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Columbine shooting 20th anniversary: Survivors reflect on how massacre changed their lives forever

Columbine shooting survivors and the families of those who died say the upcoming 20th anniversary of the massacre is conjuring up feelings of pain, hope, love and despair – on top of their concerns of the unexpected as they watch their own children head off to school each day.

The attack on April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado, forever changed the debate about gun violence in American schools. Now two decades later, the children of Dave Sanders -- the lone teacher who died in the shootings at Columbine High School – say strangers still come up to them to thank them for their father’s heroics that day. Sanders has been credited with leading dozens to students to safety before succumbing to his wounds.

“I run into kids who had him as a teacher, and one of them said, 'Can I take a picture of you holding my child?' And I said, 'Why?' And they said, 'Because he wouldn't be here without your dad,’” Coni Sanders told Fox31 in an interview this week.

“And so we're seeing these generations of kids who had a chance to grow up to be adults and parents and grandparents [because of my dad],” she added. “My sisters and I are so proud.”

WOMAN ‘INFATUATED’ WITH COLUMBINE, CONNECTED TO COLORADO SCHOOL THREATS FOUND DEAD

Kacey Ruegsegger, 17, is wheeled from a Denver hospital by Patty Anderson, center, after being released in May 1999. Walking beside her are her parents Greg, left, and Darcy, right. Ruegsegger Johnson survived a shotgun blast during the shootings at Colorado's Columbine High School that left 12 students, one teacher, and both gunmen dead.

Kacey Ruegsegger, 17, is wheeled from a Denver hospital by Patty Anderson, center, after being released in May 1999. Walking beside her are her parents Greg, left, and Darcy, right. Ruegsegger Johnson survived a shotgun blast during the shootings at Colorado's Columbine High School that left 12 students, one teacher, and both gunmen dead. (AP/File)

For survivors like Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson though, the emotional toll remains heavy as she lives out her life post-Columbine and watches her four children grow up. For the last 20 years, she has lived with post-traumatic stress disorder, along with physical pain. She worked as a nurse until the injuries to her arm – caused by a shotgun blast to her right shoulder during the massacre -- forced her to stop.

“I’m grateful I have the chance to be a mom. I know some of my classmates weren’t given that opportunity,” Ruegsegger Johnson told the Associated Press, with tears in her eyes. “There are parts of the world I wish our kids never had to know about. I wish that there would never be a day I had to tell them the things I’ve been through.”

In an interview with the news agency published this week, Ruegsegger Johnson revealed how she would cry most mornings as her children left her car, and that she relied on texted photos from their teachers to make it through the day.

TEEN BOYS UNLEASHED TERROR, CHAOS AT COLUMBINE

On a recent sunny spring morning, she helped her kids find their book bags and tie their shoes before ushering them to her car. She prayed aloud as they neared the school, giving thanks for a beautiful morning and asking for a day of learning and friendship. And as always, the Associated Press says, she made a silent addition: Keep them safe.

Amy Over, who escaped the cafeteria at Columbine during the mass shooting, says she saw Sanders in the last hours of his life. She suffered no physical injuries from the attack, but has struggled emotionally for years.

Over told the Associated Press that waving goodbye to her daughter on the first day of preschool triggered a panic attack — the first of many. She was diagnosed with chronic panic disorder, underwent therapy and found new strategies for her life as a mother of two.

She now coaches her 13-year-old daughter Brie when she ventures to places outside her mom’s control: Where is the closest exit? What street are you on? Who is around you?

“I never want my kids to feel an ounce of pain, the way that I felt pain,” Over said. “I know that that’s something that I can’t control. And I think that’s hard on me.”

LOCKOUT AT COLUMBINE, OTHER COLORADO SCHOOL TRIGGERED BY 'ARMED', 'EXTREMELY DANGEROUS' WOMAN: OFFICIALS

Members of a police SWAT team march to Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.

Members of a police SWAT team march to Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. (AP/File)

Over says she first told Brie about her experience at Columbine two years ago, a few days before the anniversary.

That April 20, they visited the school for a memorial ceremony that included a reading of the names of the 13 people killed. Afterward, the Overs walked together through the quiet school.

Over told the Associated Press that opening up to her daughter was cathartic and so they have continued to attend annual memorial events, now imbued with a gentler tone with the girl by her side.

“It’s a day of reflection,” Over said. “It’s a day of love and hope. And I get to share that with my daughter.”

Frank DeAngelis, the principal of Columbine when the shooting happened, told CBS News in a recent interview that he starts his days reflecting on the 13 who were killed in the attack.

“Every morning when I wake up, as soon as I get out of bed I recite the names of my beloved 13," he said. "I’ve done it since the shootings happened and they are not with us physically but spiritually, they’re with me every day.”

Michelle Wheeler, another survivor who appeared alongside him and now teaches middle school English in Columbine's district, said she has given up on trying to figure out why the "broken souls" behind the attack carried it out.

"I’ve forgiven them. I think they lost their lives way before the 20th," she said. “There is nothing I would get out of knowing why."

Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson poses for a portrait at her home in Cary, N.C., in late March. (AP)

Kacey Ruegsegger Johnson poses for a portrait at her home in Cary, N.C., in late March. (AP)

Wheeler also said wherever she goes with her daughter, she is on alert for potential escape routes.

“We’ll be in the doctor’s office… and I’ll say ‘show me five places where you’ll hide’," she told CBS News. "Because it could happen anywhere and I want her to be prepared. And I think it makes me feel prepared.”

“We’ll be in the doctor’s office… and I’ll say ‘show me five places where you’ll hide... Because it could happen anywhere and I want her to be prepared. And I think it makes me feel prepared.”

— Michelle Wheeler

Austin Eubanks, who survived being shot in the Columbine library, is among those who doesn’t fear the schools his sons, ages 13 and 9, attend.

Instead, he laments that active-shooter drills, video surveillance and armed guards are all too routine for them — as natural as a tornado drill was for him growing up in Oklahoma.

“We are so unwilling to actually make meaningful progress on eradicating the issue,” said Eubanks, who remains scarred by watching his best friend, Corey DePooter, die. “So we’re just going to focus on teaching kids to hide better, regardless of the emotional impact that that bears on their life. To me, that’s pretty sad.”

Isolation, depression, addiction and suicide are among the larger dangers he sees facing his kids’ generation, and he knows firsthand the damage those can cause.

A woman embraces her daughter after they were reunited following the Columbine High School shooting. (AP/File)

A woman embraces her daughter after they were reunited following the Columbine High School shooting. (AP/File)

For more than a decade after the attack, Eubanks was addicted to prescription pain medication, according to the Associated Press. He got sober in 2011 and began repairing his family, including his relationship with his sons and their mother. He now works at an addiction treatment facility and travels the country telling his story.

At home in Colorado, he tries to help his sons become attuned to pain others may be feeling. He encourages them to talk to an adult when peers seem so angry or afraid that they may need help. He tries to remember that — for them — all of the changes in schools are just normal.

He was horrified by videos that Marjory Stoneman Douglas students shot in Parkland, Florida, last year as they hid inside a classroom while a gunman moved through the halls of the high school. He has urged his own boys to always try to escape first — whatever it takes — even if school safety drills advise staying put.

“These are my children, and what I care about most is their safety,” he said. “And I know that for them, in a situation like that, getting away from it as quickly as possible is the best likelihood of success.”

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And he still honors DePooter when going fly-fishing in the wilderness, according to Fox31.

“When I'm out there and I catch a fish that's of above-average size, I kind of give him a nod and say, you know, 'He was with me today,'” Eubanks told the station.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Vatican removes Guam archbishop after conviction of sexual abuse

FILE PHOTO: People take part in
FILE PHOTO: People take part in "March for Zero Tolerance", during the four-day meeting on the global sexual abuse crisis at the Vatican, in Rome, Italy, February 23, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo

April 4, 2019

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Roman Catholic archbishop of the U.S. island territory of Guam, Anthony Apuron, has been definitively convicted of sexual abuse of minors and removed from office, the Vatican said on Thursday.

Apuron, who was accused of abusing three young men decades ago, was first convicted by a Vatican tribunal a year ago and had appealed. He has denied wrongdoing.

The tribunal of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith upheld the first verdict, a statement said.

Apuron, 73 and a native of Guam, was removed from office and prohibited from living on the island, even temporarily, the Vatican said.

The allegations against Apuron first emerged in 2016 when one of the victims, a former altar boy, came forward when he was in his 50s and other victims followed.

The Vatican said the decision announced on Thursday was definitive and no longer could be challenged on appeal. Apuron had served as the island’s archbishop since 1986.

The Church’s credibility has been crushed in much of the world by abuse scandals in countries including Ireland, Chile, Australia, France, the United States and Poland, paying billions of dollars in damages to victims and forcing parishes to close.

The scandals have reached the upper echelons of the Vatican itself with the conviction of Cardinal George Pell, jailed this month for six years for abusing boys in his native Australia. He had served as the Vatican treasurer and a member of the pope’s innermost council of cardinals until his conviction last year.

Other senior Church officials have been accused of knowingly covering up abuse, including the archbishop of Lyon who was convicted this year in France for failing to report abuse.

Archbishop Michael Byrnes, a former assistant bishop of Detroit, succeeds Apuron as archbishop of the island’s single archdiocese, Agana.

The archdiocese, which has been hit by a number of lawsuits by victims of abuse, has filed for reorganisation bankruptcy in the island’s U.S. district court.

Guam’s population of about 170,000 is predominantly Catholic.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella, Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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Former Catalan leader Puigdemont to run in European election

Former Catalan president Puigdemont reacts as trial over independence bid starts in Madrid
Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont addresses the media in Berlin, Germany, February 12, 2019, as twelve Catalan politicians go on trial for their role in Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

March 10, 2019

BARCELONA (Reuters) – Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, living in self-imposed exile in Belgium, will run in the May 26 election to the European Parliament as the leading candidate of Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), his political party announced on Sunday.

Puigdemont, 56, fled Spain in October 2017 after Madrid imposed direct rule on Catalonia. The wealthy northeastern region had unilaterally declared independence on the basis of a referendum deemed illegal by Spanish courts.

“It is the moment to make another step to internationalize the self-determination right of Catalonia from Europe’s heart to all the world,” Puigdemont said on Twitter.

Puigdemont and five other former Catalan leaders in self-imposed exile in European countries would be arrested if they returned to Spain. Puigdemont, who was the Catalan president for about 22 months, faces charges of rebellion in Spain.

Last July, Spanish courts lifted the European arrest warrants for Puigdemont after a German court ruled that he could be extradited to Spain to face a separate charge of misuse of public funds, but not for the rebellion charge, something that Spain decided not to accept.

From Belgium, Puigdemont ran again for office in the December 2017 Catalan regional elections and was proposed for president by a parliamentary majority, but Spanish courts banned his attempt to assume office from outside the country.

Oriol Junqueras, leader of the pro-independence party ERC who is on trial in Madrid with 11 other Catalan politicians for their role in the 2017 secession drive, will also run in the European election.

(Reporting by Joan Faus; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Source: OANN

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The Latest: Erdogan loses support in Turkey’s big cities

The Latest on Turkey's local elections (all times local):

1:45 p.m.

The opposition candidate running to be Istanbul's next mayor has declared victory after unofficial results showed him leading in Turkey's local elections.

Ekrem Imamoglu, the candidate from an alliance led by the secular Republican People's Party, thanked all Istanbul voters on Monday.

Unofficial results by state-run Anadolu news agency said he had won 48.8 percent of the vote Sunday and his opponent, former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim of the ruling party, had captured 48.5 percent. One percent of the votes were still to be counted.

Parties have three days to file objections and official results are expected in the coming days.

If the opposition won in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city and commercial hub, that would be a watershed moment. Erdogan's own ascent to power began in 1994 as Istanbul mayor and the city has been held by his party and allies for 25 years.

___

10 a.m.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in municipal elections but the opposition's success in key cities dealt a significant blow to his party's dominance.

According to unofficial results, the ruling party lost the capital, Ankara, and the head of Turkey's electoral board said the opposition was also leading in Istanbul.

Sunday's local elections were widely seen as a test of support for Erdogan as the nation of 81 million people faces a daunting economic recession with double-digit inflation, rising food prices and high unemployment.

