At a time when Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias ‘Prachanda’ last week was flying to the US for the treatment of his spouse, Sita, speculations were rife in Nepal that Prachanda, who led the decade-long Maoist insurgency in Nepal, could face legal hurdles over alleged human rights violation in the US.

The party — once labeled as a ‘terrorist’ outfit by the US government – was delisted from the list of the global terrorist group in 2012.

The US government “makes its terrorist listings based on facts and unless the group is actively engaged in terrorism that is a threat to US interests, it won’t be re-added to the terrorism list”.

Khabarhub talked exclusively to Jason M. Blazakis, former Director of Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office, Bureau of Counterterrorism, at the U.S. Department of State, to know whether there would be any change on the US position if Dahal assumed the Prime Ministerial post here. Jason ruled out any change on the US policy now. “This is very unlikely to occur in my view,” he said.

According to him, the US government “makes its terrorist listings based on facts and unless the group is actively engaged in terrorism that is a threat to US interests, it won’t be re-added to the terrorism list”.

Jason was the Director of Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office, Bureau of Counterterrorism, at the U.S. Department of State when the US government removed the Maoist party from the list of the global terrorist group.

In his former role, he was responsible for directing efforts to designate countries, organizations, and individuals as terrorists, also known as State Sponsors of Terrorism, Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

Jason, who is also a terrorism expert, and devises strategies to prevent terrorists from gaining access to money and publicity, said the State Department “removed CPN-Maoists from its listing as a terrorist group pursuant to Executive Order 13224 because the party had begun the process of political reform”.

Currently, Professor of Practice at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, USA, Jason stated that at the time of delisting, there were “no recent acts of violence that could be directly attributed to the group”.

Regarding Dahal’s visit to the US, Professor Jason, who is also the President of Riptide Threat Mitigation Group, Inc., a geopolitical risk consultancy, said he “did not have any concerns if the trip was made in accordance with U.S. law”.

“The decision to delist the group should be not be viewed as US acceptance for the group’s terrorist past and violence misdeeds,” he told Khabarhub adding that the delisting was about encouraging the group to become part of a legitimate political process.

Regarding Dahal’s visit to the US, Professor Jason, who is also the President of Riptide Threat Mitigation Group, Inc., a geopolitical risk consultancy, said he “did not have any concerns if the trip was made in accordance with U.S. law”.

“The Maoists are no longer labeled as a terrorist group,” said Jason, who previously held positions in the Department of State’s Political-Military Affairs, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Intelligence and Research Bureaus, and at U.S. Embassy Kabul.

WASHINGTON: Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that President Donald Trump’s campaign “conspired” with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Mueller’s report does not clearly state whether Trump had tried to intervene in justice by undermining investigations that have dogged his presidency.

Even though the report brought a hearty claim of vindication from Trump but set the stage for new rounds of political and legal fighting, said Attorney General William Barr Sunday.

Trump cheered the outcome but also laid bare his resentment after two years of investigations that have shadowed his administration.

However, his Democratic opponents are dissatisfied with the outcome of the long-awaited report and vowed to keep up their political assault against him.

Meanwhile, many of Trump’s opponents had accused the president of obstructing the Russia probe when he fired former FBI Director James Comey in 2017.

WASHINGTON: Special Counsel Robert Mueller has finished his investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, media reports said on Friday.

Mueller’s confidential report has been delivered to Attorney General William Barr, the Justice Department announced.

The attorney general now will decide who to release it, The New York Times reported.
It took 22 months for Mueller to complete his report.

(Agencies)

Here’s a breakdown of the people who have officially announced their candidacies or exploratory committees so far for the 2020 presidential candidates.

