FILE PHOTO: Boxing - Deontay Wilder v Tyson Fury - WBC World Heavyweight Title - Staples Centre, Los Angeles, United States - December 1, 2018 Deontay Wilder reacts after knocking down Tyson Fury Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge/File Photo
March 19, 2019
(Reuters) – WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder will put his title on the line against fellow American Dominic Breazeale at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in May, both camps said on Tuesday.
Wilder (39-0-1), who fought to a split decision draw against Briton Tyson Fury in Los Angeles on Dec. 1, will face the 20-1 Breazeale on May 18.
Last December, Breazeale stopped Carlos Negron of Puerto Rico in the ninth round and is the WBC’s mandatory challenger.
“It’s always a great thing to get the mandatories out of the way because I consider the mandatories like flies — they are always buzzing in your ear,” Wilder, known as the Bronze Bomber, said at a media conference.
Breazeale, whose only loss was to WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO champion Anthony Joshua in 2016, added he was looking forward to try and silence his fellow 33-year-old.
“I’m excited to finally get this chump in the ring,” he said. “You love your own voice. All you do is talk and talk and talk.
“It’s time to get into the ring and square off.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
FILE PHOTO: Karate bout between Bakhriniso Babaeva of Uzbekistan and Gu Shiaushaung of Taiwan at JCC Plenary Hall, Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug 28, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo
February 22, 2019
(Reuters) – Karate’s exclusion from the Paris 2024 Olympic program has been heavily criticized by the sport’s governing body and various national associations after being left out of the list of four additional sports for the Games.
The world karate association said in a statement on Friday it was “deeply saddened” by the omission, revealed this week.
“We believed that we had met all the requirements and that we had the perfect conditions to be added to the sports program; however, we have learned today that our dream will not be coming true,” president Antonio Espinos said in a statement on the organization’s official website.
“France is one of the strongest countries in Karate. We had founded hopes to be in Paris 2024 due to the strength and popularity of our sport in France.”
Karate, which is to make its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, was absent from the list of four sports organizers recommended for the 2024 Summer Games, which included surfing, skateboarding, sport climbing and breakdancing.
The association of Japan, which has won the most medals in the world karate championships, also condemned the move.
“This (announcement) came even before people were able to see karate at the Tokyo Olympics. This will bring the mood down ahead of Tokyo,” said general secretary Shuji Kusaka.
The karate association of Spain, the fourth best performing nation of all time at the world championships, behind Japan, France and Great Britain, was also critical of the exclusion.
“Yesterday (Thursday) karate suffered a massive setback. The karate community feels sadness, frustration and above all impotence right now,” said its statement.
“We will be at Tokyo 2020 at the highest level and we’ll show the world that our sport is as worthy as others and we will show the Paris 2024 organizing committee how wrong they are.”
(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Chrsitian Radnedge)
FILE - This undated photo provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections shows Thomas Kokoraleis. The convicted murderer who is suspected of being a member of the notorious "Ripper Crew" that brutally killed as many as 20 women in the 1980s is scheduled to be released on Friday, March 29, 2019. Kokoraleis was initially sentenced to life in prison for the 1982 slaying of 21-year-old Lorry Ann Borowski. But after his appeal request was granted, prosecutors allowed him to plead guilty in exchange for serving half of his 70-year prison term.(Illinois Department of Corrections via AP, File)
AURORA, Ill. – Police say a man convicted of murder and suspected of belonging to a notorious gang that killed as many as 20 Chicago-area women in the 1980s has registered as a sex offender in suburban Chicago.
Thomas Kokoraleis was released from prison Friday. Aurora Police Sgt. Bill Rowley says the 58-year-old walked into the department Sunday and registered to live at Aurora-based Wayside Cross Ministries.
The Illinois Sex Offender Information registry lists Kokoraleis as living in Wheaton.
Kokoraleis was among four men accused of being part of the "Ripper Crew" satanic cult. He was initially sentenced to life in prison for the 1982 slaying of 21-year-old Lorraine "Lorry" Ann Borowski.
