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Iowa’s longest-serving Republican lawmaker says he’s becoming a Democrat because of Trump

The longest-serving Republican in the Iowa Legislature announced Tuesday that he’s becoming a Democrat, saying he didn’t want to remain in a party led by President Trump.

Rep. Andy Mckean, 69, a retired attorney from eastern Iowa city of Anamosa, said he made his decision after returning to the Legislature after years away from politics and finding the Republican Party had changed. He was a registered Republican for nearly a half-century, The Washington Post reported.

During a news conference at the Iowa Statehouse in Des Moines on Tuesday, McKean said if the president’s behavior and leadership is the new normal, “I want no part of it.”

“Unacceptable behavior should be called out for what it is and Americans of all parties should insist on something far better in the leader of their country and the free world,” McKean said.

RUSH LIMBAUGH TO REPUBLICANS: THIS IS TRUMP'S PARTY, 'GET ON BOARD'

McKean first entered the House in 1979 and served seven terms. He left the legislature but returned to the Senate in 1993 and served three terms. He then won election to the House in 2016 and was re-elected in 2018. He has served nearly 29 years in the Legislature.

When he returned, McKean said he disagreed with Republicans on many high-profile issues but declined to comment further.

McKean, who describes himself as a moderate, pointed to Trump’s spending decision and what he called the president’s “erratic, destabilizing foreign policy,” choices regarding the environment and “disregard for the truth.”

The lawmaker said as the 2020 election approached, he believed the country will pay a “heavy price for Trump’s reckless spending and shortsighted financial policies.”

“He sets, in my opinion, a poor example for the nation and particularly for our children by personally insulting, often in a crude and juvenile fashion, those who disagree with him, being a bully at a time when we’re attempting to discourage bullying,” McKean said of Trump.

McKean said he will register as a Democrat when he returns home later this week and plans to seek re-election as a Democrat in 2020.

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It’s rare for Iowa legislators to change parties. The last time it occurred was in 2007 when Rep. Dawn Pettengill, of Mount Auburn, switched from Democrat to Republican.

McKean is not the first Iowa lawmaker to quit the party citing Trump. Former Sen. David Johnson announced he was quitting the party in 2016 as a demonstration to Trump’s presidency, the Des Moines Register reported.

McKean’s decision prompted an angry response from Jeff Kaufmann, the chairman of the state Republican Party.

"When Rep. McKean ran in 2016, he had no problem riding to victory on President Trump's coattails," Kaufmann said. "He's about to feel the headwind of President Trump's support in District 58."

Troy Price, Iowa’s Democratic Party Chairman, welcomed McKean.

"His decision to put people over politics shows his commitment to our state,” Price said of McKean.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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NBA roundup: 24-point run lifts Thunder over Pacers

NBA: Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder
Mar 27, 2019; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) goes to the basket ahead of Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Oklahoma City won 107-99. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

March 28, 2019

Paul George scored 31 points and Russell Westbrook had yet another triple-double to help lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 107-99 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.

Early in the second half, the Thunder looked headed for yet another lackluster defeat as the Pacers built an 11-point lead. But then came a massive third-quarter push. The Thunder scored 24 consecutive points over a stretch of nearly seven minutes to seize control.

Westbrook finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. Steven Adams scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Thunder, his highest-scoring game since Dec. 14.

Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pacers with 28 points. Domantas Sabonis added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Myles Turner had 12 points and 14 boards.

Warriors 118, Grizzlies 103

Golden State needed a late surge and 28 points apiece from Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant to hold off host Memphis.

Curry hit six 3-pointers and Durant missed just one shot for the Warriors, who moved a half-game ahead of Denver in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference.

Jonas Valanciunas (27 points, 13 rebounds) and Bruno Caboclo (17 points, 13 rebounds) recorded double-doubles for Memphis, which lost for just the second time in its past seven home games.

Trail Blazers 118, Bulls 98

Seth Curry scored a team-high 20 points as Portland topped Chicago for a fifth straight victory.

Continuing a strong run while stepping in for injured guard CJ McCollum (knee), Curry shot 8-for-11 from the floor as part of the Blazers’ 51.8 percent (43-for-83) effort. Al-Farouq Aminu notched 12 points and 11 rebounds for Portland, and Rodney Hood scored 15 points.

