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Trump Admin Defies EU Threats, Allows Cuba-Related Claims

April 17, 2019

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The Trump administration is defying explicit legal threats the European Union privately issued last week to top U.S. officials by moving forward with its plans to ratchet up pressure on Cuba by allowing U.S. nationals to file legal claims against foreign companies that do business there.

The bold move by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in conjunction with the White House is a stark example of the escalating economic tensions between the U.S. and Europe that are already playing out on Iran sanctions policy and President Trump’s decision to tear up the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal.

In a sternly worded April 10 letter from top European Commission trade officials to Pompeo, obtained by RealClearPolitics, the EC threatened to launch a World Trade Organization lawsuit against the United States if it moved forward with plans to end a waiver, known as Title III of the Helms-Burton Act.

The Helms-Burton Act, also known as the Libertad Act, groups together all of the U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba and has been in effect since 1996.

Ending the Helms-Burton waiver would allow U.S. citizens to sue individuals and companies – including European citizens and businesses — in U.S. courts for commercial use of property they once owned but that was seized by the Cuban government after 1959.

“Recent decisions taken by the U.S. in relation to Title III – namely to depart from the regular six-month extension and to have it partially activated – are raising serious concerns across the EU,” wrote Federica Mogherini, the European Commission’s vice president, and Cecilia Malmstrom, a member of its trade commission, in the letter obtained by RCP.

“The EU considers that the extraterritorial application of unilateral restrictive measures … is contrary to international law. Any decision to further activate it would have an important impact on legitimate EU (and US) economic operators.”

If the U.S. moves forward with its plans, the EU officials threatened to “use all means at its disposal, including in cooperation with other international partners, to protect its interests,” they wrote, pointedly noting that “the EU is considering a possible launch of the WTO case.”

The officials also noted that any claimant U.S. company or citizens would be subjected to counterclaims and liability for damages in EU courts.

Mogherini and Malmstrom sent copies of the letter to National Security Adviser John Bolton and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced that it was rejecting those concerns and moving forward with its plans to allow U.S. citizens and companies who had their property seized by the Castros to sue those entities that have been using the confiscated property. Many of those entities are foreign companies such as hotels and shipping businesses.

The decision is a victory for hardliners who have been pressing the administration to take a tougher stance on Cuba policy. It comes amid a new administration effort to curb oil shipments between Cuba and Venezuela.

“For 22+ years, Title III of the Libertad Act was suspended in the hope the Cuban regime would transition to democracy,” Pompeo tweeted Wednesday morning, “but the @realDonaldTrump Administration recognizes reality – dictators see appeasement as weakness. President Obama’s attempt to moderate the regime didn’t work.”

Florida senators, both Republicans, issued strong statements supporting the move.

“By allowing US citizens to sue #CastroRegime for property stolen from them in #Cuba @realDonaldTrump is ending almost 6 decades of injustice,” Rubio tweeted. “It also punished regime for its criminal support of #MaduroRegime & honors veterans of Brigade2506 on this 58th anniversary of #BayofPigs.”

Europe has been on edge over U.S. Cuba policy in recent months after Pompeo shorted the length of the Title III waiver in March and allowed court cases to move forward in the U.S. against a number of Cuban companies with military ownership.

After Pompeo’s latest announcement, the European Union and Canada on Wednesday said they planned to take the matter up at the WTO. The EU is Cuba’s No. 2 trade partner and its largest foreign investor.

In a joint statement, Mogherini, Malmstrom and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said the U.S. decision would have “an important impact on legitimate EU and Canadian economic operators in Cuba.”

“We are determined to work together to protect the interests of our companies in the context of the WTO,” they said, adding that the U.S. action “can only  lead to an unnecessary spiral of legal actions.”

While Wednesday’s response from the EU and Canada fell short of a formal launch of a WTO case, it signaled the widening diplomatic rift between Europe and the U.S.

But the threats aren’t just a dramatic legal bluff. The EU launched a case against the U.S. in the WTO in 1996 after Helms-Burton passed, but they withdrew it after President Bill Clinton decide to resolve the matter by issuing a waiver, which presidents have extended every six months until the beginning of this year.