Ballot counts were still underway Monday morning in an anxious wait for Istanbul, Turkey's largest city and commercial hub. Both candidates —Ekrem Imamoglu for secular Republican People's Party, or CHP, and former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim for the ruling party— claimed they had won.

Electoral board head Sadi Guven said votes were still being counted.

___

Fraser reported from Ankara.

Source: Fox News World

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Obama’s Harvard Law Professor: ‘Dangerous’ Trump ‘May Fabricate’ Emergency To Stay In Power

A leftist law professor from Harvard has labeled the President ‘dangerous’ and charged that Trump could fabricate ‘another national emergency’ specifically with the goal of staying in power in 2020.

Appearing on MSNBC’s AM Joy with host Joy Reid, constitutional law scholar Laurence Tribe said “Elections happen every four years. And sometimes some leaders are much too dangerous to leave in power — and this may be such a case.”

“The fact is by 2020, the amount of damage that will have been done to our rule of law, to constitutional norms will be very great and we can’t count on him [Trump] being out of office in 2020.” Tribe complained.

Tribe, who was Barack Obama’s law professor, labeled Trump “effectively corrupt,”and further charged that should he want to stay in power, he would “have enough help from not-too-friendly foreign powers: Russia, Saudi Arabia and maybe Turkey.”

“We can’t count on removing this guy by an election, he may fabricate by another so-called national emergency to influence that election,” Tribe suggested.

Tribe, who has previously called for invoking the Twenty-fifth Amendment to remove Trump from office, said that those investigating Trump need to “persistently gather the facts,” because “the time will come for impeachment proceedings.”

Tribe is a fervent anti-Trumper. He even teaches a class at Harvard dedicated to the “impeachment and removal by other means” of President Trump.

The course is part of a wider program under Tribe titled “Constitutional Law 3.0: The Trump Trajectory”.

Students are learning about “how we might expect the Constitution to constrain Trump’s execution of his powers and duties, and what #impeachment and removal by other means might resemble in the Trump era,” according to the course description.

It should come as no surprise then that Tribe is a perfect talking head for the likes of MSNBC and CNN, where he appears regularly to bash the President.

Source: InfoWars

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Newt Gingrich on Trump’s pledge to defy Hill subpoenas: ‘I think he’s right’

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich said Thursday, “I think he is right” after President Trump vowed to fight any subpoenas from House Democrats, asserting there are “no crimes by me at all” following the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

Gingrich, a Fox News contributor and author of the new novel "Collusion," made the statement on “America’s Newsroom” the day after Trump vowed that he would go all the way to the Supreme Court if  “partisan” Democrats try to impeach him.

“It's one thing to say – and people tend to forget this, when Ken Starr reported on Bill Clinton he found him guilty, used the word ‘guilty’ on 11 different charges. It’s a totally different thing to have somebody do two years of investigation, come back and say there’s no proof, there’s no criminality and then suddenly have, on a purely partisan basis, the Democrats jump up and hunt for new things to start fighting over,” said Gingrich.

DOJ REJECTS SUBPOENA FROM HOUSE DEMS FOR TESTIMONY FROM TOP OFFICIAL JOHN GORE

“There’s no grounds as a private citizen for pre-presidential candidate Trump to have to give them all this stuff. And notice what they've gone after, they're basically saying, ‘We're going to dig through the family basement until we find something.’ And I think the president is right to just close it down, tell them to do the best they can and just ignore them. And have his lawyers fight their lawyers from now until the election.”

He added, “Let the country decide in 2020. You want real growth, lowest black unemployment, lowest Latino unemployment, a real chance to fix healthcare or do you want this kind of investigating baloney?”

The president’s pledge came as congressional Democrats debate whether to initiate impeachment proceedings against him. During a conference call on Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., along with her leadership team, was clear that there were no immediate plans to move forward with impeachment.

Meanwhile, also on Monday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., subpoenaed former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify publicly next month following last week's release of Mueller's Russia report.

Nadler described McGahn, who stepped down as White House counsel in October 2018, as "a critical witness to many of the alleged instances of obstruction of justice and other misconduct described in the Special Counsel's report."

When asked about congressional Democrats potentially pursuing impeachment, Gingrich said, “It won't work.”