Chicago’s Shaquille Harrison scored a game-high 21 points and added 10 rebounds, and Wayne Selden had 11 points and 12 rebounds. The Bulls were missing Lauri Markkanen, who was shut down for the season due to fatigue.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Mercedes Schlapp: Dems made a ‘big gamble’ with Mueller probe and ‘they lost’

White House Strategic Communications Director Mercedes Schlapp appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” on Monday night and slammed House Democrats’ continued efforts to impeach the president even after the conclusion of the Mueller investigation.

Schlapp began by expressing that the “ultimate goal” for House Democrats is “impeachment” even after Attorney General Bill Barr shared the summary of the Mueller Report showing that evidence shows that President Donald Trump did not collude with Russia nor was there enough evidence to prove obstruction of justice, something she thinks has the House Speaker worried.

“I think it makes Nancy Pelosi nervous. She is saying, ‘Well, we might night want to go there. We need a bipartisan effort to move towards impeachment,’ but for the Democrats from Day One, their goal- and they’ve run on trying to impeach the president,” Schlapp told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. “And so I think the American people clearly see right through this. I think we know that the Democrats have gone way too far. They’ve been reckless in this process. They have been irresponsible in terms of for two years, spending hour after hour after hour, building this narrative, building this case that the president colluded with the Russians. And Mueller Report, obviously as we know, the president is fully exonerated.”

The top White House official said the “brilliance” of Trump is that he’s “resilient” despite the pressures that came from the Mueller probe.

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“This president has been in high gear, he has stayed focused on the economy, on the trade deals, on securing the border, and keeps fighting every day for the American people,” Schlapp continued. “And I have to say, it really shows that the Democrats- they’ve made a big gamble with this and that they lost because they thought this Mueller report was going to be their winning key.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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Colorado Law Allowing 16-Year-Olds To Pre-Register To Vote May Become Model For U.S.

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Disney CEO Iger takes a dig at social media, says Hitler would have loved it: Variety

FILE PHOTO: Disney's CEO Bob Iger attends the opening event of Disney-Pixar Toy Story Land, the seventh themed land in Shanghai Disneyland in Shanghai, China
FILE PHOTO: Disney's Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger attends the opening event of Disney-Pixar Toy Story Land, the seventh themed land in Shanghai Disneyland in Shanghai, China April 26, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song

April 11, 2019

(Reuters) – Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger took a dig at the popularity of social media, saying it was a powerful marketing tool and Hitler would have loved it, Variety reported.

“It’s the most powerful marketing tool an extremist could ever hope for because by design social media reflects a narrow world view filtering out anything that challenges our beliefs while constantly validating our convictions and amplifying our deepest fears,” Iger said, while being honored with a humanitarian award.

“Hitler would have loved social media.”

Iger also blamed social media for spreading hate, saying that it creates a false sense that everyone shares the same opinion, according to the entertainment business news portal.

“Hate and anger are dragging us toward the abyss once again,” Iger said, adding that it is consuming public discourse and shaping the country and culture into something that is wholly unrecognizable to those who still believe in civility, human rights and basic decency.

While imploring the audience to renounce and reject hate in all forms, Iger also called on voters to “demand more” from elected officials.

Disney did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Disney is hosting its investor day later on Thursday, where the company is expected to unveil new details about its streaming service, Disney+.

(Reporting by Vibhuti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)

Source: OANN

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Democratic strategist Joe Trippi says it’s possible party ‘could blow’ 2020 presidential election

Longtime Democratic strategist Joe Trippi said he has faith in the Democratic Party ahead of the 2020 presidential election but admitted that it's possible they “could blow this.”

Trippi, 62, who worked on campaigns for former California Gov. Jerry Brown's reelection bid in 2010 and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign, spoke on the Yahoo News podcast “The Long Game.”

He gave his opinion on the current field of Democratic presidential candidates and if he believed President Trump will be reelected.

“I don’t think he will but I think we’re a party of making the path easier for him and particularly we fall into the traps he tends to sets,” he said.

BUTTIGIEG QUESTIONS TRUMP'S FAITH IN GOD: 'NEVER SEEN HIM HUMBLE HIMSELF BEFORE ANYONE'

Trippi spoke about how some people believed former President Jimmy Carter would have been reelected if former Sen. Ted Kennedy didn’t run against him in 1980. He believes the party will pick somebody that will unify the base but said it was possible things could “blow up.”