The current administration’s action is the most far-reaching of any U.S. president against Cuba over the last three decades. It’s part of the administration’s decision to elevate Latin America as a national security priority. Bolton delivered a speech last year at Miami’s Freedom Tower to a group of Cuban and Venezuelan exiles, calling the leftist governments of their homelands along with Nicaragua the “troika of tyranny in this hemisphere.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla called the activation of Title III “an attack against international law and the sovereignty of #Cuba & third States.”

“Aggressive escalation of #US against #Cuba will fail. As in Giron (Bay of Pigs), we shall overcome,” he added.

Cuba has been struggling to boost its ailing economy by attracting foreign investments, and the action by the Trump administration could further hamper those efforts if the commercial enterprises involve confiscated property.

Jason Poblete, a Washington-area attorney who represents several claimants to confiscated Cuban property, said Europe has become too cozy with Havana because of its financial ties to the communist island nation.

“I wonder if the EU’s foreign minister and top trade official wrote a similar letter to [Rodriguez Parrilla] urging Cuba to consider negotiations to settle this matter once and for all?” Poblete told RCP. “My sense is they did not.”

“As with the Iran deal, Europe has demonstrated they are not interested in solutions,” he said. “America needs to look out for American interests first for a change.”

Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics’ White House/national political correspondent.

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Trump Cracks Down on Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela

April 17, 2019

The Trump administration on Wednesday intensified its crackdown on Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, rolling back Obama administration policy and announcing new restrictions and sanctions against the three countries whose leaders national security adviser John Bolton dubbed the “three stooges of socialism.”

“The troika of tyranny — Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua — is beginning to crumble,” Bolton said in a hard-hitting speech near Miami on the 58th anniversary of the United States’ failed Bay of Pigs invasion of the island, an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government.

Bolton announced a new cap on the amount of money families in the United States can send their relatives in Cuba. The Obama administration had lifted limits on remittances, but the new limit will be $1,000 per person per quarter, Bolton said. Remittances to Cuba from the United States amounted to $3 billion in 2016, according to the State Department.

Bolton also announced that the U.S. was sanctioning the Central Bank of Venezuela, which the Trump administration says has been instrumental in propping up the embattled government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He also announced sanctions against financial services provider Bancorp, which he claimed is a “slush fund” for Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega.

“The United States looks forward to watching each corner of this sordid triangle of terror fall: in Havana, in Caracas, and in Managua,” Bolton said in South Florida, which is home to thousands of exiles and immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

He said Obama administration policies gave the Cuban government “political cover to expand its malign influence” across the region, including in Venezuela. Cuba has trained Venezuelan security forces to repress civilians and support Maduro, Bolton said.

“Havana continues to prop up Maduro and help him sustain the brutal suffering of the Venezuelan people,” Bolton said. “As President Trump has said, Maduro is quite simply a ‘Cuban puppet.'”

“Thousands of Cuban doctors in Venezuela are being used as pawns by Maduro and his Cuban sponsors to support his brutal and oppressive reign.”

Bolton’s pledge to “never, ever abandon” the people of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua in their fight for freedom also might ring hollow in light of the historical events he sought to highlight at the event hosted by the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association.

Many Cuban Americans to this day resent the late President John F. Kennedy for not deploying American troops at a critical moment in the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Meanwhile, with the high stakes of the Cold War a fading memory, some critics of U.S. policy toward Venezuela worry that the Trump administration’s stance that all options are on the table, including a military one, to oust Maduro is an empty threat that will only serve to ignite the streets and geopolitical tensions with Russia, compounding the misery of Venezuelan citizens.

“Honoring one of U.S.’ greatest military fiascos from 60 years back suggests U.S. policy to Latin America owes more now to a perverse Cold War nostalgia than practical benefits for people of the region,” said Ivan Briscoe, the Latin American director for the International Crisis Group, a think tank headquartered in Brussels.

Bolton spoke just hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced in Washington a new policy that allows lawsuits against foreign firms operating on properties Cuba seized from Americans after the 1959 revolution. The United States has enforced a trade blockade against Cuba since the early 1960s.

The announcement comes at a moment of severe economic weakness for Cuba, which is struggling to find enough cash to import basic food and other supplies following a drop in aid from Venezuela and a string of bad years in other key economic sectors.

