More Rain Causes New Flood Worries Along the Mississippi

A wall of rocks and sandbags on Monday protected scenic Clarksville, Missouri, from the surging Mississippi River as spring flooding swamped fields, threatened homes and temporarily shut down a bridge connecting Missouri and Illinois.

Heavy rain over much of the Midwest on Saturday caused another spike in water levels along the river and its tributaries, especially in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois.

So far, Mississippi River flood damage is far less severe than March flooding along the Missouri River in Nebraska, southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri, where hundreds of homes were damaged. Still, several Mississippi River communities were battling to stay dry.

Clarksville, a 440-resident community 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of St. Louis is known for its antique shops and artist galleries operating out of 19th century brick storefronts. The town sits square along the Mississippi, unprotected by a levee, and has been through many floods.

As they’ve done so many times before, Clarksville residents and other volunteers built a makeshift wall around downtown, though this time, they started with a 6-foot layer of rocks as the base, with sandbags on top of the rocks. The river was expected to crest Monday about 9 feet (2.7 meters) above flood stage, making it the seventh-worst recorded flood in Clarksville.

In nearby Louisiana, Missouri, the flood briefly forced closure of the Champ Clark Bridge that connects Missouri and Illinois because water was lapping near the Illinois entrance to the bridge Sunday night. The closure created a hardship for commuters because the next nearest river crossing is at Hannibal, Missouri, 27 miles (43 kilometers) to the north.

But by Monday morning the river had crested, the bridge deck was clear, and the Louisiana bridge was reopened, Illinois Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jessie Decker said.

Precautionary sandbags were added to the top of a levee at Foley, a tiny town about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of St. Louis. Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Jim Sharp said the river was expected to get close to the top of the levee and volunteers have been walking the levee to make sure it’s holding.

“We haven’t had anything over the top,” Sharp said. “We haven’t had a breach. We haven’t had a failure anywhere.”

The river was causing other problems, too. In St. Louis, the route for the upcoming Go St. Louis marathon and half-marathon had to be changed. The two runs combined are expected to draw about 15,000 participants on Sunday, and the original finish line was along the Mississippi near the Gateway Arch. That road is underwater, so the run will end elsewhere in downtown.

The severe flooding from last month in northwest Missouri may have claimed a life. The Platte County Sheriff’s Department is investigating after a 61-year-old man’s body was found Friday near an overturned boat in a flooded area not far from Bean Lake. The victim’s name has not been released.

Authorities in several flooded areas where water was receding warned that danger still exists. In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, an intoxicated man was rescued from the Big Sioux River late Friday after police heard him yelling for help. Rescue crews used a ladder to get down a 12-foot retaining wall and a rope to pull the man to safety. He was treated for exposure.

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Algerian Unrest a Potential Threat to Cuban Coffers

Cuba faces yet another threat to its exports of health services in exchange for oil and money as social unrest roils old friend Algeria, even as a new deal to mitigate declining support from crisis-racked Venezuela kicks in.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will resign before his mandate ends on April 28, state news agency APS said on Monday, after more than a month of mass protests and army pressure seeking an end to his 20-year rule.

An estimated million protesters had filled the capital Algiers on Friday demanding the ruling elite and aging leaders of the struggle against French colonialism step aside as a movement that is reminiscent of the Arab Spring grows.

The North African country is a major oil and gas producer and has been a friend of Cuba ever since former leader Fidel Castro sent doctors and troops there in the early 1960s as it threw off the yoke of rule by Paris.

Communist-run Cuba has seen its foreign exchange revenues and fuel imports on preferential terms from socialist ally and economic partner Venezuela steadily fall since 2014, leading to stagnation, austerity measures, scattered shortages and late payments to foreign partners.

The latest blow to Cuba’s economy came in December when an annual $300 million deal to send doctors to Brazil was canceled after right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro took office, even as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up its threats and sanctions against Venezuela and Cuba.