Citing his reasons, Gingrich said, “First of all, you know in the Senate, which the Republicans control, that there is zero possibility that they would ever convict.”

“Second, I think for Democrats from marginal districts, districts that Trump carried or Clinton barely carried, to have to go back home and explain, you’re not working on healthcare, you’re not working on economic growth, you’re not working on education but here is investigative hearing number 73, I think that weakens the chance of re-election for an entire class of Democrats who are going to be very uncomfortable if that's how their party is defined.”

PROGRESSIVE GROUP TAKES AIM AT BIDEN SOON AFTER LAUNCH

Gingrich also weighed in Thursday on former Vice President Joe Biden officially announcing his 2020 bid in a video saying, “We are in the battle for the soul of this nation.”

Biden added, “I believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an abhorrent moment in time. But if we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation.”

“I agree with Joe Biden, we are in a battle for the soul of the nation,” said Gingrich in response.

“You have Democrats now who favor killing babies after they're born. You have Democrats who favor allowing terrorists and bombers to vote while they are in prison. You have Democrats who are for open borders, letting anybody in who wants to. You have Democrats who want to take away your right to have private health insurance. Let's go down the list.”

He added, “this is a fight over the nature of America and the future of America. And the difference, the choice next year is going to be the widest choice maybe in modern times and I think Biden is going to find it difficult to navigate because he would like to be a good old guy, just a general nice person. But everybody on the left is going to say to him 'where do you stand on all of these issues?' And he’s pretty rapidly going to discover this is a much tougher environment for a Democrat than it was while Barack Obama was shielding him from any kind of hard questions.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

When asked if he thinks Biden can beat President Trump, Gingrich answered, “Conceivably. If the economy would go really bad. If the president would have a bad campaign. You don't know.”

He added, “The question is going to be, can the Democrats offer an alternative that people decide is better? If it's Trump versus perfection, I think President Trump has problems. If it's Trump versus the most likely Democrats on their ticket vowing for the things they claim they favor, I think he’s going to beat them by a surprisingly big margin.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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Trump warns Venezuela military they are risking their lives and future

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks about the crisis in Venezuela during a visit to Florida International University in Miami
U.S. President Donald Trump pauses speaks about the crisis in Venezuela during a visit to Florida International University in Miami, Florida, U.S., February 18, 2019.   REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

February 18, 2019

MIAMI (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned members of Venezuela’s military who are helping President Nicolas Maduro to stay in power that they are risking their future and their lives and urged them to allow humanitarian aid into the country.

Speaking to a cheering crowd mostly of Venezuelan and Cuban immigrants, Trump said if the Venezuelan military continues supporting Maduro, “you will find no safe harbor, no easy exit and no way out. You’ll lose everything.” He said he wanted a peaceful transition of power in Venezuela but that all options remained open.

(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Source: OANN

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Logo of the Exxon Mobil Corp is seen at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference in Rio de Janeiro
FILE PHOTO: A logo of the Exxon Mobil Corp is seen at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil September 24, 2018. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp on Friday reported first-quarter profit fell sharply on lower oil and gas prices and weakness in its refining and chemicals businesses that offset modest production gains.

The largest U.S. oil producer’s first quarter earnings fell to $2.35 billion, or 55 cents a share, from $4.65 billion, or $1.09 a share, a year ago.

Analysts had expected Exxon to earn 70 cents per share, according to Refinitiv Eikon estimates.

Shares were trading down about 2.7 percent in premarket trading on Friday.

Exxon’s oil equivalent production rose 2 percent to 4 million barrels per day, up from 3.9 million bpd in the same period the year prior. The company said its output in the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. shale basin, rose 140 percent over a year ago.

(Reporting by Jennifer Hiller; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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A Baha’i advocacy group has expressed concerns over the fate of minority Baha’is at the hands of Yemen’s Houthi rebels ahead of the appeals hearing for one of the community leaders sentenced to death.

The Baha’i International Community said in a statement Friday that the hearing for Hamed bin Haydara, detained in 2013 and sentenced to death last year on espionage and apostasy charges, is due on Tuesday.

The statement quotes Bani Dugal, the Baha’i community representative at the United Nations, as saying the prosecution hasn’t addressed Haydara’s appeal but is instead making “absurd, wide-ranging accusations.”