Pompeo said he won’t renew a bar on litigation that has been in place for two decades, meaning that lawsuits can be filed starting on May 2 when the current suspension expires. The decision could cost dozens of Canadian and European companies tens of billions of dollars in compensation and interest.

Pompeo’s decision gives Americans the right to sue companies that operate out of hotels, tobacco factories, distilleries and other properties Cuba nationalized after Fidel Castro took power. It allows Cubans who became U.S. citizens years after their properties were taken to sue.

The Justice Department has certified roughly 6,000 claims as having merit, according to Kimberly Breier, the top U.S. diplomat for the Americas. Those claims have an estimated value of $8 billion: $2 billion in property and $6 billion in interest, she said. In addition, another 200,000 uncertified claims could run into the tens of billions of dollars, she said.

Breier said there would be no exceptions to the decision, which has already prompted stern responses from Canada and Europe as they have vowed to protect their businesses from lawsuits.

“European companies that are operating in Cuba will have nothing to worry about if they are not operating on properties taken from Americans,” she said.

The decision deals a severe blow to Havana’s efforts to draw foreign investment to the island and comes as Trump steps up pressure to Venezuela’s Maduro , who is holding power with help from other countries, including Cuba, China and Russia.

Spain, which has large investments in hotels and other tourism-related industries on the island, was the first to react. A senior government official told The Associated Press that Madrid would ask the European Union to challenge the U.S. move in the World Trade Organization.

Businesses from Canada, France and Great Britain among other countries also conduct business in properties nationalized after Castro took power.

Johana Tablada, Cuba’s deputy director of U.S. affairs, said on Twitter: “Before they try to euphorically ride a wave of wickedness and lies, they should take a dose of reality. The world has told John Bolton and the U.S. government to eliminate the criminal blockade against Cuba and the Helms-Burton Act” of 1996.

Countries with large investments in Cuba have ferociously protested the law.

“The extraterritorial application of the U.S. embargo is illegal and violates international law,” said Alberto Navarro, the European Union ambassador to Cuba. “I personally consider it immoral. For 60 years the only thing that’s resulted from the embargo is the suffering of the

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Mumps Vaccine Linked to Infertility in Adolescents, Young Adults – Report

April 17, 2019

It has been about five decades since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Merck’s first mumps vaccine.

The company began launching combination MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccines in the 1970s.

Coincidentally—or not—an infertility crisis has been brewing over roughly the same time period, with dramatic declines in sperm counts and record-low fertility levels.

However, few investigators seem interested in assessing whether mumps outbreaks in highly vaccinated populations of teens and young adults could be having long-term effects on fertility or other health indicators.

As described in Part I, childhood MMR vaccination has been an unmitigated disaster where mumps is concerned, deferring mumps infection to older ages and leaving adolescents and young adults vulnerable to serious reproductive complications. Public health reports show that the vast majority of mumps cases and outbreaks occur in youth who have been fully vaccinated with the prescribed two-dose MMR series, supporting a hypothesis of “waning immunity after the second dose.” FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials even admit that mumps outbreaks in the post-vaccination era “typically involve young adults,” and that vaccination is failing to protect those who are college-age and above.

Myopically, many vaccine experts have called for a third MMR dose—or even “booster dosing throughout adulthood”—even though the FDA’s and CDC’s own research shows that MMR boosters in college-age youth barely last one year. As alleged in whistleblower lawsuits wending their way through the courts over the past eight years, Merck presented the FDA with a “falsely inflated efficacy rate” for the MMR’s mumps component, using animal antibodies and other fraudulent tactics to fool FDA—and the public—into believing that the vaccine was effective.

Have you heard about serious infections traced back to vaccinations in 3 states? Why not?

Mumps After Puberty is No Laughing Matter

Around the time that the first mumps vaccine came on the market, the 1967 children’s classic The Great Brain humorously depicted mumps infection in childhood as a mere nuisance. The book’s young protagonist goes out of his way to intentionally infect himself with mumps so that he can beat his two brothers to the recovery finish line—and he experiences no adverse consequences other than his siblings’ annoyance.

