THE Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is insisting that the Government launches a full investigation into the operations of the Universal s ervice Fund (USF).The call comes in the wake of the resignation of Suzette Buchanan as head of the agency, which has been among the state entities under the energy and technology and science portfolios, which have been embroiled in a recent slew of controversies.
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PNP pushes for probe into operations of USF
(CNN) — Ximena Barreto, a far-right political pundit who was appointed in December to a communications post at the Department of Health and Human Services, resigned on Friday, an HHS official confirmed to CNN . Barreto was placed on leave in April following reports from CNN and Media Matters that she spread conspiracies and made anti-Muslim comments. After issuing a public apology, she returned to work but was moved from her job as a deputy director of communications. Barreto’s resignation was first reported by Politico . Last month, Mediaite reported additional inflammatory tweets from Barreto including that she tweeted in June, after her public apology, that CNN’s story on her tweets was “a smear.” Liberal watchdog Media Matters has reported that Barreto called Islam “a cult” and pushed the false Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which alleged that Hillary Clinton was part of a child-sex ring based in part at a Washington, DC, pizza restaurant. A subsequent KFile review of her Twitter account “RepublicanChick” found that Barreto also repeatedly used the hashtag #BanIslam and twice shared conspiracy theories about the death of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich. Barreto also shared a conspiracy theory that French President Emmanuel Macron was controlled by the Rothschild family and that Clinton and former President Barack Obama were controlled by investor and Democratic mega-donor George Soros. Both the Rothschilds and Soros are frequent targets of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Before joining HHS Barreto did work for Donald Trump’s campaign in California during the 2016 election. A copy of Barreto’s résumé , obtained by CNN last month through a Freedom of Information Act request, also showed she listed as qualifications for the communications job her previous work for a conspiratorial website and a YouTube show she co-hosted on which she made anti-Muslim comments. — Andrew Kaczynski The-CNN-Wire ( & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)
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HHS Official Who Made Anti-Muslim Comments And Spread Conspiracy Theories Resigns
HOLMDEL, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – A New Jersey school superintendent accused of defecating on another school’s track and field has resigned. Kenilworth School Superintendent Thomas Tramaglini allegedly relieved himself on a daily basis at Holmdel High School’s track and field. Police said he was caught in the act in May. Former Kenilworth School Superintendent Thomas Tramaglini (Credit: CBS2) In a statement released this week, the Kenilworth Board of Education said the superintendent has tendered his resignation. He was already put on paid leave . “Based on events unrelated to his service for Kenilworth, it has become clear to both Dr. Tramaglini and the Kenilworth Board of Education that his continued service as Superintendent of Schools has become too much of a distraction to the main mission of the district,” the statement read in part. Tramaglini, 42, of Matawan, lives about three miles from the Holmdel track. He was charged with lewdness, littering and defecating in public. His resignation is effective September 30. The board of education is searching for an interim superintendent in the meantime.
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N.J. Superintendent Accused Of Defecating On Another School’s Track Resigns
(CBS News Moneywatch) — Papa John’s Pizza’s Chairman John Schnatter resigned as chairman of the board, the company said Wednesday. Earlier in the day, he acknowledged using a racial slur during a May conference call and apologized following a media report that also said the pizza chain founder had graphically described violence against minorities. “News reports attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media-training session regarding race are true,” Schnatter said in a statement released Wednesday by the company. “Regardless of the context, I apologize. Simply stated, racism has no place in our society,” Schnatter’s statement said. The media-training company working with Papa John’s opted to end its business relationship with the pizza company after the call, according to Forbes. The publication reported the objectionable behavior took place on a conference call intended as a role-playing exercise for Schnatter on avoiding racially charged mishaps in the future. Papa John’s initially declined to confirm or deny the report, but said in an emailed statement that the company “condemns racism and any insensitive language, no matter the situation or setting.” The controversy comes only seven months after Schnatter relinquished his CEO role after criticizing National Football League players for kneeling during the national anthem , blaming the outcry surrounding their protests for slowing sales growth at Papa John’s , at the time an NFL sponsor and advertiser. On the May call, Schnatter reportedly said the N-word while complaining that a legendary fast-food chain founder had used the word in the past without being subjected to public backlash. He also reflected on his childhood in Indiana, saying people used to drag African-Americans from trucks until they died, according to Forbes. Shares of Papa John’s Pizza ( PZZA ) fell nearly 6 percent after the report, and ended Wednesday trading down 4.8 percent. The Forbes report prompted protest from the Louisville NAACP, which said Schnatter should either step down or be removed from the University of Louisville’s board of trustees by the city’s NAACP. Louisville NAACP calls on @PapaJohns founder John Schnatter to step down – or be removed – from @uofl board of trustees over use of 'N-word': pic.twitter.com/sYFtGlwQVT — Marcus Green (@MarcusGreenWDRB) July 11, 2018 The request was complied with quickly, as Schnatter did resign from the board he’d served on for two years, its chairman, J. David Grissom, said in a statement, which also thanked the executive for his “generous” support. “After speaking with John, I’m confident that his comments, while inappropriate, do not reflect his personal beliefs or values,” said Grissom, who added the board did not condone “racism or insensitive language regardless of the setting.” — Kate Gibson (© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.)