The Cuban government began importing oil from Russia and Algeria in 2017 to compensate for the Venezuelan shortfall.

Analysts say it is too early to predict how the political crisis in Algeria will unfold, but agree it is an existential threat for the import-dependent Caribbean island nation.

“Cuba could lose one of its few political allies with crude oil production and export capacity able to enter into a barter agreement of services such as doctors and teachers for oil,” said Jorge Pinon, director of the Latin America and Caribbean Energy Program at the University of Texas at Austin.

In 2017 and again in 2018 Cuba imported 2.1 million barrels of crude oil from Algeria where as many as a thousand health and other professionals work. Cuba said bilateral trade in 2017 was $295 million, exclusively imports.

A 2019-2021 agreement is believed to increase the amount of oil the country sends to Cuba at least partially in exchange for increased health and other technical assistance.

While shrouded in secrecy, the official news agency Prensa Latina called the new deal signed last year “one of the most significant between the two countries in recent times” and said Cuba would send more doctors to Algeria.

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US Addressing ‘Immediate’ Humanitarian Needs of Cyclone Idai Victims

The U.S. Department of Defense has authorized up to $15 million in aid to areas of Mozambique devastated by Cyclone Idai, the U.S. Africa Command said Monday.

USAID, the lead agency in charge of American aid to the crisis, had spent $6.2 million in relief as of March 31, officials told reporters Monday, adding that the current goal was to address the “immediate needs” of thousands of victims.

Brig. Gen. Robert Huston, U.S. Africa Command deputy director of operations, emphasized that combined U.S. dollar amount is a small portion of aid coming to Mozambique from international agencies, non-profits, and governments of other countries.

Huston specified Monday that the U.S. Defense Department provided fuel and transport of aid to a hub in Mozambique, from where international agencies including the World Food Program will distribute it across affected areas.

Cyclone Idai hit Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi two weeks ago. Over 700 people were killed, thousands were left homeless, and nearly 140 cases of cholera, a water-borne illness, have been reported in the city of Beira in Mozambique.

Officials say immediate priorities include distributing food and vaccines for illnesses including cholera and malaria, and ensuring shelter for victims.

Sureka Khandagle, leader of USAID’s Disaster Assistance Response Team, also said they are prioritizing to make sure that “people moving from accommodation centers have something to go home to.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is focusing, however, on using its forensic resources to identify recovered bodies.

“Because of our exposure in armed conflict, ICRC entertains a major forensic network worldwide and we have dispatched some of our experts in order to ensure safe burial of bodies, identification of bodies, dignified burials of bodies,” Peter Maurer, president of the ICRC, said in response to a question from VOA.

Moving forward, the United States, which currently has 250 people on the ground in Mozambique working full-time on relief operations, intends to reframe some of its long-term assistance programs in Mozambique.

“We’ve been a development partner with the republic of Mozambique for a very long time,” said Bryan D. Hunt, U.S. Embassy Mozambique deputy chief of mission.

“We work in a number of areas  agriculture, education, healthcare, economic growth environmental protection and we expect to continue to work in many of those same areas, but given the tremendous impact that this disaster has had in the center of the country and the fact that we’re going to be looking at long-term development challenges there, we’re looking already at how we can refocus some of our ongoing long-term development assistance programs to be of use to the government of Mozambique as they seek to rebuild what has been a very devastated part of the country,” he added.

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Ukraine Set for Brutal Final Campaigns in Zelenskiy-Poroshenko Runoff

Ukraine is preparing for three weeks of impassioned political campaigning, as a television comedian goes head-to-head with the incumbent for the presidency. As widely predicted, satirist Volodymyr Zelenskiy easily won the first round of voting Sunday with around 30% of the ballots. President Petro Poroshenko came in second with around 16%. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the newcomer’s policy positions are likely to come under greater scrutiny ahead of the April 21 runoff.