Democrats
Cory Booker
Age: 49
Experience: U.S. senator from New Jersey, 2013-present; mayor of Newark, 2006-2013.
Quote: “I believe that we can build a country where no one is forgotten, no one is left behind.”
Fast facts: New Jersey’s first African-American senator, Booker has backed liberal policies from marriage equality and abortion rights to marijuana legalization and criminal-justice reform.
Campaign site: https://corybooker.com/

Pete Buttigieg
Age: 37
Experience: Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, 2012-present
Quote: “We can’t look for greatness in the past. Right now, our country needs a fresh start.”
Fast facts: A lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve who served in Afghanistan, Buttigieg would be the first openly gay nominee for a major political party.
Campaign site: https://www.peteforamerica.com/

Julián Castro
Age: 44
Experience: Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2014-2017; mayor of San Antonio, 2009-2014
Quote: “Today we’re falling backwards instead of moving forward. And the opportunities that made America, the America we love, those opportunities are reaching fewer and fewer people.”
Fast facts: The grandson of a Mexican immigrant and son of a Latina activist, Castro’s twin brother, Joaquin Castro, is a Democratic congressman from Texas.
Campaign site: https://www.julianforthefuture.com/

John Delaney
Age: 55
Experience: U.S. House representative from Maryland, 2013-2019; Entrepreneur
Quote: “Trump wants this campaign to be about socialism and we shouldn’t give him what he wants. We need to update our social programs to better fit today’s world, and we need to make capitalism more just and inclusive.”
Fast facts: Delaney, who founded two publicly traded companies, was one of the first Democrats to announce and has been a 2020 presidential candidate since July 2017
Campaign site: https://www.johndelaney.com/

Tulsi Gabbard
Age: 37
Experience: U.S. House representative from Hawaii, 2013-present
Quote: “I’m running for president to end regime change wars, work to end the new Cold War and nuclear arms race, and take the trillions of dollars wasted on these wars and put it back in the pockets of the American people.”
Fast facts: Born in Leloaloa, American Samoa, Gabbard is the first Hindu member of Congress. She served in the Hawaii National Guard and was deployed to Iraq in 2004.
Campaign site: https://www.votetulsi.com/

Kirsten Gillibrand
Age: 52
Experience: U.S. senator from New York, 2009-present; U.S. House representative from New York, 2007-2009
Quote: “I’m going to run for president of the United States because as a young mom, I’m going to fight for other people’s kids as hard as I fight for my own.”
Fast facts: Gillibrand is the mother of two boys and was the sixth woman ever to give birth while serving in Congress.
Campaign site: https://kirstengillibrand.com/

Kamala Harris
Age: 54
Experience: U.S. senator from California, 2017-present; California attorney general, 2011-2016; San Francisco district attorney 2004-2011
Quote: “As we embark on this campaign, I will tell you this: I am not perfect. Lord knows, I am not perfect. But I will always speak with decency and moral clarity and treat all people with dignity and respect. I will lead with integrity. And I will speak the truth.”
Fast facts: In 2017, Harris – whose mother emigrated to the U.S. from India – became the first South Asian-American, and the second African-American female senator in U.S. history.
Campaign site: https://kamalaharris.org/

John Hickenlooper
Age: 67
Experience: Governor of Colorado, 2011-2019; mayor of Denver 2003-2011; restaurateur
Quote: “Donald Trump is alienating our allies, ripping away our health care, endangering our planet and destroying our democracy.”
Fast facts: Hickenlooper suffers from prosopagnosia, or face blindness, which makes it difficult for someone to recognize people. Hickenlooper told CNN the condition has a silver lining “because the way I have overcompensated was to treat everyone who come towards me as a friend, just to assume that I know them.”
Campaign site: https://www.hickenlooper.com

Jay Inslee
Age: 68
Experience: Governor of Washington, 2013-present
Quote: “We’re the first generation to feel the sting of climate change and we’re the last that can do something about it.”
Fast facts: An avid cyclist and hiker, Inslee intends to make climate change a central part of his campaign. As governor, he has pushed for clean energy and recently backed a state carbon fee to limit pollution.
Campaign site: https://jayinslee.com/

