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How to Identify #MAGAPhobia

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Guest post by Adrienna DiCioccio

In today’s America, we find that there is a huge separation between beliefs and ideologies. MSM outlets, social platforms, and the Democratic party are at war with Trump “MAGA” supporters.  There have been countless attacks on people for simply showing their support to the POTUS for wearing a red MAGA hat. A recent study has found over 400 hoax hate crimes in America. Most would say this is Trump Derangement Syndrome or TDS, but now the newly coined phrase is “MAGAphobic.” – in short means bigotry towards Republicans who voted for Donald Trump.

The two most recent hoax hate crimes against Trump supporters are outrageously ridiculous. First, it was the Covington High School boys being attacked by fake Vietnam vet Nathan Phillips.  This led to minors being doxed by Trump haters and verified accounts on Twitter saying grotesque things such as “LOCK THE KIDS IN THE SCHOOL AND BURN THAT BITCH TO THE GROUND.”

Second is Jussie Smollett and his hoax hate crime in Chicago claiming that two men in MAGA hats came up and yelled “This is MAGA country” and poured bleach on him while putting a noose around his neck. Come to find out he staged the whole thing—go figure. While the MSM pushed the story to the extreme and verified accounts bashed all Trump supporters as a threat to people all over the country.

Many conservatives believe there is something called liberal privilege and you don’t have to look hard to find it.  The fact is there is an ideology of extreme hate against President Trump and his supporters in the mainstream media and across social media. It has gotten to the point where people walk to the corner neighborhood store and get harassed. Or a mother takes her minor son shopping and watches him get slandered by an unhinged adult. Can we call this derangement of lies, hysteria and hate crimes MAGAphobia? I think we can simply because behind each one of these crimes there is a Trump hater. Who has one main goal and that is to get Trump out of office and ruin his 2020 campaign. Jack Posobiec’s MAGAphobia phrase defined by Will Chamberlin in the tweet below:

The hashtag #MAGAPhobia is trending on Twitter. Search and you will see all the lies and hoax hate crimes created by individuals who simply cannot accept the fact that Donald J. Trump is their president.

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Amazon, Comcast, Electronic Arts submit bids for Nexon holding firm: Maeil report

The logo of Amazon is seen on the door of an Amazon Books retail store in New York
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Amazon is seen on the door of an Amazon Books retail store in New York City, U.S., February 14, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

February 27, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc, Comcast Corp and Electronic Arts Inc submitted initial bids for the holding firm of South Korea’s biggest gaming firm Nexon, Maeil Business Newspaper said on Wednesday, citing investment banking sources.

Last week, South Korean tech firms Netmarble and Kakao and private equity fund MBK Partners submitted letters of intent to buy the holding firm, NXC Corp, in what could be one of South Korea’s biggest deals, a source familiar with the matter said.

A Nexon spokeswoman declined to comment. Amazon, Comcast and Electronic Arts did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Source: OANN

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Report: Seahawks QB Wilson wants new deal by April 15

FILE PHOTO: MLB: Spring Training-Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
FILE PHOTO: Mar 15, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson works out prior to the game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

April 2, 2019

Quarterback Russell Wilson has told the Seattle Seahawks that he wants a new contract by April 15, the first day of the offseason workout program, The Seattle Times reported Tuesday.

It is believed Wilson’s side and the Seahawks have met recently.

Wilson, 30, is entering the final year of a four-year, $87.6 million contract signed July 31, 2015, and he is scheduled to earn a base salary of $17 million in the 2019 season.

While the Seahawks tend to finalize contracts the summer before the season begins, Wilson wants to move up the timeline to remove the distractions of contract talks like the ones he endured before signing his contract in 2015.

The Seahawks have said they intend to sign Wilson to the extension sooner rather than later.

“We’ve been in communication, sure,” head coach Pete Carroll said recently at the NFL league meetings in Phoenix. “It’s very topical, we’re on it.”

Wilson’s contract value averages $21.9 million annually, which narrowly was behind Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ $22 million annual average at the time he signed it. Now, Wilson ranks 12th in quarterback pay, according to The Seattle Times.

The Seahawks selected Wilson in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, and he led the Seahawks to a victory in Super Bowl XLVIII after his second full season, defeating the Denver Broncos in the 2014 game.

Last season, he threw for a career-high 35 touchdowns, completing 280 of 427 pass attempts for 3,448 yards with seven interceptions. He is a five-time Pro Bowl selection.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Death of the filibuster? With McConnell and Reid changes, it may be just a matter of time

Commentators spilled a lot of ink this week, forecasting the end of the Senate filibuster.

They didn’t have to. The filibuster’s days have been numbered for years.

SENATE MOVES TO SPEED UP CONFIRMATION OF NOMINEES

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., deployed an artful parliamentary gambit this week on a related front. McConnell’s goal was to prune the amount of time the Senate can burn after it breaks a filibuster -- before confirming lower-level administration nominees. Congressional observers suggested that McConnell’s maneuver spelled doom for the filibuster itself.

The Senate’s tinkered around the edges of the filibuster – as it pertains to nominees – three times in five-and-a-half years. Squeezing available debate time was the case this week. The chamber lowered the bar to crush filibusters for nominees via what’s billed as “Nuclear Option #1” in 2013 (under Democratic control) and Nuclear Option #2 in 2017 (under Republican control). But both of those schemes only dealt with nominations. There is nothing in the mix yet about abolishing filibusters for legislation.

McConnell says the Senate doesn’t have the votes to euthanize the legislative filibuster. He’s right. But only for now. That may change. The Senate previously lacked the votes to lower the standard to squelch filibusters for executive branch nominees, except the Supreme Court. That was the case until then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., deployed Nuclear Option #1 in 2013. McConnell then dropped the requirement of 60 votes to quash a filibuster on Supreme Court nominees with Nuclear Option #2 in 2017. The Senate didn’t have the support to accelerate the confirmation of lower-tier nominees -- until McConnell meddled with Senate procedure this week.

DEMS TAKE AIM AT FILIBUSTER

Like everything on Capitol Hill, it comes down to the math. That’s why Reid and McConnell carried out these ploys. They had the votes on their side. So they went ahead and executed their plans.

Reid and McConnell both administered their filibuster-related contrivances to boost Presidents Obama and Trump, respectively. So why wouldn’t a Senate majority try to boost a president of their own party by ending the legislative filibuster?

Trump repeatedly browbeat McConnell over the current filibuster rule for legislation. Sixty votes are necessary to terminate a legislative filibuster. A filibuster prevented Trump from scoring a big win two years ago to repeal and replace ObamaCare. At the time, Republicans only held a 51-49 advantage in the Senate. Senate Republicans fretted that eliminating the legislative filibuster could backfire. Democrats would only have to poach the votes of a couple of Republican senators to advance their own legislative priorities – despite GOP Senate control. For instance, a coalition of Republican senators worked with Senate Democrats last year to undercut a Trump administration policy about net neutrality.

It would take a lot to kill the legislative filibuster.

Forty-four Standing Rules govern the Senate’s operations. Senate Rule XXII (22) deals with filibusters. Rule XXII enables the Senate to thwart a filibuster. Sixty yeas are needed to halt a filibuster on legislation (called “invoking cloture”). A simple majority of senators are needed to end debate or a filibuster on nominations, thanks to Nuclear Options #1 & #2.

The Senate can vote to change any of its rules. But altering the rules is subject to a filibuster itself. The threshold to kill the filibuster of a proposed rules change is an eye-popping 67 yeas. Two-thirds of the Senate.

So, it’s nearly impossible to change the Senate’s rules.

But there’s the rub. The Senate conducts much of its business via precedent. There are only 44 standing rules. Yet the book of Senate precedents is immense. Neither Reid nor McConnell could amass 67 votes for a rules change. But they sure could steer the Senate into the appropriate parliamentary posture to implement a precedent change. A precedent change entails a mere 51 votes (or a simple majority). That’s precisely how Reid and McConnell effectuated the latest parliamentary shifts for filibusters. And if the Senate would ever eliminate the legislative filibuster, senators would likely follow the course burnished by Reid and McConnell for the Nuclear Option.

Americans romanticize the filibuster. They think of stem-winding, all-night orations and Jimmy Stewart. But most filibusters aren’t that intriguing.

Seizing the Senate floor and speaking for hours on end isn’t always a filibuster. Blocking something constitutes a filibuster. Remember the “filibuster” just before the 2013 government shutdown by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas? Cruz spoke on the floor for 21 hours and 18 minutes. It was the third-longest speech since 1900. But Cruz wasn’t filibustering. Cruz had to yield the floor around noon the next day because Reid locked the Senate in for a procedural vote day. So, even though Cruz spoke for a really long time, it truly wasn’t a filibuster. The Texas Republican simply delivered an exhausting speech.

The public rarely notices filibuster, even though they go on all the time. Dozens of bills never make it to the floor because a senator or a group of senators are filibustering the bill. You just don’t see them doing it publicly. The Senate majority leader knows if he has the votes to complete a bill. If he doesn’t, the leader usually doesn’t try to force the issue because of a phantom filibuster. So the Senate never even tackles those bills.

That said, the Senate votes to break filibusters constantly. The Senate vanquishes filibusters by “invoking cloture.” In those instances, the filibuster is real. Senators usually aren’t on the floor talking all day and night. But in order to move on, the majority leader initiates the process via Rule XXII to “bring debate to a close.” The leader typically knows he has 60 votes to “invoke cloture” and kill the filibuster.

There is some thought on Capitol Hill that the filibuster could evaporate if Republicans maintain control of the Senate in 2020 and Trump wins a second term. Perhaps the same scenario is in play if Democrats win the Senate and the White House in 2020, too. Others suggest the demise of the legislative filibuster won’t come until 2025.

But one thing’s for sure: a weapon exists to get rid of the filibuster. Harry Reid invented the Nuclear Option stratagem. McConnell’s now perfected it. The only difference is if the Senate has the political will to eliminate this Senate tradition.

Source: Fox News Politics

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The Rules Have Been Changed to Try to Get Trump

Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined FNC's Maria Bartiromo this week on "Sunday Morning Futures" to discuss Attorney General Bill Barr's statement that he believes "spying did occur" on the 2016 Trump campaign and transition team and the next steps for his investigation into what happened.

"Democrats, if you're trying to get Trump, they really don't care how you're trying to get him," Graham said. "I really do care about the rule of law. Most Democrats don't care about this because they thought it was a worthy endeavor to try to take Trump down, so I'm hoping some Democrats will change their tune, because if you can do this to a Republican, one day you can do it to a Democrat."

"You know they accuse Trump of changing all the rules in Washington. I would suggest that all the rules have been changed to get Trump," he continued. "They're attacking Bill Barr now one of the most seasoned, highly-respected legal minds in the United States. Nothing has changed about Bill Barr since he was attorney general under Bush 41. The only thing that's changed is the desire to get Trump."

ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL BARR, 10 APRIL 2019: I think there was spying that did occur, yes, I think spying did occur... But the question is whether it was predicated, adequately predicated, and I'm not suggesting it wasn't adequately predicated, but I need to explore that.

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS: That was Attorney General William Barr last week saying he believed biased members of the FBI did, in fact, authorize spying on the Trump campaign during the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. All of a sudden Democrats now calling it a "right-wing conspiracy." They are saying they are stunned and this is scary. I don't know what all of the "stunned" comments are about, plenty of Republicans going back over a year on this program, have said the same exact thing. Watch.

REP. DARREL ISSA, 13 MAY 2018: Maria, I think the important thing is it is very clear that we are being asked to trust the Department of Justice, who we know did, in fact, use a law that a laws them to spy, but lied to get the warrants, lied to a federal judge under the FISA Act, so this is one of the challenges. Make no bones about it, a FISA warrant is, in fact, a license to spy, and now the question is, did you lie, cheat, or steal, in order to do that.

MARIA BARTIROMO, 19 AUGUST 2018: Let's talk about Bruce Ohr. Why he is at the center of this situation now, and in your target, you're going to be leading the questioning. What do you want to hear from Bruce Ohr?

REP. JOHN RATCLIFFE, 19 AUGUST 2018: So remember, Maria, how bad it was when we all found out there was this unverified dossier used as the basis to gain a warrant to surveil someone associated with the trump campaign, carter page, and it got worse when we found out that that dossier was paid for by Hillary Clinton and the DNC, but little did we know that some of that money that Hillary Clinton and the DNC used to pay for the dossier, ultimately ended up in the account of the number four person at the Department of Justice, Bruce Ohr, and his wife, Nellie Ohr, who was retained and paid by Fusion GPS to work with Christopher Steele to help create that dossier. So next week, I'm going to sit down with some of my colleagues with Mr. Ohr and give him an opportunity to explain exactly how that came to pass and more importantly who at the Department of Justice authorized it.

REP. JIM JORDAN, 3 FEBRUARY 2019: So those three key facts, Fusion GPS connected with the Clinton campaign, his wife Nellie Ohr works for Fusion GPS and Christopher Steele, the guy who wrote the dossier, has a deep bias against the president. Bruce Ohr communicated that with the FBI, and also, with the Department of Justice specifically Andrew Weissman, who is on Mueller's team. And the most important fact, Maria, is that he communicated those key pieces of information to the FBI and the DOJ prior to the election, more importantly, prior to when the FBI and the Department of Justice went to the FISA court to get the warrant to spy on Trump's campaign. That is huge.