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Коломойский перечислил украденные в Приватбанке деньги на счета студии “Квартал 95” Владимира Зеленского

Народный депутат из фракции “Блок Петра Порошенко” Владимир Арьев заявляет, что в течении 2012-2016 годов $ 41 млн средств вкладчиков ПриватБанка вывели на счета студии “Квартал 95” Владимира Зеленского. Тогда банком еще владели Коломойский и Боголюбов.

“Как $ 41 млн средств вкладчиков ПриватБанка было выведено на счета комиков “Квартала 95″ через кредитование связанных с Коломойский компаний. Произошло все по стандартной для олигарха схеме хищения, которое расследовал Kroll после выведения Коломойским и компанией $ 6 млн средств вкладчиков и денег, которые шли на рефинансирование банка из резервов НБУ, когда банк начал сыпаться под тяжестью пирамиды, созданной владельцами”, — написал Арьев в сети.

Депутат не называет источники, но подает номера контрактов и даты банковских трансферов.

По его словам, в 2012 году ПриватБанк выдал кредиты на сумму более 400 млн грн (по курсу 8 грн/долл) компаниям “Реализма Ойл” и ООО “ТД Карпатнафтотрейд”, которые входят в структуру группы “Приват” Коломойского.

“Через несколько секунд эти средства оказываются на счету ПАО “Укртранснафта”, менеджмент которой тоже контролировался Игорем Коломойским. Руководителем “Укртранснафты” в то время является Александр Лазорко – руководитель других компаний группы Приват и известный манипуляциями по выкачиванию технологической нефти и ее размещению на хранении на заводах группы “Приват”, — написал депутат.

Далее в течение нескольких дней $ 38,2 млн были выведены из “Укртранснафта” на счета компании Transit SA в Кипрской филиала Банка, которая зарегистрирована в Швейцарии на Игоря Коломойского (32,5%), Геннадия Боголюбова (32,5%) и Игоря Суркиса (25%).

“Далее компания Transit SA прогоняет эти средства через четыре офшорки, зарегистрированных на лиц, которые представляют интересы Коломойского и являются лишь номинальными владельцами этих компаний, и в результате $ 41 млн оседает на компании Godfrey Consulting Limited, зарегистрированной на Сергея Мельника – еще одного представителя номинальных держателей. Он “владеет” более 40 компаниями, имеющими счета в ПриватБанке на Кипре, и является членом редакционного совета связанной компании ООО “ТК” Приват ТВ Днепр” и директором ряда компаний группы Приват”, — рассказал Арьев.

По словам парламентария, пройдя через оффшорные компании, средства дошли до компаний, зарегистрированных на участников студии “Квартал 95”, а именно: Андрея Яковлева, Бориса и Сергея Шефира, Сергея Трофимова и Владимира Зеленского.

Далее средства были размещены на депозитах, а затем выведены из банка на счета компаний за пределами банка, что делает невозможным их дальнейшее отслеживание. В течение 2012-2016 годов все средства вывелись на следующие компании или счета физлиц: Dr. Robert Walz (DE), Pinehill Investment Holdings Inc., Lacront Unitrade LLP (UK), Piper Smith Watton LLP (UK), Candlewood Investments Limited, Triapos Limited (Cyprus), SHSN Limited (Belize), Atrazon Limited LTD (Cyprus), Maintrade Limited (Seychelles), Panevest еnd Co S.A.,(Panama), Aldorante Limited (Cyprus), Film Heritage Lnc (Belize).

“Следует подчеркнуть, что все компании зарегистрированы в оффшорных зонах. Конечные бенефициарные владельцы этих оффшорок неизвестны, кроме двух последних – кипрской Aldorante Limited и Film Heritage Inc (Белиз). Они оформлены на Владимира Зеленского, согласно декларации кандидата. $ 41 млн выводился из ПриватБанка частями, начиная с 2012 года, с момента сотрудничества Коломойского и Зеленского”, — утверждает депутат.