International rights groups have decried the prosecution of Yemeni Baha’is by the Iran-backed Houthis.

Iran has banned the Baha’i religion, which was founded in 1844 by a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by followers.

Source: Fox News World

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

April 26, 2019

By Rupam Jain and Hameed Farzad

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani encouraged newly-elected lawmakers to participate in the peace process with the Taliban as he opened on Friday the first session of parliament since a controversial election.

Ghani has invited thousands of politicians, religious scholars and rights activists to an assembly known as a loya jirga next week to discuss ways to end the 17-year war.

Several opposition leaders have said they will boycott the four-day assembly in Kabul, saying it was pulled together without their input and is being used by Ghani as he seeks a second term in a September presidential election.

“We have presented the peace plan on a regular basis and we are committed to it,” Ghani said in the first session since parliamentary elections marred by technical problems, militant attacks and accusations of voting fraud last year.

“Based on this plan, there will be no peace deal and negotiation that does not have the green card of the parliament,” he added.

Officials from the United States and the Taliban have held several rounds of talks to end the Afghan war.

U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, has reported some progress toward an accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal and on how the Taliban would prevent extremists from using Afghanistan to launch attacks as al Qaeda did on Sept. 11, 2001.

The insurgents have so far rejected U.S. demands for a ceasefire and talks on the country’s political future that would include Afghan government officials.

The loya jirga, a centuries-old institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups, is an attempt by Ghani to influence the peace talks and cement his position for a second term, Afghan politicians and Western diplomats say.

Amid growing political divisions in Kabul, opposition politicians have demanded that Ghani step down when his mandate ends next month, and give way to an interim government to oversee peace talks with the Taliban. Ghani has ruled that out.

The country’s top court said last week Ghani can stay in office until the presidential election in September.

(Reporting by Hameed Farzad, Rupam Jain, Editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Thursday defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation while slamming former President Barack Obama’s administration for being slow to take action on Russian interference in U.S. elections and ex-FBI Director James Comey for telling Congress the agency was investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“Our nation is safer, elections are more secure, and citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence schemes,” Rosenstein said in a speech to the Armenian Bar Association, marking his first public remarks after the Mueller report was released, reports CBS News.

He also pointed out that the investigation revealed a pattern of computer hacking and the use of social media to undermine elections as “only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration also made “critical decisions,” including choosing not to publicize the full story about Russian hackers and social media trolling, “and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” said Rosenstein.

He noted that the Mueller probe began after Comey disclosed during a hearing before Congress that President Donald Trump “pressured him to close the investigation and the president denied that the conversation occurred.”

Rosenstein said two years ago, when he was confirmed, he was told by a Republican senator that he would be in charge of the probe and that he’d report the results to the American people.

However, he said he didn’t promise to do that, because it is “not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei’s factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain must get to the bottom of the leak of confidential discussions during a top-level security meeting about the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains, British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

News that Britain’s National Security Council, attended by senior ministers and spy chiefs, had agreed on Tuesday to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core elements was leaked to a national newspaper.

The leak of secret discussions has sparked anger in parliament and amongst Britain’s intelligence community. Britain’s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill has launched an inquiry and written to ministers who were at the meeting.

“My understanding from London (is) that an investigation has been announced into apparent leaks from the NSC meeting earlier this week,” said Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

“To my knowledge there has never been a leak from a National Security Council meeting before and therefore I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here,” he told Reuters in a pooled interview.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation. The majority of the ministers at the NSC meeting have said they were not involved, according to media reports.

Hammond said he was unaware of any previous leak from a meeting of the NSC.

“It’s not about the substance of what was apparently leaked. It’s not earth-shattering information. But it is important that we protect the principle that nothing that goes on in national security council meetings must ever be repeated outside the room.”

Allowing Huawei a reduced role in building its 5G network puts Britain at odds with the United States which has told allies not to use its technology at all because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

There have been concerns that the NSC’s conclusion, which sources confirmed to Reuters, could upset other allies in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network – the Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, British ministers and intelligence officials have said any final decision on 5G would not put critical national infrastructure at risk. Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber center of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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