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Media lawyers in Australian court over Cardinal gag order

Dozens of high-profile Australian journalists and major media organizations have been represented by lawyers in a court on charges relating to breaches of a gag order on reporting about Cardinal George Pell's convictions for sexually molesting two choirboys.

Reporting in any format accessible from Australia about the former Vatican economy chief's convictions in a Melbourne court in December was banned by a judge's suppression order that was not lifted until February.

Lawyers representing 23 journalists, producers and broadcasters as well as 13 media organizations that employ them appeared in the Victoria state Supreme Court on Monday for the first time on charges including breaching the suppression order and sub judice contempt, which is the publishing of material that could interfere with the administration of justice.

Source: Fox News World

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7-phased voting for India's national election in April, May

India's Election Commission has announced that the upcoming national election will be held in seven phases in April and May as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party seeks a second term.

Chief election commissioner Sunil Arora said Sunday the election will be held April 11, 18 and 23, and May 6, 12 and 19.

About 900 million people are eligible to vote in a staggered process allowing the government to deploy tens of thousands of troops to prevent violence and the capture of voting stations by party activists.

The votes will be counted May 23.

Modi's Bhartiya Janata Party hopes the government's recent tough stand against Pakistan will help it retain popularity despite suffering a setback in December when it lost three key state elections to the Congress party.

Source: Fox News World

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Top strategists split from Bernie Sanders for his 2020 White House run

FILE PHOTO: Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during a news conference on Yemen resolution
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during a news conference on Yemen resolution on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

February 26, 2019

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Three of the top media strategists for Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders stepped away from his 2020 campaign on Tuesday, citing creative differences over their vision for his fledgling White House run.

Prominent consultants Tad Devine, Mark Longabaugh and Julian Mulvey, who played leading roles in Sanders’ insurgent 2016 presidential campaign, said they would not work on the Vermont senator’s 2020 bid for the Democratic nomination, which was launched last week.

“We are leaving because we believe that Senator Sanders deserves to have media consultants who share his creative vision for the campaign,” the three said in a joint statement.

The three are partners in a media consulting firm that produced 275 television, radio and digital ads for the Sanders campaign in the 2016 race. It also put together the video that Sanders used to launch his 2020 campaign, and advised Sanders on his announcement schedule and rollout, Longabaugh said.

In 2016, Devine also served as a top political strategist and frequent spokesman for Sanders, while Longabaugh was a senior adviser and Mulvey was creative director for the ad campaigns. Many of the firm’s 2016 ads drew wide notice and critical acclaim during the campaign.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to have worked for Senator Sanders in his historic 2016 campaign for president,” the strategists said in their statement.

According to Federal Election Commission records, the Sanders campaign paid the firm about $5.3 million during the 2016 cycle for its services.

“The campaign appreciates all the good work DML has done and wishes them well,” Sanders’ new campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, said in a statement, using an acronym for the firm run by the three.

As he launches his second run, Sanders has been under pressure to bring in a more diverse set of advisers than the largely white inner circle that ran his 2016 bid.

Sanders has already proven to be a fundraising juggernaut in the first week of his presidential run. His campaign said on Tuesday he had raised about $10 million from nearly 360,000 donors in the first week.

He will make his first campaign trail appearances this weekend with rallies in Brooklyn, where he was born and raised, and Chicago.

The split comes after Devine drew attention last year for his connections to former Trump campaign Chairman Paul Manafort. Devine worked with Manafort to help elect pro-Russian Victor Yanukovich president of Ukraine in 2010.

Manafort has been convicted of multiple felony counts by Special Counsel Robert Mueller related to his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Devine testified at Manafort’s trial, but was not accused of wrongdoing.

Russia has denied meddling in the election. Republican President Donald Trump has called Mueller’s investigation a witch hunt.

(Reporting by John Whitesides; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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German prosecutors probe bonus payments to suspended VW manager

FILE PHOTO: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess address a news conference in Berlin
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Volkswagen in Berlin, Germany February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo

April 23, 2019

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German prosecutors are investigating a possible breach of fiduciary duty by Volkswagen over bonus payments made to an executive who was suspended over the carmaker’s emissions cheating scandal.

Regulators blew the whistle on Volkswagen (VW) in 2015 after the German company was caught using software designed to cheat emissions tests on diesel engines.

VW has argued the cheating was the work of a handful of engineers who acted without the consent or knowledge of members of the management board, which at the time included VW’s current chief executive Herbert Diess and chairman Hans-Dieter Poetsch.

