term congressman was listed as the sixth wealthiest member of Congress, with an estimated net worth of $92.6 million according to rankings from Roll Call. Delaney, who grew up in a working-class family in New Jersey, became the youngest CEO in the history of the New York Stock Exchange.

According to his first quarter of fundraising report, the candidate infused $11.7 million of his own money into his campaign, making up the vast majority of the $12.1 million he brought in during the first three months of the year.

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and his wife, meanwhile, made $366,455 – according to their 2017 returns – paying an effective tax rate of 22 percent. The candidate released 10 years of returns on Monday, but didn’t include his 2018 taxes.

"As a candidate aspiring to restore the American people's trust in the nation's highest office, O'Rourke will also release his 2018 tax returns as soon as possible after they are filed," his campaign explained.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and her husband earned $338,121 last year, paying a 19 percent effective tax rate. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and her husband earned nearly $215,000 in income last year, paying an effective tax rate of 14 percent.

GILLIBRAND THE FIRST 2020 DEMOCRAT TO RELEASE TAX RETURNS

Gillibrand became the first of the 2020 Democrats to make public her returns, when she released her returns on March 27.

“Join me in calling on every presidential candidate to disclose their taxes. This is what transparency and accountability is all about,” Gillibrand said in a video at the time, as she challenged the rest of the Democratic 2020 contenders to make their returns public.

Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee also released his returns, indicating that he and his wife earned nearly $203,000 last year, paying an effective tax rate of 15 percent.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Standard Life Aberdeen wins 100 billion pounds mandate dispute against Lloyds

FILE PHOTO: The offices of Standard Life Aberdeen in Saint Andrew Square Edinburgh, Scotland
FILE PHOTO: The offices of Standard Life Aberdeen in Saint Andrew Square Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain February 15, 2019.REUTERS/Russell Cheyne/File Photo

March 19, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Standard Life Aberdeen said on Tuesday that a tribunal has ruled in its favor regarding a dispute over an investment contract it had with Lloyds Banking Group

The tribunal ruled that the bank was not entitled to give notice to terminate the investment management agreements in respect of around 100 billion pounds ($132.61 billion) in assets managed by Standard Life Aberdeen.

Lloyds had argued that an 11 billion pound merger between fund firms Standard Life and Aberdeen triggered the right to review an agreement struck in 2014 for Aberdeen to manage its pension assets on behalf of its wealth and insurance businesses, because it saw Standard Life as a “material competitor” to both.

Standard Life Aberdeen said it was considering the terms of the decision and appropriate next steps.

(Reporting by Sinead Cruise, editing by Huw Jones)

Source: OANN

0 0

DA, defense clash in push to seal records in officer's case

A prosecutor says family members of an armed black man who was fatally shot from behind by a white Nashville police officer in July want a slew of records made public in the officer's first-degree murder case.

But Nashville officer Andrew Delke's attorney, David Raybin, responded Tuesday that 25-year-old Daniel Hambrick's family might not want to see what the defense has.

In Tuesday's hearing on whether the records should be sealed, Raybin said District Attorney General Glenn Funk's preference of publicly filed pretrial discovery documents would let the case be tried through news coverage. Raybin said the discovery filing breaks with a state Supreme Court ruling that Funk backed.

Funk said Nashville has exceptions when cases involve children victims or rape, but Delke's case doesn't warrant the same privacy protection.

A ruling is expected early next week.

Source: Fox News National

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Maga First News with Peter Boykin

8:00 am 9:00 am



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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist