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Rep. Katherine Clark: Dems Serious on Mueller Report Deadline

Lawmakers must get special counsel Robert Mueller's full report, and subpoenas must be authorized before Attorney General William Barr turns over his redacted version of it, Rep. Katherine Clark, vice-chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said Monday while responding to news that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler plans to subpoena the document.

"The way to do it is to be very clear with Attorney General Barr that we're not going to just rely on the Barr report, but we need to see the underlying evidence and the full report from Mr. Mueller," the Massachusetts Democrat told CNN's "New Day. "I think the clear message that the Judiciary Committee is sending is that we're serious about an April 2nd deadline."

There have been concerns that the report could contain grand jury material, but Clark noted that in the past, such items have been waived in the past to allow members of the Judiciary Committee to see it.

"We are able to negotiate keeping classified information, grand jury information, if necessary, out of the public realm," said Clark.

She also commented on President Donald Trump's threat to shut down the Mexican border, calling it another example of a failed policy and priorities.

"This entire presidency is built on the lie that migrant families are the greatest threat to our national security and that Mexico will pay for a wall to keep them out and that will protect American families and our economy," said Clark. "That's the fundamental misrepresentation of this presidency."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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What Israel's Border Wall Experience Tells Us

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Americans are locked in a fierce debate: to build or not to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. And what’s in a wall? Israel’s experience with the barriers separating it from its many contentious neighbors offers some answers. 

Look first at Israel’s 290-mile border with the West Bank, where the main goals are stopping terrorism and deterring entry of illegal labor. The barrier includes razor wire, electronic intrusion-detection fences, anti-vehicle ditches, footprint detection technology, aerial surveillance, and more. In urban areas, there are true walls more than 25 feet high, with cameras, listening devices, and other sensors.  Control rooms monitor activity 24/7, and rapid-response teams deploy against every incursion. All this is similar to the purposes and plans for the U.S. wall.

How effective has the West Bank barrier been? Attacks and resulting casualties fell 80 percent almost instantly after the wall went up, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. Illegal labor entry dropped comparably, even as legal movement of people and goods through checkpoints remained robust. 

Meanwhile, Israel’s northern border with Lebanon and Syria fronts on active war zones, with Hezbollah, ISIS, Syrian rebels, and Iranian militias operating on the other side. In this sector advanced intrusion-detection technologies enhance military-style physical structures and procedures that go well beyond U.S. plans.

But even here, where a vastly bigger threat has led to vastly bigger measures, the barriers have proven an effective deterrent. Hezbollah has attempted to infiltrate many times, but succeeded only once. 

The Gaza Strip presents different challenges, thanks to uniquely sophisticated methods of Hamas terrorist infiltration and weapons smuggling. So Israel adds tunnel-sensing technology to its protective mix. No concrete walls run along the surface; however, construction of a 40-mile-long reinforced concrete wall below ground is underway. 

Also, the Gaza barrier extends more than a mile into the Mediterranean, to counter Hamas naval commandos. And subsurface seismic sensors have been added to detect tunneling. As elsewhere, round-the-clock command-and-control centers direct rapid-response teams when trouble arises.

Results? Israel has disrupted dozens of tunneling attempts and, according to the Jewish Virtual Library, “not a single suicide bomber has managed to cross Israel’s border with Gaza.” 

Israel’s southern border with Egypt is more like America’s with Mexico. Concerns are less with terrorism and more with illegal immigration, human trafficking, and drug smuggling. There, Israel has erected a 150-mile-long smart fence with observation towers, cameras, radar, motion detectors, barbed wire and 24/7 monitoring with rapid-response teams. 

The Sinai barrier’s impact has been significant. According to Israel’s Ministry of the Interior, 17,000 African immigrants entered Israel illegally in 2011, immediately before the fence was built. After completion of construction in 2013, only 43 crossed. In 2016, just 11 did. In 2017, zero crossed.

Just as significant as the fence, however, have been government policies for managing immigration in tandem with physical deterrence. 

Israel promotes legal guest worker programs. As the U.S. Library of Congress has documented, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Asia and Europe, as well as Palestinians, have been employed through these programs in agriculture, construction, eldercare, and other industries. 

At the same time, Israel has enacted several laws to discourage illegal migrants. These laws include barring such individuals from sending money out of the country and requiring employers to withhold 20 percent of guest workers’ pay until they are going home, to ensure they do not overstay their work visas. Employers are also punished if they employ illegal laborers. 

Equally critical to the effectiveness of the Sinai barrier has been Egyptian cooperation. The same is true at Israel’s border with Jordan, which has only “minimal” fencing. This underscores the value of partnerships between neighboring nations in achieving common border goals. 

So, what is a “wall” and how does it translate into border security? 

Clearly, a wall must be many things, according to immediate challenges and needs. But whatever its physical makeup, a wall cannot stand alone. As pointed out by Professor Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, no physical structure can be foolproof. “What is important,” he says, “are actions beyond the fence, combined with intelligence gathering.” 

Here is the lesson from Israel: A wall, while absolutely necessary, is only part of the solution. An effective border barrier must include different purpose-specific structures and supporting technologies matching varied terrain, threats, and goals. It also requires active monitoring and appropriate government policies, supported by cooperative neighbors.

Most importantly, a real dialogue across the political spectrum is needed to develop an intelligent mix of solutions, in addition to a wall.

(A longer version of this article appeared on foreignpolicynews.org in January.)

Raphael Benaroya is vice chairman of Business Executives for National Security and senior partner at Biltmore Capital.

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UK lawmakers must make political judgment about PM May’s Brexit deal: attorney general

Britain's Attorney General Geoffrey Cox listens in Parliament in London
Britain's Attorney General Geoffrey Cox listens in Parliament in London, Britain, March 12, 2019, in this screen grab taken from video. Reuters TV via REUTERS

March 12, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s top lawyer Geoffrey Cox said on Tuesday lawmakers needed to make a political judgment about whether they were willing to accept reassurances on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal.

Earlier Cox, the attorney general, said May’s revised divorce deal had not given Britain legal means of exiting the so-called Irish backstop arrangement unilaterally if “intractable differences” arose.

“The question for the house is whether, in the light of these improvements, as a political judgment, the house should now enter in to those arrangements,” Cox told parliament, adding that his legal advice could only inform “what is essentially a political decision that each of us must make.”

(Reporting by Andy Bruce and William Schomberg, Writing by Kylie MacLellan)

Source: OANN

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Mueller does not find Trump campaign knowingly conspired with Russia

The U.S. Capitol is seen after Special Counsel Mueller handed in report on his Trump-Russia investigation in Washington
The U.S. Capitol is seen after Special Counsel Robert Mueller handed in his report to Attorney General William Barr on his investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election and any potential wrongdoing by U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, U.S., March 22, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

March 24, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election did not find that any U.S. or Trump campaign officials knowingly conspired with Russia, according to details released on Sunday.

Attorney General William Barr sent a summary of conclusions from the report to congressional leaders and the media on Sunday afternoon. Mueller concluded his investigation on Friday after nearly two years, turning in a report to the top U.S. law enforcement officer.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Fed policymakers saw little risk from patient stance: minutes

FILE PHOTO: A guard walks in front of a Federal Reserve image before press conference in Washington
FILE PHOTO: A security guard walks in front of an image of the Federal Reserve following the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting in Washington, DC, U.S. on March 16, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin/File Photo

February 20, 2019

(Reuters) – Federal Reserve policymakers thought pausing on U.S. interest rate hikes last month posed little risk and plenty of benefit, minutes from their Jan. 29-30 meeting showed, giving them time to assess the effects of a global slowdown and the Fed’s rate hikes to date on U.S. economic momentum.

“Many participants suggested that it was not yet clear what adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate may be appropriate later this year,” according to the official record of the Fed’s most recent policy meeting, released on Wednesday. “Several of these participants argued that rate increases might prove necessary only if inflation outcomes were higher than in their baseline outlook.”

The U.S. central bank caught markets off guard last month by suspending a three-year campaign to raise interest rates, saying it would be patient about making any adjustments to its target range for short-term interest rates, now at between 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent.

It also signaled it may slow or end reductions to its $4 trillion balance sheet, a process it had previously characterized as being on automatic pilot.

The surprisingly dovish decision came amid mounting headwinds to U.S. growth, including slowing Chinese and European economies and waning stimulus from the 2018 U.S. tax cuts.

Unanswered was the question of how long the Fed would remain “patient” on policy, and if the central bank’s next policy move would be to ease, rather than tighten, policy.

A raft of Fed policymakers speaking since the Fed’s January pledge of patience have insisted the economy is in a good place.

But doubts have remained, with traders in U.S. interest-rate futures placing increasing bets that the Fed will need to ease policy by early next year to counter a downturn.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Zuckerberg Begs for Global Governance of Speech

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US gives 3 Black Hawk helicopters to Albania military

Albania's Defense Ministry says the United States has provided three Black Hawk helicopters to bolster its military capacities.

