Indigenous people attend a protest to defend indigenous land and cultural rights that they say are threatened by the right-wing government of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, in Brasilia, Brazil, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

April 26, 2019

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Thousands of people representing the more than 300 tribes native to Brazil marched to government offices in Brasilia on Friday to protest the policies of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro that threaten their reservation lands.

Wearing body paint and headdresses made with the colorful feathers of Amazon birds, they brandished bows and arrows and beat drums while chanting resistance songs. The march comes at the end of a three-day rally in the Brazilian capital called the Free Land Encampment.

“Our families are in danger, our children are under threat, our people are being attacked. In the name of what they call economic progress they want to kill our people,” said David Karai Popygua, an ethnic Guarani Mbya from the state of Sao Paulo.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain turned politician, was elected in October with the support of Brazil’s farm sector that has pushed for access to more land and fewer environmental controls. They also want him to ease gun possession laws.

One of his first measures on taking office on Jan. 1 was to dismantle the indigenous affairs agency FUNAI, handing reservation demarcation decisions to the Agriculture Ministry that is controlled by farming interests.

“It is an embarrassment for our country to have a government that does not understand the struggle of indigenous peoples and has no knowledge at all of the indigenous population,” said Daran, a Tupi Guarani chieftain.

Brazil has more than 850,000 indigenous people that make up less than 1 percent of its population. They live on reservations that make up about 13 percent of the country’s territory.

Bolsonaro has said that is too much land for so few people and has vowed to review some reservation borders. He says they live poorly and wants to assimilate them by allowing large-scale farming and commercial mining on reservations.

The government did not immediately comment on the protests.

The country’s Supreme Court on Thursday denied an injunction sought by the Brazilian Socialist Party to stop the transfer of indigenous land decisions to the agriculture ministry. Hundreds of tribal people protested outside the building.

Sonia Guajajara, national coordinator of Brazil’s Association of Indigenous Peoples, told Reuters that land invasions and other attacks on tribes by illegal miners and loggers had increased since Bolsonaro took office.

“They say that they have been authorized to occupy indigenous land,” she said. “We are here to oppose mining, hydroelectric and agribusiness companies that destroy tribal communities and Mother Nature.”

“We have resisted for five centuries and we are not going to surrender in four years. We will continue fighting,” she said.

(Reporting by Leonardo Benassatto and Anthony Boadle, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

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New York City could be headed for bankruptcy. (iStock)

New York City could be headed for bankruptcy, according to financial analysts who see warning signs of fiscal disaster.

However, the city is doing all it can to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Raul A. Contreras, spokesperson for the mayor’s office, told Fox News via email: “The city’s credit rating increased in February for the first time since 2010, putting us on par with the State — something few municipalities ever accomplish. This mayor has been a strong steward of the city’s finances, including mandating cuts across city agencies in the next budget while still providing for New Yorkers.”

Economists, however, see potential dire signs.

“The city is running a deficit and could be in a real difficult spot if we had a recession, or a further flight of individuals because of tax reform,” Milton Ezrati, chief economist of Vested, a financial communication agency, told the New York Post. “New York is already in a difficult financial spot, but it would be in an impossible situation if we had any kind of setback.”

UBER PASSENGER SHOT, KILLED BY BICYCLIST IN NEW YORK CITY, POLICE SAY

The Post reported that long-term debt is now more than $81,100 per household in New York City.

Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to add $3 billion more in the new budget to the current $89.2 billion.

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De Blasio has detailed $750 million in savings for the preliminary fiscal 2020 budget, while Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s preliminary budget has $600 million in city cuts in the coming year, the news outlet reported.

“New York City could go bankrupt, absolutely,” said Peter C. Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research. “In that case, the city would get temporary protection from its creditors, but it would be very difficult for the city to take on new debt.”

Click for more from The New York Post.

Source: Fox News National

FILE PHOTO: A combination of file photos shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a wreath laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam March 2, 2019 and Russia's President Vladimir Putin looking during a joint news conference with South African President Jacob Zuma after their meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Krasnodar region, Russia, May 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/Pool/Maxim Shipenkov/Pool/File Photo

April 23, 2019

MOSCOW (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian eastern city of Vladivostok on Thursday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Tuesday.

The leaders will discuss political and diplomatic efforts to settle the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula, and Kim’s visit is key in this process, Ushakov said.

He said Russia’s bilateral trade with North Korea fell by more than 56 percent last year because of sanctions against Pyongyang but Moscow thinks it is important that North Korea and the United States are interested in maintaining their contact.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Peter Graff)

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LEBANON, Ind. – The family of a 12-year-old boy who alleges he was sexually abused by a central Indiana pediatrician has filed a civil lawsuit.

The Indianapolis Star reports the child's parents, identified in court records as Jane Doe and John Doe, are seeking damages from 41-year-old Dr. Jonathon Cavins of Jamestown.

Cavins' attorney in the civil case isn't commenting on the lawsuit, due to pending litigation. Cavins is awaiting trial and now faces accusations from five accusers.

Cavins is charged with child molestation involving a 12-year-old boy and sexual misconduct with a minor involving two other teenage boys. The 12-year-old came forward in February, accusing Cavins of fondling him. In April, a judge approved a motion from prosecutors to add two additional counts of child seduction.

