Good Evening
Iran threatens to restart its uranium enrichment centrifuges... the president backs his labor secretary whose embroiled in the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal and the Queens DA race goes to a recount
With these and other stories, I’m Paul DeRienzo witht he WBAI Evening news for Tuesday, July 9th, 2019. —————————————-
European powers accused Iran of “pursuing activities inconsistent with its commitments” under the nuclear deal brokered by former US president Barack Obama. The remaining parties to the deal - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action called for an urgent meeting to discuss Tehran’s compliance.
The JCPoA was abandoned by President Trump last year.
Britain, Germany, France, Russia, China and Iran are the remaining parties to the deal.
Trump’s hardline policy is backed by oil-exporting Arab states in the Gulf, which consider Iran a foe and stand to gain from U.S. sanctions that have removed Iranian crude from the market, and by Israel, which has repeatedly called on the European countries to reimpose sanctions.
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On Monday Iran threatened to ramp up enrichment of uranium to 20 percent purity in a move away from the 2015 nuclear deal.
That would go far beyond the small steps Iran has taken in the past week to nudge stocks of fissile material just beyond limits in the pact that Washington abandoned last year.
But the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards insisted the world knows Tehran is not pursuing nuclear arms.
Trump took issue with Iran’s assertion earlier on Tuesday.. 01_Trump_Iran.mp3
The IAEA — the U.N. nuclear watchdog — says it verified Iran’s enrichment was beyond 3.67 percent.
Iran’s options include restarting centrifuges dismantled under the deal.
Enriching uranium up to 20 percent purity is an important intermediate stage on the path to obtaining the 90 percent pure fissile uranium needed for a bomb.
—————————————Attorney General William Barr won’t recuse himself from overseeing the new charges against Jeffrey Epstein — even though he has stepped aside from the review of the Upper East Side billionaire’s 2008 sweetheart plea deal.
The Justice Department is probing the plea bargain now- Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta gave Epstein. At the time Acosta was a top Miami federal prosecutor.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting prostitution. The deal was over allegations he molested dozens of girls and was widely criticized as too lenient.
Barr cited his previous work for Washington D.C. law firm Kirkland & Ellis as the reason for stepping aside. The firm represented Epstein in the Florida case.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors in New York unsealed new sex trafficking charges against Epstein on Monday. They allege he abused dozens of young girls at his Manhattan and Palm Beach, Fla., homes and enlisted his victims to bring him others.
Prosecutors made public lurid details of how they say Epstein created a network of girls who would be available for abuse on demand.
Investigators seized what they described as “hundreds — and perhaps thousands” of photos showing nude or partially nude female subjects from his Manhattan mansion. Some of the images are believed to be of underage girls.
On Tuesday Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer called for Acosta to resign because of his involvement in the 2008 plea
deal that allowed Epstein to serve about a year in jail on state charges.
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Speaking to reporters Trump says he remains supportive of Acosta who he says has done a great job with the economy.
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Epstein was reportedly a frequent visitor at Mar e Lago, Trump’s Florida residence and club, along with other high- powered figures.
Trump spokesperson Kellyanne Conway spoke with reporters Tuesday outside the White House. She says the president hasn’t seen Epstein in more than a decade..
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Epstein, 66, is charged in a 14-page indictment with sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy, two counts that together could lead to a sentence of many years in prison. He remains jail after a judge denied bond. ——————————-
And your listening to the news on WBAI/New York, I’m Paul DeRienzo
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Earlier this week cables leaked to the UK Daily Mail written by Britain’s ambassador to the United States describe Trump as “inept,” “insecure,” and “incompetent.”
The assessment by ambassador Kim Darroch are usually private and classified. Now public, the cables are causing political embarrassment and may cost Darroch his job.
Darroch used secret cables and briefing notes to warn the UK
government that Trump's "career could end in disgrace," and
described conflicts within the White House as "knife fights.”
It’s a sensitive time for Britain. Conservative Party members
are electing a new prime minister to succeed Theresa May.
She was effectively toppled by her own members of
Parliament for failing to deliver on her country's 2016 vote to
leave the European Union.
The favorite for the job, Boris Johnson, is seen as likely to
seek to forge a much closer relationship to Trump than May.
Speaking to reporters Trump slammed the ambassador and
said he could never work for him again.
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The cables also claim that Trump’s decision not bomb Iran
after an alleged attack on oil tankers in the Gulf was based on
election considerations, but that the president could start a
war in the middle east. The cables also say for a man who
heads the world’s strongest power trump “radiates insecurity.”
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The world’s worst pig virus is decimating the world’s biggest herd, and it shows no signs of slowing down. African Swine Fever kills almost all infected animals within a week or two. It’s impossible to treat, and there is no vaccine. And it has already had a devastating impact on the global food supply.
African Swine Fever was first found in China—the world’s largest pork producer—last August, and it quickly spread to every province in the country. Official numbers show 1.1 million pigs have been culled there, but experts believe the real number may have reached 200 million, or more than a third of the country’s herd.
While the virus, which does not effect humans, has yet to be found in the United States officials here plan to be ready if its detected in American swine. The lynchpin of the US response is a little known island, shaped a little like a pork chop, off the east end of Long Island and known as Plum Island.
The but of novels and movies the vetrinary research facility has been linked in folklore to Lyme disease and UFOs, but given the importance of pork in the world diet the virus maybe the worse..
H. Claire Brown is senior writer for newfoodeconomy.org she says the virus is spread by ticks and is difficult to stop..
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H. Claire Brown is senior writer for newfoodeconomy.org ————————————-
And in New York City Election News..
The bitter fight for District Attorney of Queens county took a new turn Tuesday as both candidates Tiffany Caban and Melinda Katz demanded recounts. Public defender Caban was ahead by 1200 votes on election night but after 4000 paper ballots were counted Katz took the lead by 16 votes.
On Tuesday, the BOE was to begin the automatic recount of all the 91,000 votes cast in the primary. A state Supreme Court judge was to rule on whether 114 affidavit ballots with missing information should be validated and counted, but is holding off judgment until after the recount.
Mayor de Blasio called on state officials Monday to step in and “make sure everything is kosher” in the hotly contested Democratic race. The mayor’s statement gives credence to the Tiffany Cabán campaign’s unsubstantiated allegations of voter disenfranchisement.
Speaking at an unrelated press conference in Manhattan, de Blasio acknowledged he hadn’t seen any evidence that voter fraud or disenfranchisement had occurred, but said the state should look into the matter regardless, considering “really troubling” past incidents involving the city’s Board of Elections.
We’ll have more on this story Wednesday.. ————————