Prosecutors in Braunschweig, in VW’s home region of Lower Saxony, said on Tuesday they were now investigating why one VW manager received bonus payments while suspended. According to German paper Bild am Sonntag, the manager received 866,000 euros ($974,000) in bonuses between 2016 and 2018.

The prosecutors declined to identify the manager.

VW declined to comment on the payments.

The manager is among five VW executives, including former chief executive Martin Winterkorn, to face criminal charges for conspiring to cover up the carmaker’s diesel emissions cheating scandal.

Prosecutors have said that between November 2006 and September 2015, Winterkorn and four other managers failed in their duty to inform authorities about systematic emissions cheating. The VW managers could face up to 10 years in prison.

The carmaker has argued that although it was informed about the use of software to help pass emissions tests, lawyers advising the company had cautioned against informing the authorities because it was unclear the software was illegal.

Regulators later said that VW had crossed the line from using legitimate software programs to protect engines from damage, known as Auxiliary Emission Control Devices (AECD), to using an illegal “defeat device” which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines as software which “reduced the effectiveness of the emission control system.”

VW has said it also stopped short of informing shareholders about the software before the regulatory announcement because it felt potential fines would not exceed 150 million euros. So far the scandal has cost VW more than 29 billion euros.

(Reporting by Jan Schwartz; Writing by Edward Taylor; Editing by Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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Conservatives defend Trump DC Circuit pick Neomi Rao, after GOP Sen. Hawley raises abortion concerns

Conservative politicians, legal experts, and activist groups are rushing to the all-out defense of President Trump's D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Neomi Rao, after a freshman Republican senator suggested he might vote against her confirmation because she may harbor pro-choice views.

Rao, who would take now-Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh's vacated seat on the nation's most influential appellate court, was questioned earlier this month by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee concerning her past writings that implied intoxicated women might share some blame if they are raped. The defection of even a handful of conservatives could sink Rao's confirmation in the Senate, where Republicans hold a slim 53-47 majority.

Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley told Axios over the weekend that he had "heard directly from at least one individual who said Rao personally told them she was pro-choice." Hawley clarified: "I don't know whether that’s accurate, but this is why we are doing our due diligence."

Rao, 45, currently serves as administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and observers have said she's played a key role in executing the Trump administration's deregulation agenda. She would be the first South Asian woman to serve on a federal appeals court.

WATCH: RAO SCHOOLS CORY BOOKER AFTER FLAMEOUT QUESTION ON LGBTQ LAW CLERKS

However, Rao has never tried a case in state or federal court, and some of her writings -- including as a professor at the George Mason University School of Law, later renamed the Antonin Scalia Law School -- are leading conservatives to raise last-minute concerns.

Freshman Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has suggested he might vote against Neomi Rao, President Trump's replacement for Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Freshman Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley has suggested he might vote against Neomi Rao, President Trump's replacement for Brett Kavanaugh on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

According to Hawley, Rao's academic writings have indicated she may support the concept of "substantive due process," a legal framework that identifies constitutional rights not expressly provided by the text of the Constitution. Conservatives fiercely have opposed the use of substantive due process to provide for some rights, including the right to privacy and abortion, which are not stated in the constitutional text but instead are purportedly implied by it.

OPINION: I WAS NEARLY RAPED, AND I SUPPORT RAO

"I am only going to support nominees who have a strong record on life," Hawley told Axios. "To me, that means ... someone whose record indicates that they have respect for what the Supreme Court itself has called the interests of the unborn child; someone whose record indicates they will protect the ability of states and local governments to protect the interests of the unborn child to the maximum extent ... and number three somebody who will not extend the doctrines of Roe v. Wade and Casey, which I believe are deeply incompatible with the constitution."

Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were the seminal Supreme Court cases to find and define a constitutional right to an abortion. But, conservatives and legal scholars are aggressively pushing back on Hawley's concerns this week, saying variously that there is no evidence that Rao is pro-choice -- and some are suggesting that even if she supports abortion rights, her personal views should not bar her from judicial service.

Carrie Severino, the Chief Counsel and Policy Director at the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, accused Hawley of continuing the policies of the Democrat he defeated last November, then-Sen. Claire McCaskill.

"Sadly, barely a month after moving to Washington, Josh Hawley is already acting like Claire McCaskill when it comes to judges," Severino said. "Instead of supporting President Trump's top judicial nominee, he is spreading the very same kind of rumors and innuendo and character assassination that Republican leaders fought during Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation.  Hawley could be working to confirm her and other extraordinary nominees, but it seems he’d rather be making headlines.”