Amy Klobuchar
Age: 58
Experience: U.S. senator from Minnesota, 2007-present; Hennepin County prosecutor, 1999-2006
Quote: “I don’t have a political machine. I don’t come from money. But what I do have is this: I have grit, I have family, I have friends, and I have all of you.”
Fast facts: Klobuchar is positioning herself as a Midwest moderate who can work with Republicans. According to GovTrack, Klobuchar introduced the most pieces of legislation in the 115th Congress of any Democratic senator and had the most non-Democratic co-sponsors on her bills.
Campaign site: https://amyklobuchar.com/

Beto O’Rourke
Age: 46
Experience: U.S. House representative from Texas, 2013-2019; El Paso City Council member, 2005-2011
Quote: “I want to be president because I feel that we can bring this country together. We can unify around our ambitions, our aspirations, the big things that we know we are capable of when all of us have the opportunity to contribute.”
Fast facts: O’Rourke is a lover of punk rock, and co-founded the band Foss during his college years. The band toured during his summer break and put out an album in 1993 titled, “The El Paso Pussycats.”
Campaign site: https://betoorourke.com/

Bernie Sanders
Age: 77
Experience: U.S. senator from Vermont, 2007-present; U.S. House representative from Vermont, 1991-2000
Quote: “Our health care system today essentially says that if you happen to be poor, you are less deserving of getting care than a wealthy person. That is fundamentally immoral and that is not the kind of nation we should be.”
Fast fact: Although he is seeking the Democratic nomination, Sanders has run as an independent for every other office he has sought. Before being elected to Congress in 1990, he lost two Senate campaigns (1972 and 1974) and three gubernatorial campaigns (1972, 1976 and 1986) in Vermont.
Campaign site: https://berniesanders.com/

Elizabeth Warren
Age: 69
Experience: U.S. senator from Massachusetts, 2013-present
Quote: “The man in the White House is not the cause of what’s broken, he’s just the latest – and most extreme – symptom of what’s gone wrong in America: A product of a rigged system that props up the rich and the powerful and kicks dirt on everyone else.”
Fast fact: Warren came into the national spotlight for her passionate criticism of Wall Street, the banking industry and large corporations after the 2008 financial crisis hit. Then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appointed her the chair on a panel to oversee the federal bailout in response to the crisis.
Campaign site: https://elizabethwarren.com/

Marianne Williamson
Age: 66
Experience: Motivational speaker, New Age spiritual guru and self-help author
Quote: “I believe a moral and spiritual awakening is necessary in this country. And nothing short of that will fundamentally disrupt the patterns of political dysfunction.”
Fast fact: Williamson’s spent the last 35 years as a spiritual guide and author with connections throughout the celebrity world, including Oprah Winfrey.
Campaign site: https://www.marianne2020.com/

Andrew Yang
Age: 44
Experience: Entrepreneur; founder of non-profit fellowship program Venture for America
Quote: “I fear for the future of our country. New technologies – robots, software, artificial intelligence – have already destroyed more than 4 million U.S. jobs, and in the next 5-10 years, they will eliminate millions more.”
Fast fact: Yang’s platform includes providing every American 18 and older with a basic universal income of $1,000 a month.
Campaign site: https://www.yang2020.com/

The Republicans

President Donald Trump
Age: 72
Experience: U.S president, 2017-present; real estate developer; reality TV star
Quote: “Considering that we have done more than any Administration in the first two years, this should be easy.”
Fast fact: Trump filed for re-election the day he was inaugurated, and his campaign already has raised more than $100 million.
Campaign site: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/

William Weld
Age: 73
Experience: Governor of Massachusetts, 1991-1997
Quote: “We have a president whose priorities are skewed towards promotion of himself rather than for the good of the country.”
Fast fact: Weld ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2016. In 1974, he worked as an associate minority counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate investigation.
Campaign site: https://www.weld2020.org/

Who is considering a run?
Joe Biden: The former vice president could enter his third presidential run after deciding against it in 2016. He is a party favorite for his appeal to working-class Democrats — a segment of the voter base some feel was lost to conservatives.
Sen. Michael Bennet: The Colorado Democrat, a former superintendent of Denver’s public school system, joined the Senate in 2009 and has trumpeted his support for the “next generation” by focusing on education, health care and climate change. He’s already visited early caucus state Iowa to meet with activists.