When infection arises after puberty, however, mumps is no laughing matter, presenting an increased risk of complications such as hearing loss, encephalitis and inflammation of the reproductive organs. About one in three postpubertal men with mumps develops orchitis(inflammation of the testes), which can damage sperm, affect testosterone production and contribute to subfertility and infertility. During a mumps outbreak in England in the mid-2000s, mumps orchitis accounted for 42% of all hospitalized mumps cases; the researchers attributed this outcome—which was the most common reason for hospitalization—to “the high attack rates in adolescents and young adults” that occurred “despite high coverage with two-dose MMR.” An analysis of a 2006 mumps outbreak in the U.S. reported that male patients were over three times more likely than female patients to experience complications, “due primarily to orchitis.”

Mumps infections are often asymptomatic or produce nonspecific symptoms such as fever, while cases of orchitis may present with no other mumps symptoms. Nonetheless, public health officials advise clinicians that orchitis is an instant cue to test for mumps virus, and testing often reveals elevated mumps antibodies. In a case report of MMR failure, British clinicians isolated a novel genetic strain of mumps virus from the patient’s semen two weeks after the onset of orchitis and found mumps RNA in the semen 40 days later; they also noted “the appearance of anti-sperm antibodies,” with “potential long-term adverse effects on the patient’s fertility.”

In 2017, researchers who reviewed 185 studies conducted in Western nations found that sperm counts had plummeted by 50% to 60% between 1973 and 2011—an average decrease of 1.4% annually. Commenting on this work, one analyst estimated that 20% to 30% of young men in Europe and North America have sperm concentrations associated with a reduced ability to father a child. Given estimates that as much as 40% of reproductive problems have to do with the male partner, there is agreement on the importance of “finding and eliminating [the] hidden culprits in the environment” that most researchers believe are to blame.

An estimated 5% to 10% of postpubertal women will develop oophoritis (swelling of the ovaries) following mumps infection. Oophoritis is associated with premature menopause and infertility, but mumps-related oophoritis has garnered little notice.

MMR’s and MMRV’s Potential to Impair Fertility Never Studied

Merck has not evaluated either of its two MMR vaccines—the MMR-II and the MMR-plus-varicella (MMRV) vaccine—for their potential to impair fertility. Whether such testing would unearth direct effects on fertility (as appears to be possible with HPV vaccination in women) is thus unknown. However, mumps vaccination undeniably increases reproductive-age individuals’ risk of mumps infection and, in the process, increases the risk of fertility-altering complications. These facts alone should be attracting far more attention.

Unfortunately, because clinicians already tend to underdiagnose mumps infection and underestimate mumps complications, it is likely that they are failing to recognize possible vaccine-induced reproductive health consequences of mumps infection in their adolescent and young adult patients. In one university outbreak, “most physicians…did not suspect mumps,” and even when they became aware of the outbreak, “diagnosing mumps was not always straightforward.” Moreover, although differentiating between vaccine strains of mumps virus and wild types could provide valuable information, few clinicians have the capacity or inclination to perform testing of this type. A Japanese study of cerebrospinal fluid and saliva from patients with mumps complications found vaccine strain in nearly all of the samples and noted the information’s importance in helping determine whether the complications were vaccine-related.

Those who have sought to understand mumps vaccines’ poor performance point to a mixture of explanatory factors. These include waning immunity, the high population density and close quarters encountered in settings such as college campuses, incomplete vaccine-induced immunity to wild virus as well as viral evolution such that “the vaccine triggers a less potent reaction against today’s mumps viruses than those of 50 years ago.” However, some also quietly admit that individuals with “mild vaccine-modified disease” could be perpetuating the chain of transmission. This latter point ought to be raising questions about the logic and wisdom of administering further rounds of MMR boosters during outbreaks while ignoring the problems created by the doses already given.

Most scientists appear to be either resigned to ongoing mumps outbreaks in vaccinated populations or actually accept periodic outbreaks as the cost of doing business. Publications by FDA and CDC researchers reveal these agencies’ awareness that some individuals respond poorly to mumps vaccination and that vaccine-induced antibody levels correlate poorly with protection from mumps infection, “irrespective of the number of additional doses of mumps-containing vaccine they receive.” Considering the effects on fertility, the generally abysmal track record of mumps vaccination and Merck’s fraudulent claims about efficacy, it is hard to fathom medical and public health experts’ complacency about current mumps vaccines and vaccine policies.