Hawley did not respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Columnist Quin Hillyer, meanwhile, wrote in The Washington Examiner that Hawley's approach was a "dicey" push for a judicial litmus test.

"Conservatives have argued long and correctly that professional qualifications and personal integrity, along with a basic commitment to the Constitution itself, should be the only determinants of nominees’ fitness for appointment to federal judgeships," Hillyer wrote. "In particular, conservatives have inveighed against any result-oriented, single-issue litmus tests for judges, especially for those below the level of the Supreme Court."

Neomi Rao smiling as President Trump announced his intention to nominate her to fill Brett Kavanaugh's seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last November. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Neomi Rao smiling as President Trump announced his intention to nominate her to fill Brett Kavanaugh's seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last November. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

In a statement, Club for Growth President David McIntosh praised Rao as an "originalist who is faithful to the Constitution," citing her work on deregulation in the Trump White House. McIntosh, whose organization is devoted to reducing taxes, also exalted Rao's "extensive knowledge of administrative rulemaking."

“I have known Neomi for decades and have no doubt that she will be a principled jurist, cut from the same cloth as Justices Scalia and Thomas,” McIntosh said. "Senate Republicans should not be thrown off track by rumors and innuendo."

LESSONS FROM RAO HEARING -- DEMS ARE CLUELESS ABOUT WOMEN

In a barrage of similar statements, other conservative luminaries lined up to defend Rao. Ed Meese, the former attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, said he also personally knew Rao and could vouch for her commitment to constitutional principles.

"I have had the privilege of knowing Professor Neomi Rao, and have observed her work, since she first started teaching at the Scalia Law School at George Mason University," Meese said. "She has made it her life's work to support the Constitution as it is written, and she understands the proper judicial role in our society and what that requires of judges when they are interpreting the Constitution and the laws.  I have no doubt that she will uphold the rule of law and not legislate from the bench."

Ralph Reed, the chairman of the nonprofit Faith and Freedom Coalition, which focuses on outreach to evangelicals, said he supported Rao's confirmation and asserted that "her judicial philosophy is antithetical to federal judges issuing rulings untethered from the enumerated rights found in the Constitution."

Conservative groups also have ramped up spending with hundreds of thousands of dollars in media outreach to promote Rao, whose rocky confirmation hearing already gave some analysts cause for alarm. Democrats hammered Rao for working to kill regulations they helped champion, while Republicans questioned her past writings on sexual assault.

In a 1994 opinion column, Rao wrote: "Unless someone made her drinks undetectably strong or forced them down her throat, a woman, like a man, decides when and how much to drink. And if she drinks to the point where she can no longer choose, well, getting to that point was a part of her choice."

A good way to avoid a potential rape "is to stay reasonably sober," Rao added.

"To be honest, looking back at some of those writings ... I cringe at some of the language I used," Rao told the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month, adding that writings in which she criticized affirmative action and suggested that intoxicated women were partly responsible for date rape did not reflect her current thinking.

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"I like to think I've matured as a thinker, writer and indeed as a person," she said.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who recently revealed she was raped by her boyfriend in college, said Rao's writings "give me pause," in part because of the message they've sent to young women who may be reluctant to report a rape.

Fox News' Alex Pappas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Amy Klobuchar on NZ Attack: Trump's 'Rhetoric Doesn't Help'

One of the candidates in the crowded field of Democrats running for president accused President Donald Trump Sunday morning of playing an indirect role in the deadly attack on Muslims in New Zealand this week.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., was on CNN's "State of the Union" and was asked about the shootings at two mosques in Christchurch that resulted in 49 deaths and dozens of injuries.

"I don't think you can actually take each of the murderous acts and say what role Donald Trump played, but I can tell you this: his rhetoric doesn't help, and many of these people, whether it was the person who tried to bomb Barack Obama or this murder in New Zealand, have cited Donald Trump along the way," Klobuchar said.

"So to me, that means at the very least, he is dividing people. They are using him as an excuse. And he, at the very least, should be giving strong statements, public speeches defending Muslims in this world because I can tell you having the biggest Somali population in the United States of America [in Minnesota], I know they get hit all the time. And one of our jobs as a leader is to stand up, whether people are Jewish, whether they're Muslim, no matter how they worship or what they look like, we have to remember that they are all part of a country of shared dreams."