Who’s out?
Hillary Clinton: The Democrats’ 2016 nominee quashed rumors she’d make another run, telling a New York television station, “I’m not running, but I’m going to keep working and speaking and standing up for what I believe.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown: Brown and his wife toured early primary and caucus states just days before the Democrat announced he’d rather remain a senator. “We’ve decided the best place for me to continue fighting for Ohio and all the workers is to stay in the U.S. Senate.” Brown was seen as someone with the potential to win back an increasingly red Midwest. He has served as senator since 2006 and just won a contentious re-election race against Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci.

Michael Bloomberg: The former New York City mayor and billionaire owner of the software and media company Bloomberg, will invest in clean energy and liberal causes rather than hit the campaign trail. The eighth-richest person in the U.S., he’s considered a moderate — having run and won mayoral elections as a Republican and Independent.

Sen. Jeff Merkeley: The Oregon Democrat abandoned his 2020 White House ambitions, opting instead to run for re-election in 2020. “There are Democrats now in the presidential race who are speaking to the importance of tackling the big challenges we face,” he said.

Michael Avenatti: The media-savvy attorney who once represented porn star Stormy Daniels in her legal battles with the president, said he’ll keep his name off the candidate list “Out of respect for my family.” Avenatti burst onto the political scene, becoming a mainstay on cable news and a fierce critic of the president. He parlayed his fame into a period in which he was “exploring” a run, even making a visit to early caucus state Iowa.

Richard Ojeda: The former West Virginia state senator dropped out of the race in January, telling supporters he didn’t want them donating money to a campaign with little chance of success.

(With inputs from USAToday)

OTTAWA/TORONTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remained under pressure over a corruption scandal on Wednesday as a legislator quit his party’s caucus and a pre-election budget aimed at swaying key voters appeared to offer too little to stem the tide of negative news.

The budget – the last before federal elections in October – lavished new spending on middle-class voters but ignored corporations. It also provided a little for key groups such as millennial voters who backed Trudeau in droves in Canada’s 2015 election.

The decision by a legislator, who had defended a former minister at the center of a political scandal, to quit the ruling Liberal Party and sit as an independent dealt a fresh blow to Trudeau’s embattled government.

Trudeau has been on the defensive since Feb. 7 over allegations top officials working for him leaned on the then justice minister to ensure construction firm SNC-Lavalin Group Inc avoided a corruption trial.

The political crisis threatens the government’s chances of re-election. Polls have shown that Trudeau’s Liberals could lose the vote as the damage from the scandal spreads.

The latest defection overshadowed Tuesday’s budget which divided money between a large number of new initiatives and left few Canadians satisfied.

“It’s just too broad,” said Norman Levine, managing director at Portfolio Management Corporation. “They wanted to please lots of people and … when you try to please everybody you end up pleasing nobody, because you spread it too thin.”

Rob Edel, chief investment officer at Nicola Wealth Management, noted the government did not commit to reducing a budget deficit that is much larger than the Liberals promised. This was “a political rather than an economic decision,” he said.

The Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada as well as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce complained about the lack of tax reform. But the center-left Liberals may not care too much as their core supporters are progressive thinkers, women and younger voters. Finance Minister Bill Morneau stressed budget measures to help first-time home buyers, including allowing people to withdraw up to C$35,000 from a retirement savings account.

But asked on Wednesday how many younger first-time buyers actually had that much money available, he replied “that will help some people in the middle income range … not everyone, for sure.”

The main opposition Conservative Party has relentlessly attacked Trudeau over the SNC-Lavalin affair and described the budget as a bribe. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has continuously demanded Trudeau’s resignation, which some Conservatives privately worry is the wrong approach.

Two strategists with deep ties to the party said given the complexity of the affair, and former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould’s statement that no one involved had broken any laws, Canadians would not necessarily agree that Trudeau should quit now.