“We’ve had these fights and if this one blows up the wrong way then yeah we could blow this,” he said of the election. “I don’t think so I think there’s enough fear in the party of Trump and the party tends to particularly in the early the people take the process pretty seriously in Iowa and New Hampshire. I do think none of the candidates - save Bernie [Sanders] and  [Joe] Biden if he gets in - haven’t a clue what they’ve gotten themselves into.”

Trippi also gave his take on some of the candidates, including Beto O’Rourke whom he called "interesting.”

“But I think in the end it’s way too early to know if they’re connecting beyond their essential surge,” Trippi said. “One of the things I think that people don't realize is how easy it is to raise $10 million now.”

BARACK OBAMA STILL BELIEVES BIDEN WOULD BE 'AN EXCELLENT PRESIDENT' AMID INAPPROPRIATE TOUCHING ALLEGATIONS: REPORT

This week, O’Rourke announced he raised $9.4 million in the first 18 days of his Democratic presidential campaign.

Trippi said he was “a little bit surprised Elizabeth Warren isn’t doing better” but ultimately believes it will come down to a two-person race in the end. He said a lot of things will come down to whether former Vice President Joe Biden decides to run.

The consultant said he didn’t know what was to come in the next year but said it will be interesting.

So far, 19 Democrats have thrown their hat in the 2020 campaign and a number of candidates including Biden and Rep. Eric Swalwell are expected to announce their candidacy.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Autonomy founder Lynch inflated sales before HP deal, court told

FILE PHOTO: Mike Lynch, Founder and Chairman of Autonomy Corporation, poses for photographers at an awards ceremony in central London
FILE PHOTO: Mike Lynch, founder of Autonomy, poses for photographers at an awards ceremony in central London March 13, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville

March 25, 2019

By Georgina Prodhan

LONDON (Reuters) – British entrepreneur Mike Lynch artificially inflated revenue at his Autonomy software company before selling it to Hewlett Packard for $11 billion, the U.S. firm’s lawyer told a London court on Monday.

HP is suing Autonomy founder Lynch, once hailed as Britain’s answer to Bill Gates, along with his former finance chief Sushovan Hussain for $5 billion after the 2011 deal went disastrously wrong for the Silicon Valley group.

Lynch denies any wrongdoing and says HP’s mismanagement was responsible for the failure of the acquisition.

HP had bought big data firm Autonomy with the aim of making it the centerpiece of a plan to transform HP from a computer and printer maker into a software-focused enterprise services firm, a shift that rival IBM had already pulled off.

But a year later HP wrote down the value of Autonomy by $8.8 billion, saying it had uncovered serious accounting improprieties. These have led it to pursue Britain’s biggest-ever fraud trial against Lynch and Hussain.

Lawyer Laurence Rabinowicz QC, representing HP, told London’s High Court that Lynch and Hussain had knowingly been involved in “widespread and systematic false accounting” to create a materially false picture of Autonomy’s finances.

Autonomy had engaged in “revenue-pumping” by encouraging customers to buy its products in exchange for buying goods from them that it did not need, restructuring deals to produce upfront license fees, and covertly selling pure hardware not even programmed with its software at a loss, he said.

Rabinowicz said the issues were not a matter of complex financial niceties but rather of clear intention. “This is not a business dispute about how to apply accounting procedures,” he said. “This is a fraud case.”

Lynch observed proceedings from a back corner of the courtroom, occasionally scribbling notes or sending messages on his phone.

The 53-year-old, who also faces criminal wire- and securities-fraud charges in the United States, which carry a maximum 25-year prison term, is likely to appear before the London court around July.

Lynch received about $800 million for his stake in Autonomy, which started to turn sour before it was completed.

Many shareholders baulked at the 79 percent premium, and the architect of the strategy, then-chief executive Leo Apotheker was sacked.

Lynch was subsequently fired by Meg Whitman, who took over as HP CEO in 2012.

Both former CEOs are likely to appear as witnesses in the trial which is expected to continue until the end of the year.

(Additional reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

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One of Joe Biden’s newly-hired senior advisers has seemingly had a very recent change of heart.

Symone Sanders, a prominent Democratic strategist and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., staffer in 2016, was announced as one of the big-name members of Team Biden on Thursday.

But Sanders, who has also served as a CNN contributor, is seen in resurfaced footage from November 2016 expressing her opposition to a white person leading her party after Donald Trump’s election.