The accused New Zealand shooter, who was arrested after the attacks occurred Friday afternoon local time, was charged with murder. He posted a lengthy manifesto before the attack, claiming to be a white supremacist who hated immigrants and who was out to avenge terror attacks in Europe perpetrated by Muslims.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Ellison, other AGs support Liberians wanting to stay in US

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is helping lead a coalition of attorneys general in supporting Liberians fighting to stay in the U.S.

Ellison and the other attorneys general filed a brief Monday supporting Liberian immigrants in a lawsuit over President Donald Trump's decision to end a humanitarian program that allows them to live and work in the U.S.

Ellison said in a statement that Liberians in Minnesota are "our co-workers, our neighbors, and our friends."

Trump decided last March to end the Deferred Enforced Departure program that dates to 2007. The program protects about 4,000 Liberian immigrants who came from the African nation to escape environmental disasters and war.

Minnesota has one of the largest populations of Liberians in the country.

Besides Minnesota, the coalition includes attorneys general of Massachusetts, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia.

Source: Fox News National

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Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta
Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta, Cyprus, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Stefanos Kouratzis

April 26, 2019

NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cypriot police searched on Friday for more victims of a suspected serial killer, in a case which has shocked the Mediterranean island and exposed the authorities to charges of “criminal indifference” because the dead women were foreigners.

The main opposition party, the left-wing AKEL, called for the resignation of Cyprus’s justice minister and police chief.

Police were combing three different locations west of the capital Nicosia for victims of the suspected killer, a 35-year-old army officer who has been in detention for a week.

The bodies of three women, including two thought to be from the Philippines, have been recovered. Police sources said the suspect had indicated the location of the third body, found on Thursday, and had said the person was “either Indian or Nepali”.

Police said they were searching for a further four people, including two children, based on the suspect’s testimony.

“These women came here to earn a living, to help their families. They lived away from their families. And the earth swallowed them, nobody was interested,” AKEL lawmaker Irene Charalambides told Reuters.

“This killer will be judged by the court but the other big question is the criminal indifference shown by the others when the reports first surfaced. I believe, as does my party, that the justice minister and the police chief should resign. They are irrevocably exposed.”

Police have said they will investigate any perceived shortcomings in their handling of the case.

One person who did attempt to alert the authorities over the disappearances, a 70-year-old Cypriot citizen, said his motives were questioned by police.

The bodies of the two Filipino women reported missing in May and August 2018 were found in an abandoned mine shaft this month. Police discovered the body of the third woman at an army firing range about 14 km (9 miles) from the mine shaft.

Police are now searching for the six-year-old daughter of the first victim found, a Romanian mother who disappeared with her eight-year-old child in 2016, and a woman from the Phillipines who vanished in Dec. 2017.

The suspect has not been publicly named, in line with Cypriot legal practice.

A public vigil for the missing was planned later on Friday.

(Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard
FILE PHOTO: An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard, Britain December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 26, 2019

LONDON, April 26 – British factories stockpiled raw materials and goods ahead of Brexit at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s, and they were increasingly downbeat about their prospects, a survey showed on Friday.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly survey of the manufacturing industry showed expectations for export orders in the next three months fell to their lowest level since mid-2009, when Britain was reeling from the global financial crisis.

The record pace of stockpiling recorded by the CBI was mirrored by the closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index published earlier this month.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

Source: OANN

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo

April 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.

The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.

Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.

But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.

Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.

High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.

It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.

Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.

“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.

The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.

Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.

Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.

Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.

Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.

This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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The German share price index DAX graph at the stock exchange in Frankfurt
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Staff

April 26, 2019

By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh

(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Friday after losses in heavyweight banks and Glencore outweighed gains in healthcare and auto stocks, while investors remained on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data for the first quarter.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent by 0935 GMT, eyeing a modest loss at the end of a holiday-shortened week. Banks-heavy Italian and Spanish indices were laggards.

The banking index fell for a fourth day, at the end of a heavy earnings week for lenders.

Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after posting lower first quarter profit, hurt by intensifying competition and Brexit uncertainty, while its investment bank also registered poor returns.

Weakness in investment banking also dented Deutsche Bank’s quarterly trading revenue and sent its shares lower a day after the German bank abandoned merger talks with smaller rival Commerzbank.

“The current interest rate environment makes it challenging for banks to make proper earnings because of their intermediary function,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist eurozone, at Rabobank.

Since the start of April, all country indexes were on pace to rise between 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, their fourth month of gains, while Germany was strongly outperforming with 6 percent growth.