Шоумен и кандидат в президенты Владимир Зеленский ранее уверял, что его отношения с олигархом и владельцем телеканала “1+1” Игорем Коломойским сугубо деловые и связаны с его проектом на телеканале, они не дружат и не общаются.

По информации расследования программы “Схемы”, Зеленский является бенефициаром трех российских компаний — “Вайсберг Пикчерс”, “Платинумфильм” и “Грин Филмс”, которые занимаются производством кино-, видеофильмов и телевизионных программ. Основателем всех трех является кипрская компания Green Family Ltd. Эта же компания является соучредителем ООО “Квартал 95″ в Украине, а ее конечными бенефициарами указаны Владимир Зеленский, его бизнес-партнеры Андрей Яковлев, Борис и Сергей Шефиры и соратник Игоря Коломойского Тимур Миндич”.

В целом Владимир Зеленский является бенифициаром 12 компаний, из которых 8 зарегистрированы в офшорах.

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Brexit Hurting Travel Industry, Airline Warns

Discount airline easyJet warned Monday that the U.K.’s pending withdrawal from the European Union is causing travelers to hold back on booking tickets amid doubts over what Britain’s future relations with the bloc will be.

EasyJet said that as a result, its earnings would be weaker in the second half of the year. Its first half loss of 275 million pounds ($360 million) was within expectations, but the outlook for the six months through September is “more cautious.”

“For the second half we are seeing softness in both the U.K. and Europe, which we believe comes from macroeconomic uncertainty and many unanswered questions surrounding Brexit which are together driving weaker customer demand,” easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said. “We are rolling out further initiatives to support our trading.”

Shares in the company fell almost 10% in London on the news. Shares in other airlines and travel companies also fell, with British Airways owner IAG down 1.6% and travel group TUI 2%.

George Salmon, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the airline is facing issues with “two main moving parts,” — namely fuel prices and customer sentiment. He said higher fuel costs are hitting profits and Britain’s pending EU divorce is making customers think twice before booking trips away.

“The group reckons demand will pick up later in the year, but a more pragmatic observer would say it’s difficult to put a timeframe on when [the U.K. government] and the EU will solve the Brexit puzzle,” he said. “This uncertainty means easyJet requires some blue sky thinking just now.”

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Закликаємо кандидатів від демократичних сил, які не вийшли до другого туру, підтримати Петра Порошенка

Закликаємо кандидатів від демократичних сил, які не вийшли до другого туру, підтримати Петра Порошенка.

Про це заявив народний депутат України фракції Партії «Блок Петра Порошенка», член штабу кандидата в Президенти Петра Порошенка Максим Саврасов під час брифінгу.

Він закликав кандидатів, які не вийшли у другий тур за підсумками голосування, підтримати чинного Главу держави.

«Закликаємо кандидатів від демократичних сил, які не вийшли до другого туру, підтримати демократичних проєвропейських кандидатів», – сказав Максим Саврасов.

Він також запросив волонтерів, які підтримували демократичних проєвропейських кандидатів, долучитися до команди Петра Порошенка.

«Давайте разом забезпечувати чесні вибори в другому турі», закликав М.Саврасов.

Він також зазначив, що Глава держави забезпечив демократичний виборчий процес в Україні.

«Головний принцип, на якому була побудована виборча кампанія Петра Порошенка: «Вибори мають бути чесними та чистими». І протягом всього часу ми дотримувалися цього принципу. Порошенко продемонстрував безпрецедентну прозорість фінансування кампанії. Він єдиний, хто сплатив за проведення агітації з власних задекларованих коштів, без маніпуляцій. Його підтримують люди, які є моральними авторитетами для мільйонів українців»,- зазначив Саврасов.
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Коломойский вкладывает свои последние деньги в Зеленского чтобы отобрать у Украины Приватбанк

Окружной административный суд Киева завершил рассмотрение дела по сути по иску бизнесмена Игоря Коломойского к Национальному банку Украины, Фонду гарантирования вкладов физических лиц, Кабинету Министров и Национальной комиссии по ценным бумагам и фондовому рынку о национализации ПриватБанка.