“In my opinion, we don’t need white people leading the Democratic party right now,” Sanders told host Brianna Keilar during a discussion on Howard Dean potentially becoming DNC chairman.

BIDEN HIRES FORMER BERNIE SANDERS’ SPOKESPERSON AS SENIOR ADVISER

“The Democratic party is diverse, and it should be reflected as so in leadership and throughout the staff, at the highest levels. From the vice chairs to the secretaries all the way down to the people working in the offices at the DNC,” she said.

Sanders wrapped up her remarks by saying: “I want to hear more from everybody. I want to hear from the millennials and the brown folks.”

Footage of the interview was resurfaced by RealClearPolitics.

After news of her hiring broke on Thursday, Sanders backed her new boss on Twitter.

TRUMP ASSESSES 2020 DEMS; TAKES SWIPES AT BIDEN, SANDERS; DISMISSES HARRIS, O’ROURKE; SAYS HE’S ROOTING FOR BUTTIGIEG

“@JoeBiden & @DrBiden are a class act. Over the course of this campaign, Vice President Biden is going to make his case to the American ppl. He won’t always be perfect, but I believe he will get it right,” she wrote.

The hiring of Sanders has been viewed as another indication of the expected tough fight that Biden and Sanders are in for as the two frontrunners battle a deep Democratic field.

While Sanders himself didn’t torch Biden as he jumped into the race, it’s clear that many of his progressive supporters view the former vice president as a threat.

Biden’s entry into the race – at least in the early going – sets up a battle between himself and Sanders, who thanks to his fierce fight with eventual nominee Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination, enjoys name ID on the level of the former vice president.

BIDEN VOWS THAT ‘AMERICA IS COMING BACK,’ SPARKING ‘MAGA’ COMPARISONS

Justice Democrats — who also called Biden “out-of-touch” – is an increasingly influential group among the left of the party. They’ve championed progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as well as Sanders. The group was founded by members of Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.

Biden has pushed back against the perception that he’s a moderate in a party that’s increasingly moving to the left. Earlier this month he described himself as an “Obama-Biden Democrat.”

And Biden said he’d stack his record against “anybody who has run or who is running now or who will run.”

Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile – a Fox News contributor – highlighted that “Joe Biden can occupy his own lane in large part because he’s earned it. He’s earned the right to call himself whatever.”

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But she emphasized that “elections are not about the past, they’re about the future…I do believe he has the right ingredients. The question is can he find enough people to help him stir the pot.”

Fox News Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who is facing increased calls for her immediate resignation, remains in poor health and is not “lucid” enough to decide whether to step down, her attorney told reporters late Thursday.

Steve Silverman, speaking outside one of Pugh’s residences which was raided by the FBI and IRS earlier in the day, said the embattled city leader could make a decision as early as next week.

“She is leaning toward making the best decision in the best interest in the citizens of Baltimore City,” he said, adding that Pugh has “several options” to consider.

“She just needs to be physically and mentally sound and lucid enough to make appropriate decisions.”

BALTIMORE MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH, ON LEAVE AMID BOOK PROBE, HAS HOMES AND CITY HALL OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDS

Silverman said Pugh met with a doctor at home Thursday and plans to do so again Friday, the Baltimore Sun reported.

In the latest image-tarnishing scandal for struggling Baltimore, the first-term Democratic mayor faces accusations that she used children’s book deals to cover up kickbacks for favorable treatment as a state lawmaker and city leader that earned her roughly $800,000 over several years.

BALTIMORE’S ACTING MAYOR SAYS HE ‘WOULD HATE TO SEE’ EMBATTLED MAYOR RETURN AFTER BOOK SCANDALS

As a state senator, 69-year-old Pugh sold $500,000 worth of her self-published “Healthy Holly” illustrated paperbacks to the University of Maryland Medical System, a major state employer whose board she sat on for nearly 20 years.

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

UMMS reportedly paid Pugh for 100,000 copies of her books between 2011 and 2018 with the stated intention of distributing the books to schools and day care centers. But some 50,000 copies remain unaccounted for and officials are probing if they were even printed.

Pugh also made $300,000 in bulk sales to other customers including health carriers that did business with the city of Baltimore.

BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL CALLS ON EMBATTLED MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY

The politically isolated Pugh slipped out of sight on April 1 after a hastily organized press conference where she called her no-contract book deals a “regrettable mistake.” That same day, Maryland’s governor called on the state prosecutor to investigate allegations of “self-dealing.”