“For now the current sentiment is very cautious as markets wait for the first estimates of the U.S. GDP growth which could see a surprise,” Mevissen said.

U.S. economic data for the first-quarter is due at 1230 GMT. Growth worries outside the United States resurfaced this week after South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted at the start of the year and weak German business sentiment data for April also disappointed.

Among the biggest drags on the benchmark index in Europe were the basic resources sector and the oil and gas sector, weighed down by Britain’s Glencore and France’s Total, respectively.

Glencore dropped after reports that U.S authorities were investigating whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the commodity exchange act.

Energy major Total said its net profit for the first three months of the year fell compared with a year ago due to volatile oil prices and debt costs.

Chip stocks in the region including Siltronic, Ams and STMicroelectronics lost more than 1 percent after Intel Corp reduced its full-year revenue forecast, adding to concerns that an industry-wide slowdown could persist until the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, healthcare, which is also seen as a defensive sector, was a bright spot. It was helped by French drugmaker Sanofi after it returned to growth with higher profits and revenues for the first-quarter.

Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES led media stocks higher after it maintained its full-year outlook on the back of the company’s Networks division.

Automakers in the region rose 0.4 percent, led by Valeo’s 6 percent jump as the French parts maker said its performance would improve in the second half of the year.

Continental AG advanced after it backed its outlook for the year despite reporting a fall in first-quarter earnings.

Renault rose more than 3 percent as it clung to full-year targets and pursues merger talks with its Japanese partner Nissan.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones and Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

By Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan

(Reuters) – The “i word” – impeachment – is swirling around the U.S. Congress since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted Russia report, which painted a picture of lies, threats and confusion in Donald Trump’s White House.

Some Democrats say trying to remove Trump from office would be a waste of time because his fellow Republicans still have majority control of the Senate. Other Democrats argue they have a moral obligation at least to try to impeach, even though Mueller did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election or with obstruction of justice.

Whether or not the Democrats decide to go down this risky path, here is how the impeachment process works.

WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?

The U.S. Constitution says the president can be removed from office by Congress for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Exactly what that means is unclear.

Before he became president in 1974, replacing Republican Richard Nixon who resigned over the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”

Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and author of a forthcoming book on the history of impeachment, said Congress could look beyond criminal laws in defining “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Historically, it can encompass corruption and other abuses, including trying to obstruct judicial proceedings.

HOW DOES IMPEACHMENT PLAY OUT?

The term impeachment is often interpreted as simply removing a president from office, but that is not strictly accurate.

Impeachment technically refers to the 435-member House of Representatives approving formal charges against a president.

The House effectively acts as accuser – voting on whether to bring specific charges. An impeachment resolution, known as “articles of impeachment,” is like an indictment in a criminal case. A simple majority vote is needed in the House to impeach.

The Senate then conducts a trial. House members act as the prosecutors, with senators as the jurors. The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides over the trial. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the 100-member Senate to convict and remove a president from office.

No president has ever been removed from office as a direct result of an impeachment and conviction by Congress.

Nixon quit in 1974 rather than face impeachment. Presidents Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were impeached by the House, but both stayed in office after the Senate acquitted them.

Obstruction of justice was one charge against Clinton, who faced allegations of lying under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Obstruction was also included in the articles of impeachment against Nixon.

CAN THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN?

No.

Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene if Democrats tried to impeach him. But America’s founders explicitly rejected making a Senate conviction appealable to the federal judiciary, Bowman said.

“They quite plainly decided this is a political process and it is ultimately a political judgment,” Bowman said.

“So when Trump suggests there is any judicial remedy for impeachment, he is just wrong.”

PROOF OF WRONGDOING?

In a typical criminal court case, jurors are told to convict only if there is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” a fairly stringent standard.

Impeachment proceedings are different. The House and Senate “can decide on whatever burden of proof they want,” Bowman said. “There is no agreement on what the burden should be.”

PARTY BREAKDOWN IN CONGRESS?

Right now, there are 235 Democrats, 197 Republicans and three vacancies in the House. As a result, the Democratic majority could vote to impeach Trump without any Republican votes.

In 1998, when Republicans had a House majority, the chamber voted largely along party lines to impeach Clinton, a Democrat.

The Senate now has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with Democrats. Conviction and removal of a president would requires 67 votes. So that means for Trump to be impeached, at least 20 Republicans and all the Democrats and independents would have to vote against him.

WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED?

A Senate conviction removing Trump from office would elevate Vice President Mike Pence to the presidency to fill out Trump’s term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2021.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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