Об этом сообщается на портале Судебная власть Украины.

“Сейчас в судебном заседании объявлен перерыв и предоставлено время сторонам для подготовки к судебным прениям. Следующее заседание состоится 2 апреля. Как известно, после судебных дебатов суд выходит в совещательную для принятия решения по делу”, – говорится в сообщении.

Истец просит суд признать противоправными и отменить решение правления НБУ об отнесении ПриватБанка к категории неплатежеспособных, решение об утверждении предложения Нацбанка об участии государства в выведении неплатежеспособного банка с рынка, а также решения ФГВФЛ о введении временной администрации в банке.

18 декабря 2016 года Кабинет Министров принял решение о вхождении государства в капитал Приватбанка.

Согласно этому решению, государство в лице Министерства финансов стало владельцем 100% акций, а Приватбанк был докапитализирован на сумму 116,8 млрд грн.

3 июля 2017 года Министерство финансов Украины решило докапитализировать Приватбанк еще на 38,6 млрд грн. Первый транш в 22,5 млрд грн был предоставлен банку в июле 2017 года, второй на 16 млрд грн – в декабре.

Результаты независимого расследования всемирно известной и уважаемой компании Kroll свидетельствуют, что Коломойский, Боголюбов, Дубилет и их подчинённые, организовали масштабные и скоординированные мошеннические действия в Приватбанке по меньшей мере в течение 10 лет до его национализации, что принесло убытков банку минимум на $5,5 млрд.
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Ukraine’s Joker in the Pack Wins First Round

You could be forgiven for mistaking the first round in Ukraine’s presidential elections as an episode from a TV series — replete with established politicians being vanquished by a refreshing young upstart promising root-and-branch change.

On Sunday, one of Ukraine’s most popular actors — best known for his role in a TV series about a schoolteacher who vaults to his country’s presidency on the wave of anti-corruption disgust —appeared on course to win the first round of a presidential race that’s proving anything but ordinary.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s comfortable win — the count so far has him securing more than 30 percent of the vote — has thrown into the air Ukraine’s political cards, with few daring to predict in what shape they’ll land.

For the voters who backed the 41-year-old, art and life are in harmony.

“If we didn’t have Zelenskiy, we’d have to invent him. We need a new person, a champion of direct democracy. He’s genuine, he’s different and he’s exciting civil society. His network of advisers and volunteers aren’t connected by money or by the possibility of future benefits, but by the idea of real democratic reform,” Irina Venediktova, a law professor and Zelenskiy adviser, told VOA in a pre-election interview.

For his critics, including Petro Poroshenko, the incumbent president who’s on course to win 16 to 19 percent of the vote and to secure the slot to run off against Zelenskiy in the second round on April 21, the TV comic is blurring make-believe and reality dangerously.

As far as he’s concerned the time for jokes are over — Poroshenko says the maverick actor-turned-candidate would make a weak president, one who could easily be tricked and exploited by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian leader, Poroshenko said, “dreams of a soft, submissive, gentle, giggling, inexperienced, weak, ideologically amorphous and politically uncertain president.” “Will we gift him this?” added Poroshenko after half the votes had been counted.

Speaking to supporters as the votes came in, Zelenskiy — he named his party after his popular show’s title, Servant of the People — said “thank you” to “all the Ukrainians who did not vote just for fun.” Zelenskiy added to cheering supporters, “It is only the beginning, we will not relax This is just a first step towards a great victory.”

A wide-ranging support

But a victory for what? Analysts say his support, which unusually for a Ukrainian presidential candidate is spread evenly across most of the country, although it falls off in western regions bordering Poland, is a protest vote against a corruption-heavy, oligarch-dominated political order. To forecast how he would govern is impossible as Zelenskiy has offered little in the way of a program, they say.