MARIA BARTIROMO: And there you go. We're back now with Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, and Mr. Chairman let me ask you about what Barr said this week. "There was spying on the campaign." Where does this go now?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well, we're going to find out whether or not there was legal authority to get a FISA warrant against Carter Page, who was associated with the Trump campaign. By definition the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows our government to spy on people we think are working with foreign governments. The question was, was there any legitimate reason to believe that? If the warrant was issued on the dossier that's a bunch of garbage, the answer would be no. Most importantly how could a counterintelligence investigation be opened up against the Trump campaign, Congress never heard about it, was there a legitimate reason to open up a counterintelligence investigation against the Trump campaign, which is spying, and why was President Trump never informed of the fact that people working for him, our government suspected of working with the Russians, because the purpose of a counterintelligence investigation is to protect the people being targeted by a foreign government.

But what happened after the election is equally important to me. The counterintelligence investigation continued on the transition team, that's how General Flynn got in trouble. What basis did the government have to follow the Trump transition team? How did it get leaked out to the public that there was a counterintelligence investigation going on against General Flynn, while he was in transition, leaking this information, after the election, is just as important to me as spying before the election.

MARIA BARTIROMO: Yeah, and there were two really important things that came out last week that Barr suggested. Number one, that it wasn't just a bunch of small cabal of people at the top of the FBI, but there was information going through lots of different intel agencies: the State Department, the CIA, that's one thing I'd like to get your reaction on as well, Senator.

LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well how wide was the problem? How deep was it? And what was the basis of it? Why was the United Nations un-masking people, American citizens caught up in conversations? Was there any legitimacy at all to the idea of Papadopoulos working with the Russians, or did they plant that idea in his head about the Clinton emails being in the hands of the Russians? Did it come from him working with the Russians or somebody working with us?

At the end of the day, was there any reason to believe that Carter Page was working with the Russians, or was it all based on a dossier that's a bunch of garbage?

And in transition, as the Trump team is trying to take over the government, why was the counterintelligence investigation still ongoing? Who leaked the fact that there was one to the Washington Post, who dimed out all of these people that were in transition to the media? That's a violation of the law. And was there an attempt to invoke the 25th amendment after the election?

Democrats, if you're trying to get Trump, they really don't care how you're trying to get him. I really do care about the rule of law. Most Democrats don't care about this because they thought it was a worthy endeavor to try to take Trump down, so I'm hoping some Democrats will change their tune, because if you can do this to a Republican one day you can do it to a Democrat.

MARIA BARTIROMO: I think this is a really important point you're making, it feels like a Kavanaugh moment, senator, where the Democrats and the media just threw out all of what we deem is so valuable and important as Americans in a free democracy, that is due process, innocent until proven guilty. Here we go again, as they try to rip down Attorney General Bill Barr.

LINDSEY GRAHAM: Well you know they accuse Trump of changing all the rules in Washington. I would suggest that all the rules have been changed to get Trump. Kavanaugh's nominee was not presumed innocent because he was a conservative. The way they treated Brett Kavanaugh was to try to destroy his life and drive him out of wanting the job, hoping he would quit.

They're attacking Bill Barr now one of the most seasoned, highly-respected legal minds in the United States. Nothing has changed about Bill Barr since he was attorney general under Bush 41. The only thing that's changed is the desire to get Trump, no matter how you have to get him. So if you need to destroy Barr they will, and if you need to destroy Kavanaugh they will, if you need to make up stories to get a warrant they will, if you need to open up a counterintelligence investigation based on bogus information to try to get into the Trump campaign to find out what he's up to, to create an "insurance policy," I think they will. There was nothing they wouldn't do to get Trump and America needs to understand this can happen to both parties. Let's hold them accountable and stop it, now.

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John Bolton: North Korea 'Not Willing' on Denuclearization

President Donald Trump has found North Korea to be an unwilling partner on a denuclearization pact, according to National Security Adviser John Bolton.

"The North Koreans were unfortunately not willing to do what they needed to do," Bolton told "The Cats Roundtable" on 970 AM-N.Y., per The Hill. "Just [Friday] night they issued an unhelpful statement that they're thinking of going back to nuclear and ballistic missile testing, which would not be a good idea on their part."

With the negotiations stalled after two summits, the last of which President Trump had walked away from, the United States is not giving up on its goal to denuclearization the Korean Peninsula.

"President Trump wants this threat resolved through negotiations," Bolton added to host John Catsimatidis, per The Hill. "He wants North Korea to be free of nuclear weapons, that's for sure."

With Chairman Kim Jong Un unwavering in his own goals of making North Korea a nuclear power, the U.S. would be left with economic sanctions and pressure from allies, like China, in lieu of diplomacy.

"The idea that there's a role for China in the negotiations is something that we'd be willing to consider if we could see some movement on North Korea's part," Bolton said, per The Hill. "The Chinese have said repeatedly they don't want to see North Korea with nuclear weapons at all because they think it destabilizes North East Asia . . .

"In theory, China has the same position we do. What they could do more of is apply more pressure on North Korea. They could apply the U.N. sanctions more tightly. They control 90 percent of North Korea's external trade, so China could have a very important role here. There's no question about it."

Relying on China has not been all that easy, though, particularly amid the United States' own pressure campaign in trade negotiations – making it possible Russia might have to be involved there.

"China is building up its nuclear capacity now," Bolton said, per The Hill. "It's one of the reasons why we're looking at strengthening our national missile defense system here in the United States.

"And it's one reason why, if we're going to have another arms control negotiation, for example, with the Russians, it may make sense to include China that discussion as well."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Rand Paul: ‘FBI Mistress’ Lisa Page Confirmed ‘Fake Russia Investigation’

Fired FBI lawyer Lisa Page confirmed in recently released transcripts that the Russia investigation was “fake” and “anti-Trump insurance policy” against the president, according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

“This deserves more attention! FBI Mistress, Lisa Page, confirmed to House Judiciary, there was an anti-Trump Insurance Policy and it’s the fake Russian investigation!” Paul tweeted Wednesday.

“She admits there was almost no evidence on collusion, yet they continued with WITCH HUNT!”

Transcripts of Page’s closed-door testimony to a joint congressional task force last year were released on Tuesday, and members of Congress are just beginning to learn of some stunning key facts.

For example, Page revealed that the FBI was indeed inclined to indict Hillary Clinton with “gross negligence” over the handling of her secret servers, but the Department of Justice ordered the Bureau not to pursue charges.

This is consistent with 2016 reports that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who headed the DOJ, may have struck a deal with Hillary’s husband Bill Clinton in a secret tarmac meeting just days before former FBI Director James Comey announced his decision not to charge her.

Additionally, Page claims her lover, FBI special agent Peter Strzok helped launch the investigation with impeachment of Trump and a promotion for himself as the end goal.

Strzok was hesitant to enter Special Counsel Mueller’s probe because he worried it may not end with impeachment, which could have hampered his “long-term prospects,” Page said.

She said Strzok told her, “If this is going to fizzle out and be nothing, then I shouldn’t sort of sacrifice my sort of long-term career prospects. If it’s going to end in impeachment, that’s kind of a big deal. I mean, put aside who it is, put aside how we feel about it. You know, that’s monumental.”


Adam Schiff now says he will hold off on impeaching President Trump, because the Mueller probe will most likely show no Russian collusion. Owen exposes the hypocrisy of those that have pushed the fake Russian collusion narrative.

Source: InfoWars

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Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London
Members of The Cranberries, bassist Mike Hogan, drummer Fergal Lawler and guitarist Noel Hogan speak to Reuters during an interview in London, Britain, April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Gerhard Mey

April 26, 2019

By Hanna Rantala

LONDON (Reuters) – Irish rockers The Cranberries are saying goodbye with their final album released on Friday, a poignant tribute to lead singer Dolores O’Riordan who died last year.

“In the End” is the eighth studio album from the band that rose to fame in the early 1990s with hits likes “Zombie” and “Linger”, and includes the final recordings by O’Riordan, who drowned in a London hotel bath in January 2018 due to alcohol intoxication.

Work on the album began during a 2017 tour and by that winter, O’Riordan and guitarist Neil Hogan had penned and demoed 11 tracks.

With O’Riordan’s vocals recorded, Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler completed the album in tribute to her.

“When we realized how strong the songs were, that was the deciding factor really… There was no point… trying to ruin the legacy of the band,” Noel Hogan said in an interview.

“It was obvious that Dolores wanted this album done because when you hear the album, you hear the songs and how strong they are, and she was very, very excited to get in and record this.”

The Cranberries formed in Limerick in 1989 with another singer. O’Riordan replaced him a year later and the group went on to become Ireland’s best-selling rock band after U2, selling more than 40 million records.