Pugh took an indefinite leave of absence, citing her health deteriorating intensely after a bout with pneumonia.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide. (Loyd Fox/Baltimore Sun via AP)

On Thursday morning, agents with the FBI and IRS searched her two Baltimore homes, her City Hall offices, and a nonprofit organization she once led. The home of at least one of Pugh’s aides was also scoured.

Silverman said federal agents also served a subpoena at his law firm, retrieving Pugh’s original financial records. They did not seek any attorney-client privileged communications, he said.

Pugh’s attorney said she was “emotionally extremely distraught” following the searches by FBI and IRS agents.

“There was nothing incriminating that came out of her home,” Silverman said.

UMMS spokesman Michael Schwartzberg told reporters that the medical system received a grand jury witness subpoena seeking documents and information related to Pugh.

Other probes against Pugh include a review by the city ethics board and the Maryland Insurance Administration.

BALTIMORE MAYOR’S $500G DEAL FOR ‘HEALTHY HOLLY’ CHILDREN’S BOOKS DRAWS SCRUTINY

In recent weeks, the calls for Pugh’s resignation have intensified with the strongest voice coming from Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who did not mince words after Thursday’s early morning raids.

“Now more than ever, Baltimore City needs strong and responsible leadership. Mayor Pugh has lost the public trust,” he said. “She is clearly not fit to lead. For the good of the city, Mayor Pugh must resign.”

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall.

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun via AP)

Many of her fellow Democrats, including those on Baltimore’s demoralized City Council and state lawmakers, are also insisting that Pugh put the citizens’ interests above any attempt to preserve her political career.

City Council member Brandon Scott called the Thursday raids “an embarrassment to the city.”

However, only a conviction can trigger a mayor’s removal from office, according to the city solicitor. Baltimore’s mayor-friendly City Charter currently provides no options for ousting its executive.

Six of Pugh’s staffers joined her on paid leave earlier this month; three of them were fired this week by the acting mayor.

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Pugh came to office in late 2016 after edging out ex-Mayor Sheila Dixon, who had spent much of her tenure fighting corruption charges before being forced to depart office in 2010 as part of a plea deal connected to the misappropriation of about $500 in gift cards meant for needy families.

She would certainly face a bruising 2020 Democratic primary if she were to return and run for reelection. Veteran City Council leader Bernard “Jack” Young, who is serving as acting mayor, said as she went on leave that he would merely be a placeholder. But this week, before the raids, he said “it could be devastating for her” if she tried to return.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad
FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad, California, U.S., April 22, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Amit Dave and Mayank Bhardwaj

AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc has sued four Indian farmers for cultivating a potato variety that the snack food and drinks maker claims infringes its patent, the company and the growers said on Friday.

Pepsi has sued the farmers for cultivating the FC5 potato variety, exclusively grown for its popular Lay’s potato chips. The FC5 variety has a lower moisture content required to make snacks such as potato chips.

PepsiCo is seeking more than 10 million rupees ($142,840.82) each for alleged patent infringement.

The farmers grow potatoes in the western state of Gujarat, a leading producer of India’s most consumed vegetable.

“We have been growing potatoes for a long time and we didn’t face this problem ever, as we’ve mostly been using the seeds saved from one harvest to plant the next year’s crop,” said Bipin Patel, one of the four farmers sued by Pepsi.

Patel did not say how he came by the PepsiCo variety.

A court in Ahmedabad, the business hub of Gujarat, on Friday agreed to hear the case on June 12, said Anand Yagnik, the lawyer for the farmers.

“In this instance, we took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety,” A PepsiCo India spokesman said. “This was done to protect our rights and safeguard the larger interest of farmers that are engaged with us and who are using and benefiting from seeds of our registered variety.”

PepsiCo, which set up its first potato chips plant in India in 1989, supplies the FC5 potato variety to a group of farmers who in turn sell their produce to the company at a fixed price.

The All India Kisan Sabha, or All India Farmers’ Forum, has asked the Indian government to protect the farmers.

The farmers’ forum has also called for a boycott of PepsiCo’s Lay’s chips and the company’s other products.

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

PepsiCo is the second major U.S. company in India to face issues over patent infringement.