The viewpoints expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Infowars.

Sol Pais has been found dead in Colorado after Authorities were made aware of her intentions to possibly commit a mass shooting.

Source: InfoWars

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Brexit Anxiety Sparks UK Gold Grab

April 17, 2019

The amount of gold held by Europe-based ETFs hit a record high in the first quarter of 2019, according to a report by the World Gold Council.

European funds now hold 1,121.4 tons of gold.

The WGC pinpoints three primary drivers of European gold investment.

  • Loose monetary policy and negative yields. The warning lights have been flashing for some time: the global and European economy is slowing.
  • Geopolitical uncertainty. Political uncertainty across the continent is also front and center of investors’ minds.
  • Financial market performance and volatility. Over the past three years, European equity market performance has significantly lagged that of other major western markets

Net inflows of gold into European ETFs started in 2016 with a record 281 tons. That year turned out to be the beginning of a long-lasting trend. European funds added 149.7 tons of gold in 2017 and 90.8 tons last year.

Funds in the United Kingdom and Germany saw the biggest growth at the country level.

Special report on how global giants are dealing with precious metals.

UK funds led the way, accounting for about 50% of the total. Brits have dealt with the anxiety of Brexit by hoarding gold. The flow of gold into UK-based ETFs is part of a broader trend. British investors are also stocking up on physical metal. According to a statement by The Royal Mint, the demand for gold bars and gold coins spiked last December as uncertainty about the UK’s exit from the EU grew.

Germans have also been turning to gold as recession fears grow.

Interest rates continue to hover near zero throughout the EU. The European Central Bank never got around to taking any significant steps toward interest rate normalization after the Great Recession. In fact, last month the ECB relaunched a crisis-era bank lending program. The WGC said, “significant rate hikes are unlikely any time soon.”

The ECB’s QE purchases totaled somewhere in the neighborhood of  2.6 trillion euros. What did the EU get for all this stimulus? Not a whole lot. We have highlighted the “successes” of ECB QE. Even with the ECB’s half-hearted attempts at winding down the stimulus, it already looks like Germany – and a lot of other EU countries – is slipping toward an economic downturn. It’s no wonder European investors are turning to gold.

(Photo by Colin / Wikimedia Commons)

The WGC says it expects demand for gold in European ETFs will remain robust this year.

“Looking ahead, it is likely many of these trends will remain in place and support further growth in this part of the gold market. The Eurozone economy is faltering; a recession looks increasingly probable, as does further monetary easing by the ECB. Investors added another 20 tons in Q1 2019 in their continued search for a safe haven to protect their wealth in the face of these challenges.”

Inflows of gold into ETFs are significant in their effect on the world gold market, pushing overall demand higher.

ETFs are backed by physical gold held by the issuer and are traded on the market like stocks. They allow investors to play gold without having to buy full ounces of gold at spot price. Since their purchase is just a number in a computer, they can trade their investment into another stock or cash pretty much whenever they want, even multiple times on the same day. Many speculative investors appreciate this liquidity.

There are good reasons to invest in ETFs, but they aren’t a substitute for owning physical metal. In an overall investment strategy, SchiffGold recommends buying gold bullion first.

When considering gold-backed ETFs, you should always keep in mind that you don’t actually own the gold. Buying the most common ETFs does not entitle you to any actual amount of the precious metal.

Dr. Nick Begich joins Alex Jones live in studio to break down why the globalists, as they consolidate power into the hands of corporate interests worldwide, fear the individual.

Source: InfoWars

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U.S. purchase mortgage activity hits nine-year high: MBA

April 17, 2019

Homes are seen for sale in the northwest area of Portland
FILE PHOTO: Homes are seen for sale in the northwest area of Portland, Oregon March 20, 2014. REUTERS/Steve Dipaola

April 17, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Applications to U.S. lenders seeking loans to buy a home climbed to their highest level in almost nine years last week even as mortgage rates increased for a second week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

The Washington-based group’s seasonally-adjusted barometer on purchase mortgage activity, which is seen as a proxy on future housing activity, edged up 0.9% to 280.7 in the week of April 12, marking its strongest reading since 291.3 in the week of April 30, 2010.