O’Riordan, known for her strong distinctive voice singing about relationships or political violence, was 46 when she died.

“She was actually in quite a good place mentally. She was feeling quite content and strong and looking forward to a new phase of her life,” Lawler said.

“A lot of the lyrics in this album are about things ending… people might read into it differently but it was a phase of her personal life that she was talking about.”

The group previously announced their intention to split after the release of “In The End”.

“We are absolutely gutted we can’t play (the songs) live because that’s something that’s been a massive part of this band from day one,” Noel Hogan said.

“A few people have said to us about maybe even doing a one off where you have different vocalists… as kind of guests of ours. A year ago that’s definitely something we weren’t going to entertain but I don’t know, I think it’s something we need to go away and take time off for the summer and have a think about.”

Critics have generally given positive reviews of the album; NME described it as “(seeing) the band’s career go full-circle” while the Irish Times called it “an unexpected late career high and a remarkable swan song for O’Riordan”.

Their early songs still play on the radio. This week, “Dreams” was performed at the funeral of journalist Lyra McKee, who was shot dead in Londonderry last week as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.

“We wrote them as kids, as a hobby and 30 years later they are on radio and on TV, like all the time… That’s far more than any of us ever thought we would have,” Noel Hogan said.

“That would make Dolores really happy because she was very precious about those songs. Her babies, she called them and to have that hopefully long after we’re gone… that’s all any band can wish for.”

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; additoinal reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren participates in the She the People Presidential Forum in Houston, Texas, U.S. April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

April 26, 2019

By Joshua Schneyer and M.B. Pell

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Senator Elizabeth Warren will introduce a bill Friday that offers new protections for U.S. military families facing unsafe housing, following a series of Reuters reports revealing squalid conditions in privately managed base homes.

The Reuters reports and later Congressional hearings detailed widespread hazards including lead paint exposure, vermin infestations, collapsing ceilings, mold and maintenance lapses in privatized base housing communities that serve some 700,000 U.S. military family members.

(View Warren’s military housing bill here. https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dy5aht)

(Read Reuters’ Ambushed at Home series on military housing here. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/usa-military)

The Massachusetts Democrat’s bill would mandate both regular and unannounced spot inspections of base homes by certified, independent inspectors, holding landlords accountable for quickly fixing hazards. The military’s privatization program for years allowed real estate firms to operate base housing with scant oversight, Reuters found, leaving some tenants in unsafe homes with little recourse against landlords.

The bill would also require the Department of Defense and its private housing operators to publish reports annually detailing housing conditions, tenant complaints, maintenance response times and the financial incentives companies receive at each base. The provisions aim to enhance transparency of housing deals whose finances and operations the military had allowed to remain largely confidential under a privatization program since the late 1990s.

The measure would also require private landlords to cover moving costs for at-risk families, and healthcare costs for people with medical conditions resulting from unsafe base housing, ensuring they receive continuing coverage even after they leave the homes or the military.

“This bill will eliminate the kind of corner-cutting and neglect the Defense Department should never have let these private housing partners get away with in the first place,” Warren said in a statement Friday.

The proposed legislation comes after February Senate hearings where Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, slammed private real estate firms for endangering service families, and sought answers about why military branches weren’t providing more oversight.

Her legislation would direct the Defense Department to allow local housing code enforcers onto federal bases, following concerns they were sometimes denied access. Warren’s office said a companion bill in the House of Representatives would be introduced by Rep. Deb Haaland, Democrat of New Mexico.

In response to the housing crisis, military branches are developing a tenant bill of rights and hiring hundreds of new housing staff. The branches recently dispatched commanders to survey base housing worldwide for safety hazards, resulting in thousands of work orders and hundreds of tenants being moved. The Defense Department has pledged to renegotiate its 50-year contracts with private real estate firms.

Congress has been quick to take its own measures. Earlier legislation proposed by senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California, along with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, would compel base commanders to withhold rent payments and incentive fees from the private ventures if they allow home hazards to persist.

(Editing by Ronnie Greene)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London
FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar

(Reuters) – Deloitte quit as Ferrexpo’s auditor on Friday, knocking its shares by more than 20 percent, days after saying it was unable to conclude whether the iron ore miner’s CEO controlled a charity being investigated over its use of company donations.

Blooming Land, which coordinates Ferrexpo’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, came under scrutiny after auditors found holes in the charity’s statements.