His campaign has been based on policy-light, gag-filled videos posted on social media sites that mock established politicians, mainly Poroshenko.

The 53-year-old billionaire and media mogul, dubbed “the chocolate king” because of his confectionary business, came to power during the chaos and turmoil of 2014, when the Kremlin annexed Crimea and backed a separatist war in eastern Ukraine that has killed so far more than 10,000.

Aside from taking aim at Poroshenko for his wealth, Zelenskiy has held no official rallies and offered no political speeches. And even in the few press interviews he’s done, he has shied away from going into policy details. In place of the the usual manifesto, he asked Ukrainians to volunteer campaign ideas for him.

He is broadly pro-European Union and wants to solve the conflict with Russia raging in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, but doesn’t say how. His mantra has been,“No promises, no disappointment.” His opponents say he has turned ignorance into a virtue.

Sticking to generalities

On Sunday night Zelenskiy kept to his script of offering just generalities. “Fascinating. Zelensky makes an appearance at his campaign center. He mainly plays table tennis and MAKES NO STATEMENTS NOR ANSWERS ANY QUESTIONS From REPORTERS, apart from a couple sentences,” tweeted Adrian Karatnycky, an analyst at the Atlantic Council, a U.S.-based think tank, and a critic of Zelenskiy.

Zelinskiy’s upstart candidacy has left many blinking also in the Western diplomatic community. While voicing frustration with Poroshenko, and criticism of his efforts to curtail large-scale corruption, they say at least he’s a known quantity. Zelinskiy’s lack of government experience worries them.

 

But Venediktova says his outside status is one of his strengths. “It will help him find practical and innovative solutions,” she says. She rejects the claim that Zelenskiy can be compared to Italian comic Beppo Grillo, who founded the quirky, anti-establishment Five Star Movement, that’s now a partner in Italy’s populist coalition government. “He is not like Grillo,” she says. “I would compare him to the French leader Emmanuel Macron, a centrist figure who represents broad opinion,” she says.

A ‘harsh lesson’ for Poroshenko

As the results came in Sunday, Poroshenko, who has pushed during his presidency to integrate Ukraine with the European Union and NATO, strengthened the military and aided the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to become independent of Russian control, said the first round had taught him a “harsh lesson.” He said he understood voters want change “to be quicker, deeper and of higher quality. I have understood the motives behind your protest.”

How he rejigs his campaign to cope with Zelinskiy’s unconventional challenge remains unclear. Both the second-round finalists and their aides have started to reach out to seek the backing of the 37 candidates they beat and they are competing especially for the support of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who, when all the votes are finally counted, is likely to end up with about 13 percent of the overall vote.

Poroshenko is likely also to focus more in the run-up to the second round on Zelenskiy’s ties to oligarch, Ihor Kolomoisky, the owner of Ukraine’s TV channel 1+1, which broadcasts The Servant of the People.

Four days before the vote, the latest series of “Servant of the People” premiered, and on the eve of Sunday’s voting the channel dedicated much of its evening’s fare to repeats of old episodes. Zelenskiy insists he’s not a puppet of one of Ukraine’s most controversial oligarchs, but Poroshenko’s camp is likely to boost claims that Kolomoisky’s is engineering a PR coup.

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Storm Ravages Southern Nepal

A severe storm has ravaged parts of southern Nepal, flattening everything in it path, including houses and trees.

Officials save at least 27 people died in the late Sunday storm and some 500 people were injured.

The storms high winds flipped cars and swept a bus off the highway.

“I have never seen anything like this,” Ram Babu Patel, who is 45 years old, told AFP, the French news agency. “The winds took away everything, my home and my family… We have nothing left.” Patel’s wife was killed in the storm.

Rescue workers are struggling through debris to reach the affected areas.

 

 

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China Battles Forest Blaze that Killed 26 Firefighters

Firefighters are struggling to douse a forest fire that broke out in the mountains of southwestern China at the weekend, killing at least 26 firefighters, with four missing, state media said on Monday.