Stung by a long-standing intellectual property dispute, seed maker Monsanto, which is now owned by German drugmaker Bayer AG, withdrew from some businesses in India over a cotton-seed dispute with farmers, Reuters reported in 2017. (reut.rs/2ncBknn)

(Reporting by Amit Dave in AHMEDABAD and Mayank Bhardwaj in NEW DELHI; Editing by Martin Howell and Louise Heavens)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By P.J. Huffstutter and Shradha Singh

CHICAGO/BENGALURU (Reuters) – Archer Daniels Midland Co said on Friday it was considering spinning off its ethanol business after slim biofuel margins and Midwestern floods slammed the U.S. grains merchant’s profit, which tumbled 41 percent in the first quarter.

ADM said it was creating an ethanol subsidiary, which will include dry mills in Columbus, Nebraska; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Peoria, Illinois.

The ethanol subsidiary will report as an independent segment, the company said, allowing options “which may include, but are not limited to, a potential spin-off of the business to existing ADM shareholders.”

Results were hit by the “bomb cyclone” blizzards that devastated the Midwest and Great Plains this year, causing massive flooding across Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, washing out rail lines and wreaking havoc in the moving and processing of corn, soybeans and wheat. One-sixth of U.S. ethanol production was halted.

In March, ADM warned Wall Street that flooding and severe winter weather in the U.S. Midwest would reduce its first-quarter operating profit by $50 million to $60 million.

“The first quarter proved more challenging than initially expected,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano, with earnings down in its starches, sweeteners and bioproducts unit. Luciano said impacts of the severe weather ultimately “were on the high side of our initial estimates”.

Ongoing problems in the ethanol industry added to the problems and “limited margins and opportunities” for ADM, Luciano said.

The ethanol industry has been in the midst of a historic downswing due to the U.S.-China trade war, excess domestic supply and weak margins.

ADM, which had been an ethanol pioneer, signaled to Wall Street in 2016 that it was hunting for options and considering sales of its U.S. dry ethanol mills. Luciano told Reuters this year that offers ADM had received for the mills were too low.

In addition, ADM said it planned to repurpose its corn wet mill in Marshall, Minnesota, to produce higher volumes of food and industrial-grade starches.

Other major traders are alsy trying to distance themselves from struggling ethanol businesses. Louis Dreyfus Company BV spun off its Brazilian sugar and ethanol business Biosev in 2013. Rival Bunge sold its sugar book and has sought a buyer for its Brazilian mills since 2013.

ADM, which makes money trading, processing and transporting crops, such as corn, soybeans and wheat, has been looking to strengthen its core business. Last month it said it would seek voluntary early retirements of some North American employees and cut jobs as part of a restructuring effort.

The company expects to lower 2019 capital spending by 10 percent to between $800 million and $900 million.

Net earnings attributable to the company fell to $233 million, or 41 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $393 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $15.30 billion from $15.53 billion. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 46 cents per share, while analysts on average had estimated 60 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Shradha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

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The Slack app logo is seen on a smartphone in this illustration
FILE PHOTO: The Slack app logo is seen on a smartphone in this picture illustration taken September 15, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Slack Technologies Inc, operator of the popular workplace instant-messaging app, reported a loss of $140.7 million in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2019, the company said on Friday in a regulatory filing ahead of its planned public market debut.

The company said its daily active users exceeded 10 million in the three months ended Jan. 31, 2019.

Slack expects to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SK”, it said.

The San Francisco-based company is seeking to go public via a direct listing, making it the second big technology company after Spotify Technology SA to bypass the traditional route of listing shares through an initial public offering.

A direct listing is a cheaper way of becoming a public company as the process requires fewer investment banks and therefore lower fees.

In a direct listing, however, a company does not sell any new shares to raise money. Instead, it gives existing shareholders the opportunity to cash out.

Slack is the latest in a string of high-profile technology companies looking to go public this year. Lyft Inc, Pinterest and Zoom Video Communications have completed IPOs so far in 2019.

The company is hoping for a valuation of more than $10 billion in the listing, Reuters had previously reported. Some early investors and employees have been selling the stock at around $28, valuing the company close to $17 billion, Kelly Rodriques, CEO of Forge, a brokerage company, told CNBC on Thursday.

Slack set a placeholder amount of $100 million to indicate the size of the IPO. The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filings is used to calculate registration fees. The final size of the IPO could be different.

Its competitors include Microsoft Teams, a free chat add-on for Microsoft’s Office365 users.

(Reporting By Aparajita Saxena and Joshua Franklin in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Anil D’Silva)

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