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Papa John’s Founder John Schnatter Resigns As Chairman Of Board After Using Racial Slur
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May dug in her heels Monday after the resignation of two top government ministers over Brexit negotiations whipped up a storm that threatened to topple her fragile minority government Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson quit with a resignation letter accusing May of flying “white flags” of surrender in negotiations with the European Union. He said “the Brexit dream is dying, suffocated by needless self doubt ” Johnson followed Brexit Secretary David Davis out the door as a hard-won government consensus on future trade ties with the bloc disintegrated less than three days after it was forged, and nine months before Britain is due to leave the EU. Davis resigned late Sunday, saying May’s plan to maintain close trade and regulatory ties with the EU gave “too much away, too easily.” If Davis’s resignation rattled May, Johnson’s shook the foundations of her government. The tousle-headed blond Johnson is one of Britain’s best-known politicians, and one of the most prominent advocates for Brexit. Some euroskeptic lawmakers dream of replacing May with a staunch Brexiteer such as Johnson, a populist, polarizing figure who has never made a secret of his ambition to be prime minister. With Britain due to leave the currently 28-nation bloc on March 29, 2019, EU officials have warned Britain repeatedly that time is running out to seal a deal spelling out the terms of the divorce and a post-split relationship. Minutes after Johnson quit, May defended her Brexit plan to lawmakers in the House of Commons, with Johnson absent from his usual place on the Conservative front bench. She said she and the two departed ministers “do not agree about the best way of delivering our shared commitment to honoring the result of the referendum” in which U.K. voters opted to leave the EU. May’s plan seeks to keep the U.K. and the EU in a free-trade zone for goods, and commits Britain to maintaining the same rules as the bloc for goods and agricultural products. May said the plan would deliver frictionless trade with Europe and was the “only way to avoid a hard border” between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. Britain and the EU agree there must be no tariffs and immigration checks along the currently invisible frontier, but working out how to achieve that has been a major stumbling block in negotiations. Rebuffing claims that her proposals make too many concessions to the EU, May said her “smooth and orderly Brexit” would leave Britain free to make its own laws and trade deals. The resignations came just days after May announced she had finally united her quarrelsome government behind a plan for a divorce deal with the EU. Government unity began to fray within hours of Friday’s announcement. Brexit-supporting lawmakers were angered by the proposals, saying they would keep Britain tethered to the bloc and unable to change its rules to strike new trade deals around the world. They also argued that the proposals breach several of the “red lines” the government had set out, including a commitment to leave the EU’s tariff-free customs union. In his resignation letter, Davis said the “`common rule book policy hands control of large swathes of our economy to the EU and is certainly not returning control of our laws in any real sense.” Johnson said in his letter that May’s plan to keep close economic ties with the bloc means Britain is heading for a “semi Brexit” that would leave Britain with the “status of a colony” of the EU. Britain and the EU hope to reach broad agreement by October so the national parliaments of the remaining countries can ratify a deal before Britain leaves. The timetable increasingly looks overly optimistic, and EU frustration with British division and chaos is growing. European Council President Donald Tusk said Monday that “the mess caused by Brexit is the biggest problem in the history of EU-UK relations and it is still very far from being resolved.” Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said the government was incapable of delivering Brexit. “How can anyone have faith in the prime minister getting a good deal with 27 European Union governments when she can’t even broker a deal within her own Cabinet?” he asked. May has hung on to power longer than many expected after she lost her majority in a June 2017 snap election that she had called in hopes of strengthening her hand in Brexit talks. The fear among May’s allies is that more resignations may follow. Steve Baker, a junior Brexit minister, resigned along with Davis. May appointed staunchly pro-Brexit lawmaker Dominic Raab as the country’s new Brexit secretary. She did not immediately name a replacement for Johnson. The loss of two senior ministers and the anger among Brexit-supporting backbench lawmakers makes May’s position as leader increasingly tenuous. Davis insisted he did not want his resignation to become a rallying cry for May’s ouster. “I like Theresa May, I think she’s a good prime minister,” Davis said. But other pro-Brexit lawmakers were furious at what they saw as a sell-out of the clean Brexit they desire. Euroskeptic Conservative lawmaker Peter Bone said party activists felt “betrayed” by the government plan. Under Conservative Party rules, a confidence vote in a leader can be triggered if 48 Conservative lawmakers write a letter requesting one. May was asked by an opposition lawmaker Monday whether she would contest a vote of confidence rather than resign. “Nice try,” she said with a touch of bravado. “But I’m getting on with delivering what the British people want.” (© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Boris Johnson Quits As UK’s May Faces Mounting Brexit Crisis
ST CATHERINE, Jamaica — Following the resignation of Member of Parliament for North East St Catherine Gregory Mair as constituency chairman, the constituency’s executive council says it has identified a suitable “prospective” candidate for the next election.
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‘Prospective’ candidate to replace JLP’s Gregory Mair identified