Ferrexpo on Tuesday said findings of an ongoing independent investigation launched in February indicated some Blooming Land funds could have been “misappropriated”. It did not provide any details or publish its findings.

Shares in Ferrexpo, the third largest exporter of pellets to the global steel industry, were 23.4 percent lower at 206.1 pence at 1022 GMT following news of Deloitte’s resignation.

“Ferrexpo’s shares are deeply discounted vs peers … following the resignation of Deloitte, we expect downside risks to dominate Ferrexpo’s shares near term.” JP Morgan analyst Dominic O’Kane said in a note on Friday.

Swiss-headquartered Ferrexpo did not provide a reason for the resignation of Deloitte, which declined to comment, while Blooming Land did not respond to a request for comment.

Funding for Blooming Land’s CSR activities is provided by one of Ferrexpo’s units in Ukraine and Khimreaktiv LLC, an entity ultimately controlled by Ferrexpo’s CEO and majority owner Kostyantin Zhevago, Ferrexpo said on Tuesday.

Ferrexpo’s board has found that Zhevago did not have significant influence or control over the charity, but Deloitte said it was unable reach a conclusion on this.

Reuters was not immediately able to contact Zhevago.

In a qualified opinion, a statement addressing an incomplete audit, Deloitte said it had been unable to conclude whether $33.5 million of CSR donations to Blooming Land between 2017 and 2018 was used for “legitimate business payments for charitable purposes”.

Deloitte said on Tuesday that total CSR payments made to Blooming Land by Ferrexpo since 2013 total about $110 million.

Ferrexpo, whose major mines are in Ukraine, has said that the investigation was ongoing and new evidence pointed to potential discrepancies.

Zhevago, 45, who ranked 1,511 on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires for 2019 with a net worth of $1.4 billion, owns the FC Vorskla soccer club and has been a member of Ukraine’s parliament since 1998.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Bernard Orr)

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Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba
Children walk past a damaged building in the aftermath of the Cyclone Kenneth in Pemba, Mozambique April 26, 2019 in this still image obtained from social media. SolidarMed via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer

JOHANNESBURG/LUANDA (Reuters) – Cyclone Kenneth killed at least one person and left a trail of destruction in northern Mozambique, destroying houses, ripping up trees and knocking out power, authorities said on Friday.

The cyclone brought storm surges and wind gusts of up to 280 km per hour (174 mph) when it made landfall on Thursday evening, after killing three people in the island nation of Comoros.

It was the most powerful storm on record to hit Mozambique’s northern coast and came just six weeks after Cyclone Idai battered the impoverished nation, causing devastating floods and killing more than 1,000 people across a swathe of southern Africa.

The World Food Programme warned that Kenneth could dump as much as 600 millimeters of rain on the region over the next 10 days – twice that brought by Cyclone Idai.

One woman in the port town of Pemba died after being hit by a falling tree, the Emergency Operations Committee for Cabo Delgado (COE) said in a statement, while another person was injured.

In rural areas outside Pemba, many homes are made of mud. In the main town on the island of Ibo, 90 percent of the houses were destroyed, officials said. Around 15,000 people were out in the open or in “overcrowded” shelters and there was a need for tents, food and water, they said.

There were also reports of a large number of homes and some infrastructure destroyed in Macomia district, a mainland district adjacent to Ibo.

A local group, the Friends of Pemba Association, had earlier reported that they could not reach people in Muidumbe, a district further inland.

Mark Lowcock, United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, warned the storm could require another major humanitarian operation in Mozambique.

“Cyclone Kenneth marks the first time two cyclones have made landfall in Mozambique during the same season, further stressing the government’s limited resources,” he said in a statement.

FLOOD WARNINGS

Shaquila Alberto, owner of the beach-front Messano Flower Lodge in Macomia, said there were many fallen trees there, and in rural areas people’s homes had been damaged. Some areas of nearby Pemba had no power.

“Even my workers, they said the roof and all the things fell down,” she said by phone.

Further south, in Pemba, Elton Ernesto, a receptionist at Raphael’s Hotel, said there were fallen trees but not too much damage. The hotel had power and water, he said, while phones rang in the background. “The rain has stopped,” he added.

However Michael Charles, an official for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said heavy rains over the next few days were likely to bring a “second wave of destruction” in the form of flooding.

“The houses are not all solid, and the topography is very sandy,” Charles said.

In the days after Cyclone Idai, heavy inland rains prompted rivers to burst their banks, submerging entire villages, cutting areas off from aid and ruining crops. There were concerns the same could happen again in northern Mozambique.