(GRAPHIC: U.S. mortgage applications – https://tmsnrt.rs/2RnEpRD)

“The spring buying season continues to be robust, with activity more than 7% higher than a year ago and up year-over-year for the ninth straight week,” Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said in a statement.

The latest pickup in loan requests for home purchases has not been hampered by the uptick in borrowing costs.

Interest rates on conforming 30-year mortgages, with loan balances of $484,350 or less, averaged 4.44% last week, up 4 basis points from the prior week, MBA said.

Other mortgage rates MBA tracks on average increased anywhere from 1 basis points to 10 basis points.

Home loan rates rose in step with rising bond yields, as investors pared their bond holdings on less dismal data from China, Europe and the United States.

On the other hand, refinancing applications fell 8.2% to 1,453.0 in the last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, MBA said.

The refinancing index reached its highest level since November 2016 two weeks earlier at 1,786, when mortgage rates fell to their lowest levels in over 14 months.

The share of refinancing requests versus total applications shrank to 41.5% from 44.1% the week before.

MBA’s seasonally adjusted gauge on overall mortgage application activity decreased 3.5% to 459.0 in the latest week. It retreated further from a 2-1/2 year peak set two weeks ago.

MBA’s weekly survey, which began in 1990, covers more than 75% of all U.S. retail mortgage applications.

(Reporting by Richard Leong, Editing by Franklin Paul and Nick Zieminski)

Source: OANN

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Pelosi reaffirms U.S. support for Ireland amid Brexit impasse

April 17, 2019

U.S. House Speaker Pelosi visits Dublin
Ireland’s Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar welcomes U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Government Buildings in Dublin, Ireland April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

April 17, 2019

By Padraic Halpin and Graham Fahy

DUBLIN (Reuters) – The United States would not agree to any trade deal with Britain if future Brexit arrangements undermine peace in Ireland, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday during a visit to Dublin.

Reaffirming a message of U.S. solidarity with Ireland first delivered in a speech on Monday in London, Pelosi said it was vital to keep a “seamless border” between the Irish Republic and British-ruled Northern Ireland after the UK exits the European Union.

Her comments are likely to irk some members of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party whose insistence on a ‘clean’ break with the EU’s customs union and single market have raised the prospect of new border controls on the island of Ireland. They also want a new trade deal with the United States.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we must ensure that nothing happens in the Brexit discussions that imperils the Good Friday accord, including, but not limited to, the seamless border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland,” Pelosi told a special joint sitting of Ireland’s parliament.

“Let me be clear, if the Brexit deal undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be no chance of a U.S/UK trade agreement. As you face the challenges posed by Brexit, know that the United States Congress, Democrats and Republicans in the House and in the Senate, stand with you.”

Pelosi is leading a Congressional delegation to Europe.

How to keep EU-member Ireland’s 500km (350 mile) border with Northern Ireland open after Brexit is proving the most intractable issue in Britain’s tortuous efforts to leave the EU.

May’s government is now in talks with the opposition Labour Party to build support for her divorce deal that parliament has already rejected three times, forcing a delay of at least six months in the UK’s departure date.

Much of the opposition to May’s deal within her own party is centered on fears that it would not provide a clean enough break to allow the United Kingdom to forge new trade deals around the world, especially with the United States.

Democratic congressman Brendan Boyle told the Irish Times newspaper that pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers the Congressional delegation had met in London this week “were not exactly pleased with what they heard from the U.S. side”.

Democrat Richard Neal, another visiting member and chairman of the Congressional committee overseeing trade, sounded a similar warning in February when Ireland’s deputy prime minister visited Washington to ask members of Capitol Hill’s powerful Irish-American caucus for their support on Brexit.

The Congressional delegation is due to visit Northern Ireland on Thursday.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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EU unfair practices digital rules put spotlight on Google, Amazon, Facebook

April 17, 2019

The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London
FILE PHOTO: The Google logo is pictured at the entrance to the Google offices in London, Britain January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

April 17, 2019

By Foo Yun Chee

STRASBOURG (Reuters) – Google and Amazon will have to tell companies how they rank products on their platforms while Facebook and other tech firms will have to be more transparent about their terms and conditions under new EU rules approved on Wednesday.

The platform-to-business (P2B) law, proposed by the European Commission in April last year, is the latest move by Europe to rein in online giants and ensure they treat smaller rivals and users fairly.

Lawmakers at the European Parliament gave the green light to the new laws on Wednesday, which will have to be rubber stamped by the European Council in the coming months before they take effect. Negotiators from all three bodies reached a political deal in February.

The new rules, which will cover 7,000 online companies, target e-commerce market places, app stores, social media and price comparison tools.

Google’s three products Play, Shopping and Search, Apple’s App Store, Microsoft’s Store and Bing, Amazon Marketplace, eBay, Fnac Marketplace, Facebook’s Instagram, Skyscanner, Yahoo! and DuckDuckGo are some of the companies affected by the rules.

“As the first-ever regulation in the world that addresses the challenges of business relations within the online platform economy, it is an important milestone of the Digital Single Market and lays the ground for future developments,” Andrus Ansip, the Commission’s digital chief, said.

The rules include a blacklist of unfair trading practices, require companies to set up an internal system to handle complaints and allow businesses to group together to sue platforms.

The tech industry, which successfully lobbied for the light regulatory regime, welcomed the lawmakers’ endorsement.

“This new regulation will positively contribute to achieving the digital single market, while reinforcing trust and predictability online,” tech lobbying group EDiMA said.

Its members include Amazon, Apple, eBay, Expedia, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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EU needs central supervisor to tackle money laundering ‘rats’: Latvia’s PM

April 17, 2019

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins delivers a speech during a debate on the future of Europe, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg
Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins delivers a speech during a debate on the future of Europe, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, April 17, 2019. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

April 17, 2019

By Foo Yun Chee

STRASBOURG (Reuters) – Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins pledged on Wednesday to rid the country’s banking system of money-laundering “rats” in a year, as the Baltic state faces international pressure over its ability to counter financial crime.

In a speech to European Union lawmakers, Karins also said the best way to address the problem across the bloc was to set up a central supervisor to monitor and tackle money laundering, replacing the patchwork of national watchdogs that have sometimes proved ineffective against cross-border crime.

EU lawmakers and the European Central Bank have repeatedly called for the creation of a new supervisor against financial crime, but many EU governments have opposed the move as they prefer leaving powers at a national level.

Karins said he wanted to turn the Latvian banking system into “the cleanest” in Europe, after its reputation was tarnished by the collapse last year of ABLV, the country’s largest bank, amid money-laundering allegations.

Karins said he was confident that in a year’s time he could be in a position to provide tips to other Europeans on how to clean up banking systems.

“But it’s a little bit like fighting rats. I can make sure that I get the rats out of my house and my house will be clean, but what about my neighbors?” he told lawmakers.

Baltic and Nordic countries are grappling with a huge money-laundering scandal, after allegations the Estonian branch of Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest lender, handled 200 billion euros ($226 billion) in suspicious transactions of Russian money between 2007 and 2015.

Sweden’s Swedbank has recently been drawn into the scandal, after it was reported that it handled some of the same payments that went through Danske..

“The criminals may have left Latvia for now but they have unfortunately, I’m convinced, not left Europe,” Karins said, adding the problem concerned all European states.

Latvia faces a review by international money-laundering standards watchdog Moneyval in the coming months, which some officials fear could label the country as risky, alongside the likes of Serbia and Pakistan..

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Strasbourg and Clare Roth in Brussels; Writing by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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Sweden Demands Sanctions on Hungary, Nations Refusing Third World Migration

April 17, 2019

EU nations which refuse to open their doors to third world migration should have to “pay a price”, the Swedish Prime Minister has said.

In an interview with local media at the weekend, Stefan Löfven said he wants to see sanctions on countries unwilling to take part in a migrant quota system, claiming it was ‘not sustainable” that Hungary refuses to house, feed, and clothe a Brussels-dictated share of illegal immigrants who reach Europe.

“It cannot be that responsibility is shared by one or two or three countries.  We have to help each other,” he told the establishment newspaper Dagens Nyheter, stating that the EU must impose a common migration policy on the bloc’s member states.

“Hungary is one of the countries that receives the most funding from the EU, and it is saying no, we will not take responsibility with relation to migration,” the social democrat said, adding that Brussels should cut funding to nations which reject mass immigration.

Budapest hit back at Löfven’s claim that the nation was neglecting responsibility on the topic of migrants, with foreign minister Peter Szijjártó pointing out that border fences rolled out by the Hungarian government in 2015 are “defending western and northern Europe” from illegal immigration.

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Although many people were recorded celebrating the Notre Dame fire online, the MSM is pushing the false narrative that conservatives are creating fake news. Paul Joseph Watson reveals the truth according to the facts as they unfolded.

Source: InfoWars

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Shells hit Tripoli as Haftar’s two-week siege rages

April 17, 2019

FILE PHOTO: The inside of a house damaged by shelling during the fighting between the eastern forces and internationally recognized government is pictured in Abu Salim in Tripoli
FILE PHOTO: The inside of a house damaged by shelling during the fighting between the eastern forces and internationally recognized government is pictured in Abu Salim in Tripoli, Libya April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Hani Amara/File Photo

April 17, 2019

By Ulf Laessing and Ahmed Elumami

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Shells slammed into a Tripoli suburb overnight, piling on the suffering to civilians from a two-week assault by commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces to take Libya’s capital from an internationally-backed government.

The rockets, just before midnight on Tuesday, hit the southern residential district of Abu Salim near a disused airport, killing at least four people and adding to a death toll the United Nations puts at more than 800.

“This is a senseless war against civilians,” one man, Mohamed in his 40s, told Reuters among angry people in the area, where houses and cars were damaged.

Both sides blamed each other for the attack.

Haftar and his eastern Libyan forces have cast their advance as part of a campaign to restore order and defeat jihadists in nation gripped by anarchy since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.

But the internationally-recognized Tripoli government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj – which has kept him at bay in the southern suburbs – views the 75-year-old general as a dangerous would-be dictator in the Gaffafi mould.

The United Nations’ humanitarian agency the OCHA said

thousands of civilians were trapped in southern districts of Tripoli due to the fighting.

Rescuers and aid workers were having difficulty reaching them and electricity, water supplies and telecommunications have been badly disrupted, it said in a statement.

Nearly 20,000 people have now fled their homes, some seeking shelter elsewhere in the capital but most heading out of the city.

At least 14 civilians had been killed and about 36 wounded during the offensive, the OCHA said.

Prime Minister Serraj toured the damaged area on Wednesday morning, his office said. Abu Salim lies about 8 km (5 miles) from the city center, behind the front line of pro-Serraj forces blocking LNA troops to their south.

“I saw the rockets fall. This is a crime by Khalifa Haftar,” said one man who gave his name as Abdelrazaq.

ITALY FEARS “TERRORIST INFILTRATION”

International powers are aghast at the flare-up in Libya, which has scuppered a United Nations’ peace plan, threatens to disrupt oil supplies from the OPEC nation, and may unleash a new wave of illegal migration across the Mediterranean to Europe.

But no common position has emerged given different sympathies towards the factions round the Gulf and Europe.

Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Haftar’s offensive had heightened the risk of militants joining migrant boats in the Mediterranean heading for his country.

“Islamist terrorist infiltration is no longer a risk, it has become a certainty: it is therefore my duty to reiterate that no docking will be allowed on Italian shores,” Salvini, leader of the anti-immigrant League party, said in an interview with Radio Rai 1.

Rome has blocked charity boats that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean from docking at Italian ports, saying the ships are aiding people smugglers and encouraging mass, unregulated immigration. The charities have denied breaking any laws.

The government has also accused the European Union of leaving Italy isolated in dealing with the migration crisis of recent years. Since Salvini took office last June, the number of new migrant arrivals has fallen more than 90 percent.

“Italy is working day and night for peace, dialogue and a ceasefire, so common sense might prevail,” added Salvini of the Libya conflict. Rome is pushing for Haftar to halt his advance.

Italy, with considerable oil interests in Libya, supports Serraj, bringing tensions with France which has backed Haftar in the past.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli, Alessia Pe and Crispian Balmer in Milan, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: OANN

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