Conservative over-confidence or missteps could be the Liberals’ best hope for reversing their slumping poll numbers, pollster Nick Nanos said.

On Tuesday, opposition lawmakers delayed Morneau’s budget presentation for an hour.

Conservatives initially drowned out his speech in the House of Commons with shouts and jeers and then walked out en masse, a tactic that did not sit well with some Canadians on social media.

(Reuters)

TEXAS: A Houston woman gave birth to six babies in a span of nine minutes on Friday morning. Thelma Chiaka had two sets of twin boys and one set of twin girls delivered between 4:50 a.m. and 4:59 a.m, at the Women’s Hospital of Texas.

According to the hospital’s press release, the babies weighed between 1 pound, 12 ounces to 2 pounds, 14 ounces. They are in stable condition and will receive treatment at the hospital’s advanced neonatal intensive care unit. The mother is doing well.

Multiple babies can due to premature birth and lower weight of the infants. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology says babies born “before 32 weeks of pregnancy can die or have severe health problems, even with the best of care.”

The odds of giving birth to sextuplets is 1 in 4.7 billion, according to the hospital. A study by raisingmultiples.org suggested that one or fewer sets of sextuplets are born each year in the U.S.

WASHINGTON: Unemployment rate in the USA is not worse despite the fact that many industries laid off their workers. Only 20,000 new jobs were added to the market last month while many companies had laid off workers.  However, the jobless rate fell from two tenths to 3.8 percent, its lowest level since October, according to the Labor Department report.

Meanwhile, hourly wages saw their biggest gains in nearly a decade, more evidence of the tight labor market.

OTTAWA- Despite creating job opportunities unemployment rate in Canada remains unchanged. Canada added 56,000 full-time jobs in February. However, the unemployment rate remains at 5.8 percent, the government statistical agency said Friday.

Coming on the heels of a jobs surge at the start of the year, economists had forecast a slight drop in the unemployment rate.

But only Ontario — the most populous region and an economic hub — saw an uptick in jobs in the month, according to Statistics Canada.

The Western prairie province of Manitoba shed 3,300 net jobs, while others saw no real change. “Is the Canadian economy a dead parrot, or like the one in the Monty Python skit, maybe it’s just resting, since today’s jobs data seem to suggest that there’s a lot of life left in it,” CIBC Capital Markets chief economist, Avery Shenfeld mused in a research note.

Following a string of interest rate hikes over the past year from a near record low, and then a pause, Shenfeld said the latest job numbers and other recent economic data could put pressure on the Bank of Canada to resume raising rates — eventually.

“While there’s nothing in this that spells a rate hike any time soon, the market might rethink the idea that the next move is sure to be a cut,” he said.

According to Statistics Canada, more people were employed in professional, scientific and technical services; public administration; natural resources; and agriculture in February. At the same time, there were fewer workers in hotel and food services, as well as transportation and warehousing.

(Agencies)

US senator, Martha McSally today revealed that a superior officer raped her while serving in the Air Force.

Senator Martha, 52, the first female US fighter pilot to fly in combat, made the revelation while speaking at a hearing on sex assaults in the military, media reports said.

Martha, a Republican from Arizona, however said she did not report the case as she was confused and felt ashamed.

According to a report, almost 6,800 sexual assaults were reported across the US military in 2017, which is a 10 percent rise from the previous year.

Speaking during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services subcommittee, she said she is a military sexual assault survivor adding that she didn’t trust the system at the time. (Agencies)

NEW YORK: Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate in 2016, has ruled out a second US presidential run next year.

She said, “I’m not running for the second time. But I will keep on working, speaking, and standing up for what I believe.

In an interview with New York’s News 12 TV channel, she said she would not contest the 2020 presidential election, media reports said.

In 2016, Clinton was expected to become the first female president of the United States of America.

The interview is the first time Mrs Clinton has definitively rebutted speculation that she might take on Mr Trump again in 2020. (Agencies)