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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com

Source: Fox News National

FILE PHOTO: Self checkout machines are seen at a supermarket of Swiss retail group Coop in Zumikon, Switzerland December 13, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

May 16, 2019

By Emma Thomasson

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Executives from major global retailers played down the threat to employment in stores from artificial intelligence and automation on Thursday and pledged more training to help staff adopt more high-value tasks as machines take over their work.

Retail is one of the largest employers in many developed economies and experts have predicted automation puts millions of low-skilled jobs in the sector at risk, particularly as the introduction of self-checkouts makes cashiers redundant.

“Technology can liberate people from repetitive tasks,” Barbara Martin Coppola, chief digital officer at Swedish furniture giant IKEA, told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Retail Congress, an annual industry gathering.

“These jobs are not gone. We are believers in the talent we have in our house and we look to repurpose it into more fulfilling tasks.”

Martin Coppola said IKEA needs far fewer people to select the goods displayed on the firm’s website, known as online merchandising, as algorithms get more sophisticated. But these people can be trained in digital marketing instead.

“It is important to see technology as an enabler and not to let it be at the expense of human beings and the planet,” she said.

Walmart, the world’s biggest private employer with 2.2 million staff, has been adding self check-outs and announced last month that it would be rolling out automated shelf scanners, to check product availability, and cleaning robots.

“Cleaning the floor is not a thing that brings a person fulfillment,” said Tom Faitak, Walmart’s senior manager for AI, robotics and automation, adding that automating repetitive tasks gives staff more time to help customers.

“Robots are not fantastic at interacting with people,” he said. “Robots are good at doing the same task over and over, not finding an item on the shelf.”

Walmart staff who are freed up from some repetitive tasks are increasingly being redeployed to pick orders placed online and prepare them for curbside pickup.

Consultants McKinsey estimate that 53 percent of activities in retailing are automatable, particularly in stock management and logistics. It predicts that next generation automated grocery stores could see the number of labor hours for inventory and stocking cut by two thirds.

Walmart and Kroger – the biggest U.S. supermarket chain – say they are committed to developing their store workers so they are not left behind.

Walmart offers training to tens of thousands of associates through an “Academy” program, while Kroger launched a new scheme last year to promote continued education, from high school certificates to doctorates.

Kroger Chairman and Chief Executive Rodney McMullen, who started out as a store clerk at the chain and had his college education supported by the company, noted that U.S. unemployment was at its lowest for decades, pushing automation.

“Part of it is because you just can’t find people,” he said,

noting that the company was creating higher-paid jobs in software engineering as it seeks to modernize the business.

The Cincinnati-based company has built robot-aided warehouses and is trying out self-driving vehicles to improve delivery.

(Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

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VIENNA – The Latest on the video scandal that's rocked the Austrian government (all times local):

6:50 p.m.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says he wants to fire interior minister over the video scandal that's rocked the government.

Kurz told reporters in Vienna that removing Herbert Kickl of the far-right Freedom Party from his post was necessary to achieve "total transparency" in the case.

Two of Kickl's party colleagues were caught on video apparently offering government contracts to a supposed Russian benefactor.

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9:05 a.m.

Austria's leader is apparently preparing to force out the country's interior minister, a prominent and divisive figure in the far-right Freedom Party, after the country's vice chancellor resigned in a scandal over a covertly filmed video.

Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has called for a new national election after Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache quit his post and the leadership of the Freedom Party on Saturday. The election is expected in September, but it remains unclear how the country will be governed until then.

For now, the Freedom Party's ministers remain in place in Kurz's ruling coalition.

A minister from Kurz's party, Gernot Bluemel, told ORF television he expects that Kurz will dismiss Kickl. Bluemel cited a need to end the scandal triggered by a video in which Strache apparently offered government contracts to a Russian investor.

Source: Fox News World

FILE PHOTO: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft arrives for the 89th Academy Awards Oscars Vanity Fair Party in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., February 26, 2017. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok/File Photo

February 25, 2019

(Reuters) – Florida prosecutors on Monday filed formal charges against Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots football team, and about two dozen other men for soliciting prostitution at massage parlors, authorities said on Monday.

The investigation by law enforcement officers in three Florida counties into the trafficking of young women to work at day spas and massage parlors has led to hundreds being charged.

Kraft, 77, and the other defendants charged with first-degree misdemeanors “come from all walks of life,” Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach County, told reporters.

On Friday, police named Kraft as a client at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, saying they had video of him engaging in paid sex acts with a worker there on two occasions.

Florida law requires that defendants convicted of those crimes pay a $5,000 fine, perform 100 hours of community service and take classes on the dangers of prostitution and human trafficking, Aronberg said. While they also face possible jail time of 60 days to one year, it is not likely to be applied to first-time offenders, he said.

Kraft denies engaging in “any illegal activity,” according to Aaron Salkin, a spokesman for Kraft and the Super Bowl champion Patriots, the National Football League’s dominant franchise.

Kraft and the other defendants were charged as part of a statewide probe into human trafficking, which Aronberg said was still underway.

“The larger picture which we must all confront is the cold reality that many prostitutes in cases like this are themselves victims,” he said.

The NFL, which said last week it was monitoring the case, released a new statement on Monday saying everyone, including team owners, were bound by the league’s personal conduct policy.

“We are seeking a full understanding of the facts, while ensuring that we do not interfere with an ongoing law enforcement investigation,” the statement said. “We will take appropriate action as warranted based on the facts.”

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen and Peter Szekely in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN