Friday, May 31, 2019

Disney chief: abortion law would make it difficult to keep filming in Georgia

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Disney chief: abortion law would make it difficult to keep filming in GeorgiaBob Iger says many Disney employees would not want to work there if law that bans abortion as early as six weeks takes effectDisney has filmed blockbuster movies such as Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame in Georgia. Photograph: Imagine China/REX/ShutterstockThe chief executive of the Walt Disney Company said Georgia’s new strict abortion law would make it “very difficult” for the media company to keep filming in the state.Walt Disney Co chief executive Bob Iger told Reuters on Wednesday that the law would cause many people to not want to work in the state if it were to go in effect.Georgia’s Republican governor Brian Kemp signed the legislation earlier this month. The law bans abortion once cardiac activity can be detected – which can be as early as six weeks, before many women even realize they are pregnant. The law is due to take effect on 1 January, if it survives court challenges.Disney has filmed blockbuster movies such as Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame in the state. It is one of many film and TV production companies lured to the state by tax credits.The industry is now responsible for more than 92,000 jobs in Georgia, according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and some 455 productions were shot in Georgia in 2018, according to the state.Asked if Disney would keep filming in Georgia, Iger said it would be “very difficult to do so” if the abortion law is implemented.“I rather doubt we will,” Iger said in an interview ahead of the dedication for a new Star Wars section at Disneyland. “I think many people who work for us will not want to work there, and we will have to heed their wishes in that regard. Right now we are watching it very carefully.”If the law takes effect, “I don’t see how it’s practical for us to continue to shoot there,” he added.Georgia is one of eight states to pass anti-abortion legislation this year in an effort to induce the US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade, the 1973 landmark case that established a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy.Although some actors and producers have already said they will no longer work in Georgia because of the abortion law, many of the large production companies have remained publicly silent on the abortion law.On Tuesday, streaming service Netflix said it would “rethink” its film and television production investment in Georgia if the law goes into effect.In the meantime, Netflix will continue production there for now and work with groups that are fighting the law in US courts.




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Bulgaria in first U.S. gas deals buys two LNG cargoes

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Bulgaria in first U.S. gas deals buys two LNG cargoesBulgaria has agreed to buy U.S. natural gas for the first time, signing a deal for a delivery in the second quarter and another in the third, the country's energy minister said on Friday. Dutch-registered trader Kolmar NL will deliver a 90 million cubic meter (mcm) cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a second of 50 mcm. "The ship carrying LNG from the United States has arrived at the Greek Revithoussa LNG terminal," Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova said.




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Riyadh rallies allies against Tehran at Mecca summits

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Riyadh rallies allies against Tehran at Mecca summitsGulf and Arab allies rallied around Saudi Arabia Friday as it ratcheted up tensions with regional rival Iran after a series of attacks, drawing accusations from Tehran of "sowing division". Tehran, which has strongly denied involvement in any of the attacks, expressed disappointment that Riyadh plans to level the same "baseless accusations" at a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) early on Saturday.




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New Mexico town gets death threats after halting crowd-funded border wall

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New Mexico town gets death threats after halting crowd-funded border wallA New Mexico mayor on Thursday said he and his staff received multiple death threats after they briefly halted construction of a crowd-funded, private border wall by a group that then urged supporters to tell the city to "stop playing games," and alleged it was tied to drug cartels. The Florida-based group has raised $23 million via crowd-funding site GoFundMe.com to build private border walls to halt smuggling and a surge in undocumented migrants, after funding for President Donald Trump's promised wall was blocked. Perea described the tactics of We Build the Wall as a "cheap blow," and the American Civil Liberties Union accused it of pursuing a "white Nationalist" agenda.




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Disney says it won't make any more films in Georgia if draconian abortion laws come into force in the US state

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Disney says it won't make any more films in Georgia if draconian abortion laws come into force in the US stateDisney's chief executive has warned Georgia that the company's film and TV productions are likely to abandon the state if its controversial abortion bill becomes law. Bob Iger said it would be "very difficult" for the entertainment giant to continue working in the state if the so-called "heartbeat bill", which outlaws terminations from as early as six weeks, comes into force. The Walt Disney Company has shot some of its biggest films in the US state, including Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame. Speaking to Reuters, Iger said: "If it becomes law, it'll be very difficult. "I think many people who work for us will not want to work there, and we will have to heed their wishes in that regard. "Right now we are watching it very carefully." Sen John Milkovich speaks outside the State Capitol in Louisiana where the House passed Milkovich's 'fetal heartbeat' bill Georgia has been dubbed the "Hollywood of the South" after it lured production companies with favourable tax laws. The state offers a tax credit that has lured many film and TV productions. The industry is responsible for more than 92,000 jobs in Georgia, according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and some 455 productions were shot in Georgia in 2018, according to the state. However, its proposed abortion laws have caused fury across the industry, with leading stars lining up to condemn the bill. Netflix has also warned it could pull out of the state. Georgia's bill bans abortions in cases where a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks. It is due to come into effect on January 1 2020, although campaigners have already said they will fight it in the courts. It came as last night Louisiana on Wednesday also passed a bill banning abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, becoming the seventh state to do so. The bans are expected to be blocked in lower courts, but supporters plan to appeal such decisions until they reach the Supreme Court.




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Florida Gov. DeSantis meets with Netanyahu in Israel

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Florida Gov. DeSantis meets with Netanyahu in IsraelJERUSALEM (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met with Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, calling the embattled Israeli prime minister a "strong leader" on the governor's final day of a trade mission to Israel.




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Pork Producers, Corn Growers Urge Trump to Drop Mexico Tariffs

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Pork Producers, Corn Growers Urge Trump to Drop Mexico TariffsThe president said Thursday that 5% duties could be placed on all imports from Mexico on June 10, rising in increments to 25% in October unless Mexico halts the flow of immigrants heading to the U.S. border. “We appeal to President Trump to reconsider plans to open a new trade dispute with Mexico,” David Herring, president of the National Pork Producers Council and a hog farmer from Lillington, North Carolina, said Friday in an emailed statement.




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Jussie Smollett: Possible deal was in the works a month before charges dropped, documents show

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Jussie Smollett: Possible deal was in the works a month before charges dropped, documents showNew documents on the Jussie Smollett case show that prosecutors told Chicago police detectives that a possible deal with the actor was in the works a month before charges against him were dropped.Smollett was charged in March with 16 counts alleging he lied to police when reporting he'd been the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack in January. Police contend the black and openly gay actor allegedly staged the attack because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted publicity.Prosecutors dropped charges on 26 March without Smollett admitting guilt. Then Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Superintendent Eddie Johnson expressed outrage over the prosecutors' decision. Smollett has maintained his innocence. The approximately 460 pages of new documents show that detectives investigating Smollett's allegations were told by Cook County prosecutors a deal with the Empire actor could include a $10,000 fine and community service. The detectives did not pass the information to superiors. "They didn't pass it on because they didn't know it (the case) was going to be handled the way it was," said Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. In the documents released on Thursday, detectives note the Chicago Police Department was informed by the Cook County State's Attorney's office on 28 February that they could no longer investigate the crime. Smollett was indicted on 7 March. The lead investigators in the case met with Assistant State's Attorney Risa Lanier, who informed detectives "that she felt the case would be settled with Smollett paying the city of Chicago $10,000 in restitution and doing community service". The detectives closed the case at that point because an arrest was made and the alleged offender was being prosecuted, according to Guglielmi.It was the attorneys for Smollett who announced charges alleging he lied to police about attack had been dropped. At the time, Johnson said he learned of the deal prosecutors made with Smollett when the deal was announced by lawyers, adding he didn't think justice was being served. However, he didn't directly criticise prosecutors."My job as a police officer is to investigate an incident, gather evidence, gather the facts and present them to the state's attorney," Johnson said. "That's what we did. I stand behind the detectives' investigation." The Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association said the dismissal of the charges was "an affront to prosecutors across the state" as well as police, victims of hate crimes and the county as a whole.The city of Chicago is seeking $130,000 from Smollett to cover the costs of the investigation into his reported beating. The city claims about two dozen detectives and officers investigated the entertainer's report that he was attacked, resulting in a "substantial number of overtime hours."Additional reporting by agencies




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Stone Was Like ‘Uncle Roger,’ Miller Testifies to Grand Jury

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Stone Was Like ‘Uncle Roger,’ Miller Testifies to Grand JuryProsecutors focused their examination on Miller’s relationship with Stone and Stone’s connection to WikiLeaks founder Assange, Miller’s attorney Paul Kamenar told reporters after the proceeding. Stone was indicted by the grand jury in January on charges of lying to Congress about communications with Assange, obstruction and witness tampering.




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White House plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace in chaos after Netanyahu calls new elections

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White House plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace in chaos after Netanyahu calls new electionsThe White House’s hopes of rolling out its Israeli-Palestinian peace plan this year were in chaos yesterday after Benjamin Netanyahu plunged Israel into unexpected new elections.   During a meeting with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top aide on Middle East peace, Mr Netanyahu attempted to downplay the political turmoil in his country as “a little event”. But officials and analysts said the Israeli elections in September were likely to delay the peace plan and could cause it to be shelved altogether. One US official suggested it may now have to have wait until Mr Trump's second term.   The Palestinians, who are refusing to engage with the US on the peace plan, delighted in the prospect of its delay. Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official, said the plan sometimes described as “the Deal of the Century” should now be called “the Deal of Next Century”.  The While House deliberately waited until after the Israeli election in April to make any moves on its peace initiative, hoping that a delay would spare Mr Netanyahu any political discomfort during his campaign. Letters from Jerusalem RHS When Mr Netanyahu appeared to easily win a fifth term in office, Mr Kushner and his aides began making moves to roll out the plan in stages later this year. The economic half of the plan was due to be laid out in a summit in Bahrain in June while the more controversial political half would be made public later.  However, Mr Netanyahu unexpectedly failed to form a coalition government and instead spent the early hours of Thursday morning forcing through a bill in parliament to hold fresh elections in September.  Later in the day, Mr Netanyahu tried to put a brave face on the situation as he met with Mr Kushner at his office in Jerusalem. “Even though we had a little event last night that’s not going to stop us,” Mr Netanyahu said. “We’re going to continue working together.” Special Representative for International Negotiations @jdgreenblatt45, Senior Advisor to U.S. President Jared Kushner and Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook met this afternoon with Prime Minister @Netanyahu at his Jerusalem Residence. pic.twitter.com/BmBMwSLszv— USEmbassyJerusalem (@usembassyjlm) May 30, 2019 Mr Kushner said nothing publicly about what impact the Israeli political chaos would have on his peace plan.  Speaking in Washington, Mr Trump said Mr Netanyahu’s failed effort to build a coalition was “too bad”. “They don’t need this, I mean they’ve got enough turmoil over there,” the president said.  The US State Department indicated that the Bahrain summit would go ahead as planned on June 25 to try to encourage wealthy Arab states and businessmen to invest in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. But it is not clear when, if ever, the world will see the political half of the plan, which deals with more combustible issues like the future of Jerusalem, Israel’s borders, and the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees.  “If chances for the success of the Deal of the Century were severely handicapped before last night, the chaos which will be Israel's lot over the next few months will make it virtually impossible to move forward,” said Shalom Lipner, a former Israeli official now at the Atlantic Council think tank. “If the White House ‘misfires’ and tries to advance prematurely, it risks squandering any opportunity to table a proposal when conditions might be more conducive to progress.” Mr Netanyahu failed to form a coalition before Wednesday's deadline Credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun The timeline of the new elections means that even if Mr Netanyahu wins again he is unlikely to have a government formed until at least November.  By then the US presidential election in 2020 will be in full swing and the White House’s attention will likely be more focused on the American Midwest than the Middle East.  While Mr Netanyahu was all smiles in front of his American visitors, he did little to mask his fury in the Israeli political realm.  His rage was directed at Avigdor Lieberman, his former defence minister who refused to join his government and ultimately caused the coalition talks to fail. “Avigdor Lieberman is now part of the Left,” Mr Netanyahu said.  Mr Lieberman shot back that the prime minister’s Likud party was wracked by “hallucinations and schizophrenic reactions” and suggested the party’s leaders needed psychiatric treatment.




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Barr: Counter-intelligence Probe of Trump Campaign Crossed ‘Serious Red Line’

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Barr: Counter-intelligence Probe of Trump Campaign Crossed ‘Serious Red Line’Attorney General William Barr said Friday that the FBI's counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign "crossed" a "serious red line" and should be "carefully looked at.""The use of foreign intelligence capabilities and counterintelligence capabilities against an American political campaign to me is unprecedented and it's a serious red line that's been crossed," Barr said in an interview with CBS.The attorney general is currently investigating the origins of the probe to determine whether the U.S. intelligence community's surveillance of the Trump campaign was warranted. He has expressed skepticism about the explanations for some of the investigative actions taken.During testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee last month, Barr stated that "spying did occur" on the Trump campaign, angering Democratic lawmakers."I guess it's become a dirty word somehow," Barr told CBS. "I think there is nothing wrong with spying. The question is always whether it is authorized by law.""There were counterintelligence activities undertaken against the Trump campaign, And I'm not saying there was not a basis for it, that it was legitimate, but I want to see what that basis was and make sure it was legitimate," he added.The New York Times reported that the FBI sent an undercover agent posing as a research assistant to ask former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos whether the campaign was working with Russia. Papadopoulos was told by a Maltese professor in early 2016 that Russia had damaging information on Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, but said he told the undercover agent he had “nothing to do with Russia.”"Republics have fallen because of Praetorian Guard mentality where government officials get very arrogant, they identify the national interest with their own political preferences, and they feel that anyone who has a different opinion, you know, is somehow an enemy of the state," Barr remarked. "That can easily translate into essentially supervening the will of the majority and getting your own way as a government official."FBI director Chris Wray said earlier this month that he had seen no evidence that the FBI illegally spied on the Trump campaign.




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Trump Tariffs on Mexico Irk Key Republican Allies in Congress

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Trump Tariffs on Mexico Irk Key Republican Allies in CongressThe president’s announcement Thursday surprised many Republicans who hoped to focus on passing a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada known as the USMCA. Trump said he will impose a 5% tariff on all imports from Mexico -- ramping up 5 percentage points every month until hitting 25% in October -- unless Mexico takes "decisive measures" to stem migrants entering the U.S.




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Two World War II veterans awarded their service medals over 70 years later

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Two men who served in world War II were awarded their much overdue service medals. The veterans have two different stories, but each are finally holding their well earned awards 70 years after their service.


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Trump says he 'can’t imagine the courts allowing' him to be impeached

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Trump says he 'can’t imagine the courts allowing' him to be impeachedPresident Trump renewed his assertion that Robert Mueller’s report exonerated him of wrongdoing, claiming that the special counsel "would have brought charges" if he could, and adding that he “can’t imagine the courts allowing” him to be impeached.




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Is the Syrian regime about to retake Idlib?

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Is the Syrian regime about to retake Idlib?Syria's regime has increased its deadly bombardment of Idlib in recent weeks, but analysts say that is unlikely to signal an all-out offensive on the jihadist bastion. Eight years into Syria's civil war, the government has notched up a series of victories against rebels and jihadists, and controls around 60 percent of the country. Two regions largely remain beyond its control: a Kurdish-held swathe of the northeast and a northwestern region controlled by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.




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Tour boat sinking revives memories of SKorea ferry disaster

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Tour boat sinking revives memories of SKorea ferry disasterSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The sinking of a boat carrying South Korean tourists in Hungary is touching a nerve in South Korea, where many are still traumatized over a 2014 ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people, mostly students. The grief is compounded by claims by some South Korean tour agents and travelers that there were past safety issues on the Danube River where the accident happened.




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Pompeo to press Germany on military spending, Huawei, Nordstream on delayed visit

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo began a five-day European trip on Friday with a delayed visit to Berlin, where he was expected to press Germany to boost its military spending, avoid dealings with China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and reconsider a pipeline project with Russia.


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Extinction Rebellion considers using drones to shut London's Heathrow Airport

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Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion are considering using drones to shut London's Heathrow Airport this summer in a campaign against plans to build a third runway at Europe's busiest airport, the group said on Thursday.


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U.S. wants new trade pact with Canada, Mexico passed by summer: Pence

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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday he was pushing to get the U.S. Congress to ratify the new North American trade agreement this summer after both Canada and Mexico signaled they are ready to start the approval process.


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Mexico says North American trade deal could double investment in 2019

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Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Thursday that ratification of a new North American trade deal could double foreign investment in the country in 2019, as uncertainty would be reduced.


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Factbox: Tariff wars - duties imposed by Trump and U.S. trading partners

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U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would impose 5% tariffs on all goods imported into the United States from Mexico and raise them every month until they reached 25% unless the Mexican government takes action to stem illegal immigration.


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