A statement Saturday said Defense Minister Olta Xhacka, who is visiting the United States, signed the deal at the New Jersey National Guard.

Helicopters are part of a U.S. support package for Albania, which joined NATO in 2009 and has been replacing outdated weaponry with new material in line with the alliance's standards.

The U.S. army will train Albanian pilots and maintain the helicopters while the tiny Balkan country will pay an annual fee, the amount of which is not disclosed.

The U.S. has provided Albania with a number of Humvee and Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles.

Albania has regularly provided small army units in international peacekeeping missions or NATO operations.

Source: Fox News National

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A Chinese woman adjusts a Chinese national flag next to U.S. national flags before a Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting, part of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Beijing
A Chinese woman adjusts a Chinese national flag next to U.S. national flags before a Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting, part of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, July 10, 2014. REUTERS/Ng Han Guan/Pool (CHINA – Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)

April 26, 2019

By April Joyner

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Even as the lift from optimism over prospects for U.S.-China trade detente shows signs of wearing off for the wider U.S. stock market, upbeat sentiment around China’s economy could bolster shares of materials companies.

Shares of S&P 500 industrial and technology companies, which were buffeted by last year’s tit-for-tat tariffs as well as slowing global demand, have been very responsive to progress in U.S.-China trade relations and a strengthening Chinese economy. This year, those sectors have outpaced the ascent in the S&P 500, which reached a record closing high on Tuesday.

Materials stocks have not been as sensitive, however, even though they also stand to benefit as a stronger Chinese economy lifts global consumption and industrial output. As China has taken measures to stimulate its economy, its economic data have turned more upbeat. That in turn could aid global growth, which has flagged as a result of China’s cooldown.

“What we’re seeing is China spending more on stimulus: fiscal stimulus and monetary stimulus,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco in New York. “That’s likely to be a positive for materials.”

The People’s Bank of China has cut banks’ reserve requirement ratio five times over the past year and is widely expected to ease policy further to spur lending and reduce borrowing costs. The stimulus appears to have boosted Chinese economic data, with factory activity growing in March for the first time in four months.

Yet so far in 2019, the S&P 500 materials index has underperformed the S&P 500 at large, rising just 11.9% compared with 16.7% for the benchmark index. Moreover, it is among the biggest decliners in the period since the S&P’s previous record closing level on Sept. 20. The materials index has fallen 7% over those seven months, versus a 5.2% gain for technology and a 3% loss for industrials. Only the energy index has dropped more over that period.

A trade agreement could serve as a catalyst for a bump in materials shares as a drag on China’s economy is lifted, some market strategists say. Some commodity prices, including those for copper and oil, have ascended this year as the prospects for the global economy have somewhat brightened.

“It all goes back to the global growth outlook,” said Andrea DiCenso, portfolio manager for alpha strategies at Loomis Sayles in Boston. “With the front run in hard data, we’re beginning to see a pretty significant rally.”

Additionally, a trade agreement is expected to include commitments from China to purchase higher quantities of U.S. products such as soybeans, which could benefit companies that make agricultural chemicals, including DowDuPont Inc and CF Industries Holdings Inc.

CF Industries is scheduled to report quarterly results after the bell on Wednesday, and DowDuPont is scheduled to report before the market open on Thursday.

To be sure, even with a trade agreement, some materials companies could face price pressures. Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc fell 10.1% on Thursday after the copper mining company posted a lower-than-expected profit as its production slipped and its costs rose.

A rollback of tariffs on Chinese imports, particularly aluminum and steel, would likely prompt a fall in some commodity prices, which could hurt prospects for certain materials companies, said Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Investment Management in El Segundo, California.

Even so, those drawbacks may be outweighed by the support for global demand fostered by a U.S.-China trade agreement.

“You could see a number of companies with lowered expectations bring them back up as they talk favorably about the impact that a trade deal would have on them,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York.

(Reporting by April Joyner; additional reporting by Sinéad Carew; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Cyprus police on Friday widened their search for more victims of a suspected serial killer after the 35-year-old national guard captain told investigators he killed four more people that he previously admitted to on the small Mediterranean nation.

The count now has climbed to seven.

CYPRUS FEARS POSSIBLE SERIAL KILLER AFTER BODIES OF TWO WOMEN ARE DISCOVERED IN MINESHAFT

Authorities said they are focusing on a military firing range, a man-made lake and an abandoned mine about 20 miles west of the capital Nicosia.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades expressed “deep sorrow and concern” at the slayings and said he shared the public’s revulsion at “murders that appear to have selectively targeted foreign women who are in our country to work.”

“Such instincts are contrary to our culture’s traditions and values,” he said in a statement from China, where he was on an official visit. He urged calm so police can complete their investigation.

The scale of the alleged crimes by a Cypriot National Guard captain has horrified the small nation of over a million people, where multiple killings are rare. Five British law enforcement officials — including a coroner, a psychiatrist and investigators who specialize in multiple homicides — have been dispatched to help with the investigation.

On Thursday, the 35-year-old suspect, who can’t yet be named because he hasn’t been formally charged, told investigators that he had killed four more people than he had previously admitted to. Police said the suspect will appear in court Saturday for another custody hearing.

Cypriot investigators and police officers search a flooded mineshaft where two female bodies were found, outside of Mitsero village, near the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, April 22, 2019. Police on the east Mediterranean island nation, along with the help of the fire service, are conducting the search Monday in the wake of last week's discovery of the bodies in the abandoned mineshaft and the disappearance of the six-year-old daughter of one of the victims. 

Cypriot investigators and police officers search a flooded mineshaft where two female bodies were found, outside of Mitsero village, near the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, April 22, 2019. Police on the east Mediterranean island nation, along with the help of the fire service, are conducting the search Monday in the wake of last week’s discovery of the bodies in the abandoned mineshaft and the disappearance of the six-year-old daughter of one of the victims.  (AP)

The victims — all foreigners— include Marry Rose Tiburcio, 38, from the Philippines, whose bound body was found April 14 in a flooded mineshaft. She and her six-year-old daughter had been missing since May of last year.

The girl remains missing and authorities believe she was also slain by the suspect. Divers have entered the reservoir to search for her but have not found her body yet.

CYPRUS: GROUND NOT YET READY FOR PEACE TALKS RESUMPTION 

Authorities tracked down the officer last week by scouring Tiburcio’s online messages.

Six days later, police discovered another body April 20 in the same mineshaft, identified by Cypriot media as 28-year-old Arian Palanas Lozano, also from the Philippines.

A third alleged victim, also of Filipino descent, is 31-year-old Maricar Valtez Arquiola, who had been missing since December 2017. The suspect initially denied killing Arquiola but reversed himself after a court hearing Thursday, a police official said.

The suspect on Thursday also pointed investigators to a military firing range, where they discovered another unidentified body, which according to the suspect belongs to a woman of either Nepalese or Indian descent.

SERIAL KILLER WHO MAY HAVE COMMITTED 90 MURDERS IS LINKED TO YET ANOTHER KILLING 

Cypriot police are also looking for a Romanian mother and daughter. Cypriot media identified them as Livia Florentina Bunea, 36, and eight-year-old Elena Natalia Bunea, who are believed to have been missing since September 2016.

The man-made lake remains off-limits to a manned search because of high levels of toxic heavy metals from the copper pyrite mine, Fire Service Chief Marcos Trangolas said, adding that authorities will use other means to scour the lake.

Chief of Cypriot police Zacharias Chrysostomou, center, walks with Cypriot investigators and police officers at a flooded mineshaft where two female bodies were found, outside of Mitsero village, near the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, April 22, 2019.

Chief of Cypriot police Zacharias Chrysostomou, center, walks with Cypriot investigators and police officers at a flooded mineshaft where two female bodies were found, outside of Mitsero village, near the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, April 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Cyprus police have faced criticism from immigrant activists who said they didn’t act fast enough to investigate the whereabouts of some of the victims, many of them domestic workers. The island nation has 80 unsolved missing persons cases, going back to 1990.

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Police chief Zacharias Chrysostomou said a three-member panel has been assigned to probe whether police followed all the correct protocol in recent missing persons cases.

According to the state-run Cyprus News Agency, an investigator had told the court at an earlier hearing that the suspect admitted to killing one woman he met online after having sex with her.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News World

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Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Gilber Caro is seen delivering a speech at a forum on human rights in Caracas
Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Gilber Caro is seen delivering a speech at a forum on human rights in Caracas, Venezuela June 12, 2018 in this still image taken from a video. REUTERS TV/ via REUTERS

April 26, 2019

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition-run National Assembly said on Friday that opposition lawmaker Gilber Caro was detained, which it described in a Twitter post as a violation of diplomatic immunity.

Caro had previously spend a year and a half in jail, before being freed in June 2018. The arrest comes as Juan Guaido, the National Assembly’s leader, mounts a challenge to President Nicolas Maduro, arguing his 2018 re-election was illegitimate. Guaido in January invoked the country’s constitution to assume an interim presidency.

(Reporting by Caracas newsroom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Customers shop in a Sainsbury's store in Redhill
FILE PHOTO: Customers shop in a Sainsbury’s store in Redhill, Britain, March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By James Davey

LONDON (Reuters) – With Sainsbury’s dream of creating Britain’s biggest supermarket group in tatters, its chastened CEO Mike Coupe needs to reassure investors he has the plan to arrest a sales decline when he presents annual results next week.

Britain’s competition regulator blocked Sainsbury’s 7.3 billion pound ($9.4 billion) takeover of Walmart’s Asda on Thursday, saying the deal would increase prices. Sainsbury’s shares fell 5 percent and are down 22 percent over the last three months.

For Sainsbury’s fourth quarter to March 9 analysts are on average forecasting a 1.6 percent fall in like-for-like sales, which would follow 1.1 percent decline over the Christmas period.

Monthly industry data from researcher Kantar has also shown Sainsbury’s as the weakest performer of the big four grocers this year and this month it lost its status as Britain’s No. 2 supermarket group by market share to Asda.

While Sainsbury’s has struggled, market leader Tesco has gained momentum, this month reporting a 34 percent jump in full year profit.

Prohibition of the deal was a major blow to Coupe, its architect and Sainsbury’s boss since 2014.

Martin Scicluna became Sainsbury’s chairman last month and when bedded-in may decide that if the group needs a major shake-up it is best carried out by a new leader.

Much will depend on the attitude of 22 percent shareholder the Qatar Investment Authority, which has so far declined to comment, as well as Coupe’s own appetite to continue after 15 years at the group.

THE RIGHT STRATEGY?

Coupe said on Thursday he was confident Sainsbury’s was pursuing the right strategy.

That was a clear indication that Wednesday’s results statement will not include radical changes to the group’s plans, such as a big margin reset — sacrificing profit to drive sales.

However, sources connected to Sainsbury’s said Coupe would likely acknowledge that more needs to be done on prices, so the supermarket business can better compete with its big four rivals – Tesco, Asda and No. 4 Morrisons – as well as German-owned discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Coupe’s strategy is based on differentiating Sainsbury’s food offer, growing its general merchandise, clothing business and bank, while investing in convenience and online channels.

Some analysts believe major change is needed.

HSBC analyst David McCarthy reckons Sainsbury’s needs a margin reset, should allocate more space for core lines and needs to drive better store standards. He said Sainsbury’s might consider closing down space in some of its larger stores and reducing its non-food offer.

For the full 2018-19 year analysts are on average forecasting a pretax profit of 626 million pounds, up from 589 million pounds in 2017-18 – a second straight year of profit growth. A full year dividend of 10.5 pence per share is forecast versus 10.2 pence last time.

Bank and lawyer fees related to the proposed combination with Asda were 17 million pounds in the first half and have reportedly jumped to around 50 million pounds.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey rejected demands from a secular group to remove posts on social media where he sent Easter greetings and cited a Bible verse, offering to provide copies of the Constitution to his critics.

Ducey, who’s a practicing Catholic, has been bombarded with calls from Secular Communities for Arizona to remove the post, which included a cross, a Bible verse, and the phrase, “He is risen.”

ARIZONA’S GOP GOVERNOR WAGING WAR AGAINST OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING LAWS

The group argued the posts crossed a line into government sponsorship of religious messages and was unconstitutional.

The governor fired back at the group, saying in a tweet that he will never remove the posts or other religious ones.

“We won’t be removing this post. Ever. Nor will we be removing our posts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Palm Sunday, Passover or any other religious holiday,” he tweeted. “We support the First Amendment, and are happy to provide copies of the Constitution to anyone who hasn’t read it.”

Dianne Post, an attorney for the secular group, told the Arizona Republic “elected officials should not use their government position and government property to promote their religious views.”

LICENSE REQUIRED TO REPAIR DOORS? REGS SPARK HEATED DEBATE IN ARIZONA

She added the courts have repeatedly “struck down symbolism that unites government with religion,” adding that Ducey’s office must “represent and protect the rights of all residents of Arizona, including those who do not believe in a monotheistic God or any gods at all.”

Many congratulated Ducey for not backing down amid the pressure, though some Facebook users sided with the secular group and criticized the governor on his original post.

“Why do you use a government platform to bring up your personal religion?” asked one person. “Are there no citizens in your jurisdiction that believe differently from you?”

Another stipulated that the post was somewhat discriminatory. “Great sensitivity, Doug. That’s the last time this Jew votes for you,” one person wrote.

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Ducey wished in a statement Arizonans last week a “blessed and joyful Easter and Passover weekend.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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