The fire broke out on Saturday in the Muli county of Sichuan province, perched at an altitude of more than 4,000 m. (13,000 ft), with poor transport and communication links.

By Sunday afternoon, authorities had sent nearly 700 firefighters to put out the fire, but 30 went missing after a surge of flames fed by a sudden shift in the wind, the People’s Daily newspaper said.

The bodies of the dead firefighters have been retrieved, it added.

 

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China: Fentanyl-Related Drugs to be Added to Controlled Substances List

China said Monday it is adding all fentanyl-related compounds to its list of controlled substances, beginning May 1. 

U.S. officials have long campaigned for the move. Fentanyl, and compounds that mimic its effects, are blamed for tens of thousands of opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. each year. 

“The U.S. is concerned about all variants (of fentanyl) and it’s all been resolved,” Liu Yuejin, the deputy director of China’s National Drug Commission said Monday. 

U.S. President Donald Trump said last year, if China placed controls on fentanyl, the move would be a “game changer.” 

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Algerian President Names New Government, Keeps Army Chief

Algeria’s powerful army chief retained his post in a newly-named government despite his call to have ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared unfit for office.

Algerian national television announced Sunday night that Bouteflika and Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui named a new government after weeks of mass protests and political tensions in this gas-rich North African country.

The new government notably keeps Ahmed Gaid Salah as army chief of staff and vice defense minister.

Gaid Salah shocked the nation with his call last week for the constitutional council to set in motion a process to end Bouteflika’s 20-year presidency. Critics accused Gaid Salah of trying to orchestrate a coup, and the army chief suggested Saturday that unnamed figures were plotting against him as a result of his stand against Bouteflika’s presidency.

Millions of Algerians have been holding weekly protests demanding that Bouteflika leave office along with the distrusted political elite. Algerians have barely seen their president, now 82, since a 2013 stroke.

Also Sunday, a top Algerian businessman was arrested at an Algerian border post as he was apparently trying to go to Tunisia, Algerian media reported.

Journalists at tycoon Ali Haddad’s private television channel Dzair News said he was arrested overnight in Oum Tboul, close to the Tunisian border.

Haddad, long a backer of Bouteflika, resigned this week as head of Algeria’s Business Forum, apparently trying to distance himself from the unpopular leader whose government has been accused of corruption.

Bouteflika withdrew from running for a new term but canceled Algeria’s April 18 presidential election. Pressure has mounted for him to step down before his current term expires later this month.

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2 Pilots Killed in Marine Helicopter Crash in Arizona

Two Marine pilots have died in a helicopter crash during a training mission in southwestern Arizona, U.S. Marine Corps officials said Sunday.

The AH-1Z Viper crashed Saturday night while the pilots were conducting a training mission as part of a weapons and tactical instructor course, according to the Marine Corps. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Capt. Gabriel Adibe, a Marine Corps spokesman, said the helicopter crashed on the vast Marine Corps Air Station Yuma training grounds but no additional information was immediately available.

The names of the pilots who died have not been released pending notification of their families.

The station is located about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from Yuma and the 1,300-square-mile (3,367-square-kilometer) training ground is one of the world’s largest military installations.

There have been several fatal crashes involving Marine Corps aircraft near Yuma over the years.

In 1996, a Marine electronic-warfare plane went down during a training mission on a gunnery range near the Gila Mountains, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of the Yuma station, killing all four people aboard. The crew was from the Marine base at Cherry Point, North Carolina, and was training at Yuma.

Two Marine pilots, a crew chief and a Navy corpsman died in a 2007 crash of a search-and-rescue helicopter near the Colorado River during a training mission. The crew members were attached to a headquarters squadron of Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma.

In 2012, seven Marines were killed when an AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter and a UH-1Y Huey utility helicopter collided in midair during a training exercise in a remote area of the Yuma training grounds. The crash site was in the Chocolate Mountains on the California side of the range.

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