Prosecutors allowed him to plead guilty on appeal in a deal that infuriated victims' relatives but allowed for his release last week.
Alex Jones joins the Joe Rogan podcast for the first time since the internet beef went viral and the original podcast was the most popular podcast of all time. We also react to the conclusion of the Michael Cohen testimony and takes calls responding to it and the Rogan podcast as well.
GUEST // (OTP/Skype) // TOPICS: Tommy Sotomayor//Skype Kaitlin Bennett//Skype
It is odd that just four days before the New Zealand massacre, John Podesta, former Hillary Clinton campaign chairman, former Bill Clinton White House Chief of Staff, former Obama Administration counselor, and chairman for the Center for American Progress would be present to praise Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as a “superstar.”
The New Zealand Herald reported four days before the massacre that “John Podesta, told Newstalk… Ardern had given hope to social democrats all around the world.”
“She’s made an impression on the world. She’s somebody that people are paying attention to,” said Podesta.
Podesta had been overseeing a global progressives event titled, “The Path to Progress,” and had been interviewed by New Zealand’s Newshub describing New Zealand as “a big juicy target.”
Adding to Podesta’s ominous appearance was the mainstream media’s immediate predictable silence on the shooter’s leftist leanings, instead opting to further their version of the shooter’s manifesto by linking the blame to President Trump and painting the President as a white nationalist sympathizer.
While casting a wide net over white America, the media subtly propagandized that all of white America is a racist nightmare that must be dealt with.
FILE PHOTO: Isla Oil Refinery PDVSA terminal is seen in Willemstad on the island of Curacao, February 22, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Romero/File Photo
March 28, 2019
By Julia Payne and Dmitry Zhdannikov
LONDON (Reuters) – The United States has instructed oil trading houses and refiners around the world to further cut dealings with Venezuela or face sanctions themselves, even if the trades are not prohibited by published U.S. sanctions, three sources familiar with the matter said.
The move comes as Washington’s efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaido have stalled, and is further evidence of how it is leaning on non-U.S. firms to achieve its foreign policy goals.
The U.S. imposed fresh sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry earlier this year but some companies have continued to supply the country with fuel from India, Russia and Europe.
Washington is particularly keen to end deliveries of gasoline and refined products used to dilute Venezuela’s heavy crude oil to make it suitable for export. Jet fuel and diesel would be exempt for humanitarian reasons, the sources said.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a ban in early February on the use of its financial system in oil deals with Venezuela after April.
But as recently as this week, the U.S. State department has called up foreign firms to say that the scope of the sanctions is wider.
The sources said that the State Department made clear that any kind of oil trade, whether it be direct, indirect or barter, would be considered a breach.
OFAC and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“This is how the United States operates these days. They have written rules and then they call you to explain that there are also unwritten rules that they want you to follow,” one of the sources said.
Washington has been using its oil clout more and more. At a major oil event in Houston this month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a rare appearance and laid out a vision of working with energy firms to isolate Iran and Venezuela.
Venezuela’s overall exports of crude and fuel dropped to 920,000 barrels a day in the first month of sanctions from more than 1.5 million bpd in the prior three months, according to Refinitiv Eikon and state firm PDVSA data.
Russia, however, remains a staunch supporter of Maduro’s government which has plunged Venezuela into an economic and humanitarian crisis.
In an escalation of tensions, U.S. President Donald Trump called on Moscow to remove all its soldiers from Venezuela after a Russian military contingent arrived just outside of Caracas, saying “all options” were open to make that happen.
Russia responded on Thursday saying it had sent “specialists” to Venezuela under a military cooperation deal.
The biggest trading firms, based in Europe, such as Vitol, Gunvor, Mercuria, Trafigura and Glencore account for about 10 percent of global oil trade.
(Reporting By Julia Payne and Dmitry Zhdannikov in London, Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
FILE PHOTO: Britain's former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Esther McVey speaks during a "Leave Means Leave" rally in London, Britain January 17, 2019. REUTERS/Simon Dawson
March 17, 2019
LONDON (Reuters) – Esther McVey, a former British minister who resigned from government over Theresa May’s Brexit deal, said on Sunday she would back the prime minister’s plan to leave the European Union in a vote this week.
May is expected to put her divorce deal with the EU before parliament for its approval in a vote on Tuesday or Wednesday, after lawmakers rejected it twice before.
“The choice before us is this deal or no Brexit whatsoever and to not have Brexit would go against the democratic vote of the people,” McVey told Sky News. She resigned from May’s team of senior ministers in November last year to be able to vote against May’s deal.
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
April 26, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said trade talks with China are going very well, as the world’s two largest economies seek to end talks with a trade agreement to defuse tensions.
Trump said on Thursday he would soon host China’s President Xi Jinping at the White House.
Earlier this week, the White House said that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would travel to Beijing for more talks on a trade dispute marked by tit-for-tat tariffs between the two countries.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments on North Korea this week following the Russian leader’s summit with Pyongyang’s Kim Jong Un.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump also said China was helping with efforts aimed at the denuclearization of North Korea.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Makini Brice; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Representatives of Russian Transneft, Ukranian Ukrtransnafta, Polish Pern and Belarusian Belneftekhim gather to hold talks on fixing tainted oil supplies to Europe, in Minsk, Belarus April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
April 26, 2019
By Katya Golubkova and Andrei Makhovsky
MOSCOW/MINSK (Reuters) – Russia is confident it can soon resolve a problem of polluted Russian oil contaminating a major pipeline serving Europe and affecting supplies as far west as Germany, a senior official said on Friday at talks with importers about the issue.
Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin did not give a precise timeframe but Moscow has previously said it would pump clean oil to the border with Belarus from April 29, seeking to end a crisis hitting the world’s second-largest crude exporter.
Sorokin was speaking at talks with officials from Belarus, Poland and Ukraine in Minsk on the issue. Belarus said the issue had cost it $100 million, while analysts say alternative supply routes for refiners cannot fully fill the gap.
Poland, Germany, Ukraine and Slovakia have suspended imports of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline. Halting those supplies has knock-on effects further along the network.
The problem arose last week when an unidentified Russian producer contaminated oil with high levels of organic chloride used to boost oil output but which must be separated before shipment as it can destroy refining equipment.
Russia’s Energy Ministry said pipeline monopoly Transneft and other Russian companies had a plan to mitigate the effects of the contaminated oil. It did not give details.
Russian officials have said contaminated oil has already been pumped into storage in Russia and Friday’s talks would focus on how to partially withdraw the tainted crude from the Druzhba pipeline running via other countries.
The suspension cuts off a major supply route for Polish refineries owned by Poland’s PKN Orlen and Grupa Lotos, as well as plants in Germany owned by Total, Shell, Eni and Rosneft.
Some refiners have outlined plans for alternative supplies, but analysts say other routes cannot meet the shortfall.
OIL PRICES
Ukraine’s Ukrtransnafta suspended the transit of oil through the pipeline on Thursday, closing supplies via Druzhba’s southern route to Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The pipeline issue, which has supported global oil prices, lifted Russian Urals crude differentials to an all-time high on Thursday.
With pipeline supplies to Europe shut, Russia faces a challenge of how to divert about 1 million barrels per day (bpd) that was meant to be shipped through the network to other destinations at the time when export capacity is at its limits.
State-run Russian Railways held talks with energy firms on using up to 5,000 rail tankers to transport crude, RIA news agency reported on Friday.
Concerns about the quality of Urals crude also caused delays in loadings at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga, when buyers refused to lift cargoes, resulting in a brief shutdown of the port on Wednesday and Thursday. An Ust-Luga official and traders said on Friday loadings had resumed.
Russian loading plans indicate it aims to boost Urals exports in May before the expiry of a deal on output cuts agreed with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, Reuters calculations and Energy Ministry data show.
The provisional loading plan for Russia’s Baltic Sea ports and Novorossiisk in May show exports rising to 10.7 million tonnes, the highest level in half a decade.
Minsk estimated its loss from lower oil product exports due to contaminated Russian oil at around $100 million, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported on Thursday, citing Belarusian state oil company Belneftekhim.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, in charge of government energy policy, said this week that those found responsible for contaminating the oil could be fined. He did not provide names.
(Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko in WARSAW, Sandor Peto in BUDAPEST, Jason Hovet in PRAGUE, Matthias Williams and Natalia Zinets in KIEV, Katya Golubkova, Olesya Astakhova, Gleb Gorodyankin, Olga Yagova and Maxim Rodionov in MOSCOW, Andrei Makhovsky in MINSK; writing by Katya Golubkova; editing by Michael Perry and Edmund Blair)
FILE PHOTO: A worker sits on a ship carrying containers at Mundra Port in the western Indian state of Gujarat April 1, 2014. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo
April 26, 2019
(Reuters) – India has once again delayed the implementation of higher tariffs on some goods imported from the United States to May 15, a government official said on Friday.
The new tariff structure was to come into force from May 2, the spokeswoman said without citing reasons for the delay.
Angered by Washington’s refusal to exempt it from new steel and aluminum tariffs, New Delhi decided in June last year to raise the import tax from Aug. 4 on some U.S. products including almonds, walnuts and apples.
But since then, New Delhi has repeatedly delayed the implementation of the new tariff.
Trade friction between India and the U.S. has escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans earlier this year to end preferential trade treatment for India that allows duty-free entry for up to $5.6 billion worth of its exports to the United States.
In a further blow, U.S. on Monday demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers including India to continue importing limited volumes.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar in New Delhi and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Joe Biden has hired Symone Sanders, a prominent political strategist, as a senior adviser to his newly launched presidential campaign. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
One of Joe Biden’s newly-hired senior advisers has seemingly had a very recent change of heart.
But Sanders, who has also served as a CNN contributor, is seen in resurfaced footage from November 2016 expressing her opposition to a white person leading her party after Donald Trump’s election.
“In my opinion, we don’t need white people leading the Democratic party right now,” Sanders told host Brianna Keilar during a discussion on Howard Dean potentially becoming DNC chairman.
“The Democratic party is diverse, and it should be reflected as so in leadership and throughout the staff, at the highest levels. From the vice chairs to the secretaries all the way down to the people working in the offices at the DNC,” she said.
Sanders wrapped up her remarks by saying: “I want to hear more from everybody. I want to hear from the millennials and the brown folks.”
“@JoeBiden & @DrBiden are a class act. Over the course of this campaign, Vice President Biden is going to make his case to the American ppl. He won’t always be perfect, but I believe he will get it right,” she wrote.
The hiring of Sanders has been viewed as another indication of the expected tough fight that Biden and Sanders are in for as the two frontrunners battle a deep Democratic field.
Biden’s entry into the race – at least in the early going – sets up a battle between himself and Sanders, who thanks to his fierce fight with eventual nominee Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination, enjoys name ID on the level of the former vice president.
Justice Democrats — who also called Biden “out-of-touch” – is an increasingly influential group among the left of the party. They’ve championed progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as well as Sanders. The group was founded by members of Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.
Biden has pushed back against the perception that he’s a moderate in a party that’s increasingly moving to the left. Earlier this month he described himself as an “Obama-Biden Democrat.”
And Biden said he’d stack his record against “anybody who has run or who is running now or who will run.”
Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile – a Fox News contributor – highlighted that “Joe Biden can occupy his own lane in large part because he’s earned it. He’s earned the right to call himself whatever.”
But she emphasized that “elections are not about the past, they’re about the future…I do believe he has the right ingredients. The question is can he find enough people to help him stir the pot.”
Fox News Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.
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