Before Kenneth hit, the government and aid workers moved around 30,000 people to safer buildings such as schools, however authorities said that around 680,000 people were in the path of the storm.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney and Stephen Eisenhammer; Writing by Emma Rumney; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Alexandra Zavis)

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A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai
FILE PHOTO: A worker holds a nozzle to pump petrol into a vehicle at a fuel station in Mumbai, India, May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

April 26, 2019

By Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Surging global oil prices will pose a first big challenge to India’s new government, whoever wins an election now under way, especially as domestic prices have been allowed to lag, meaning consumers are in for a painful surge as they catch up.

For oil-import dependent India, higher global prices could lead to a weaker rupee, higher inflation, the ruling out of interest rate cuts and could further weigh on twin current account and budget deficits, economists warned.

But compounding the future pain, state-run fuel suppliers and retailers have held off passing on to consumers the higher prices during a staggered general election, which began on April 11 and ends on May 23, according to sources familiar with the situation.

That delay is expected to be unwound once the election is over. And there could be additional price increases to make up for losses or profits missed during the period of delayed increases, the sources said.

In some major Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea, pump prices are adjusted periodically so they move largely in tandem with international crude prices.

That was what was supposed to happen in India but the election means there have been many days when pump prices have been unchanged.

In New Delhi, for example, while crude oil prices have gone up by nearly $9 a barrel, or about 12 percent, in the past six weeks, gasoline prices have only risen by 0.47 rupees a liter, or 0.6 percent.

State-controlled fuel suppliers and retailers declined to say why they had delayed price increases, or discuss whether there has been any pressure from the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A government spokesman declined to comment.

The opposition Congress party said Modi’s government was violating its own policy of daily price revision by advising the state oil companies to hold prices steady.

“The government should cut fuel taxes otherwise consumers will have to pay much higher oil prices once the elections are over,” said Akhilesh Pratap Singh, a senior leader of the Congress party.

(GRAPHIC: India Polls: Fuel price hike lags crude surge – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XLlxik)

Nitin Goyal, treasurer at the All India Petroleum Dealers Association, representing fuel stations in 25 states, said prices were similarly held down for 19 days in the southern state of Karnataka last year, when it held state assembly elections.

Only for them to surge after the vote.

“Consumers should be ready for a rude shock of a massive jump in retail prices, similar to the level we have seen in the Karnataka state election,” Goyal said.

‘CREDIT NEGATIVE’

Sri Paravaikkarasu, director for Asia oil at Singapore-based consultancy FGE, said retail prices of gasoline and gasoil prices would have been up to 6 percent, or about 4 rupee, higher if they had been allowed to rise in line with global prices.

“Indian pump prices have failed to keep up with the recent uptrend in crude prices,” Paravaikkarasu said.

“With the country’s general elections underway, the incumbent government has been keeping pump prices relatively unchanged.”

India had switched to a daily price revision in June 2017 from a revision every two weeks, as the government allowed retailers to set prices.

But the government faced protests last October when retailers raised prices by up to 10 rupees a liter after the crude oil price went above $80 a barrel, forcing it to cut fuel taxes.

Global prices rose to their highest level in 2019 on Thursday, days after the United States announced all Iran sanction waivers would end by May, pressuring importers including India to stop buying Tehran’s oil. [O/R]

Higher oil prices will mean Asia’s third largest economy is likely to see growth of less than 7 percent rate this fiscal year, economists said. Growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the October-December quarter, the slowest in five quarters.

Rating agency CARE has warned that a 10 percent rise in global oil prices could increase demand for dollars, putting pressure on the rupee and widening the current account deficit.

India’s oil import bill rose by nearly one-third in the fiscal year ending March 31 to $140.5 billion, against $108 billion the previous year.

“The increase in international oil prices is a credit negative for the Indian economy,” ICRA, the Indian arm of the Fitch rating agency, said in a note.

“Every $10/ bbl increase in crude oil prices increases the fiscal deficit by about 0.1 percent of GDP.”

Any big price rise would also build a case for the central bank to keep rates steady, or even raise them.

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee, which cut the benchmark policy repo rate by 25 basis points this month, warned that rising oil and food prices could push up inflation.

Policymakers are worried that a sustained increase in the oil price in the range of $70-75/barrel or higher can move the rupee down by 3-4 percent on an annual basis.

The rupee has depreciated by 1.24 percent against the dollar since a year high in mid-March.

($1 = 70.1800 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Martin Howell and Rob Birsel)

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