U.S. lifts sanctions on Rusal, other firms linked to Russia's Deripaska

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday lifted sanctions on aluminum giant Rusal (0486.HK) and other Russian firms linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska, despite a Democratic-led push in the U.S. Congress to maintain the restrictions. Earlier this month, 11 of Trump’s fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate joined Democrats in a failed effort to keep the sanctions on Rusal, its parent, En+ Group Plc, and power firm JSC EuroSibEnergo. But that was not enough to overcome opposition from Trump and most of his fellow Republicans.

Advocates for keeping the sanctions had argued that Deripaska, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, retained too much control over the companies to lift sanctions imposed in April to punish Russia for actions including its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, efforts to interfere in U.S. elections and support for Syria’s government in its civil war. Some lawmakers from both parties also said it was inappropriate to ease the sanctions while Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigates whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Moscow.

But in its statement on Sunday, the U.S. Treasury Department said the three companies had reduced Deripaska’s direct and indirect shareholding stake and severed his control. That action, it said, ensured that most directors on the En+ and Rusal boards would be independent directors, including Americans and Europeans, who had no business, professional or family ties to Deripaska or any other person designated for sanctions by the Treasury Department. “The companies have also agreed to unprecedented transparency for Treasury into their operations by undertaking extensive, ongoing auditing, certification, and reporting requirements,” the department’s statement said. Deripaska himself remains subject to U.S. sanctions.

Trump administration officials, and many Republicans who opposed the effort to keep the sanctions in place, said they worried about the impact on the global aluminum industry. They also said Deripaska’s decision to lower his stakes in the companies so that he no longer controlled them showed that the sanctions had worked. Rusal is the world’s largest aluminum producer outside China. The sanctions on the company spurred demand for Chinese metal. China’s aluminum exports jumped to a record high in 2018.

Trump denies collusion, and Moscow has denied seeking to influence the U.S. election on Trump’s behalf, despite U.S. intelligence agencies’ finding that it did so. Deripaska had ties with Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager. Manafort pleaded guilty in September 2018 to attempted witness tampering and conspiring against the United States.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-sanctions/u-s-lifts-sanctions-on-rusal-other-firms-linked-to-russias-deripaska-idUSKCN1PL0S1

Rusal chairman resigns as part of deal to lift U.S. sanctions; shares jump 5 percent

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Aluminum giant Rusal said on Monday Jean-Pierre Thomas had resigned as chairman and director of the company as a pre-requisite for a decision by the United States to lift sanctions on the company. Shares in Hong Kong-listed Rusal jumped more than 5 percent in early trading on Monday.

Sunday’s move by President Donald Trump’s administration ended sanctions on Rusal and other Russian firms linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite a Democratic-led push in the U.S. Congress to maintain the restrictions. Rusal is the world’s largest aluminum producer outside China, and sanctions on the company spurred demand for Chinese supplies. China’s aluminum exports jumped to a record in 2018.

In a stock exchange filing, the firm, formally known as United Company RUSAL Plc, also said Philippe Bernard Henri Mailfait had resigned as an independent non-executive director effective Jan. 26 due to other business commitments.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-sanctions-rusal/rusal-chairman-resigns-as-part-of-deal-to-lift-u-s-sanctions-shares-jump-5-percent-idUSKCN1PM034?il=0

Saudi Aramco plans to buy stake in South Korea's Hyundai Oilbank for $1.6 billion

SEOUL (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant, plans to buy up to 19.9 percent of South Korean refiner Hyundai Oilbank for 1.8 trillion won ($1.61 billion) from Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings. Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, which currently owns a 91.13 percent stake in Hyundai Oilbank, also said it plans to “reconsider” the stock market listing of the refinery arm, after completing the stake sales to Saudi Aramco. Saudi Aramco plans to value Hyundai Oilbank at 10 trillion won, or 36,000 won per share, Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings said in a statement. The holding company of shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries will use the funds to be raised from the deal to “invest in new businesses and improve its financial health.” Saudi Aramco also works with shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries and others under a joint venture to build a shipyard on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast. Saudi Aramco is the biggest shareholder of South Korean refiner S-Oil Corp.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hyundaioilbank-saudiaracom/saudi-aramco-plans-to-buy-stake-in-south-koreas-hyundai-oilbank-for-1-6-billion-idUSKCN1PM00F?il=0

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Google Manipulates Search Results on ‘Controversial’ Topics, Report Says

Google tweaks search results on topics the company deems “controversial,” two Google sources revealed to Breitbart. Sometimes, the company even changes the results manually—something its chief executive, Sundar Pichai, denied in sworn testimony. Among the singled out topics were abortion, gun-control activist David Hogg, the February 2018 An-148 Russian plane crash, the December 2018 Strasbourg terrorist attack, and even U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), according to an excerpt from the list and Google’s internal communications obtained by Breitbart, the right-leaning news outlet that has been breaking stories for months based on leaks from Google.

In the internal discussion thread, a Google engineer pointed to a change in Youtube search results for the keyword “abortion” that came shortly after a journalist from left-leaning Slate queried the company about the results. The engineer called the change a “smoking gun.” “The Slate writer said she had complained last Friday and then saw different search results before YouTube responded to her on Monday,” wrote the employee. “And lo and behold, the [changelog] was submitted on Friday, Dec. 14 at 3:17 PM.” Youtube, an online video platform, is run by Google. The Slate writer reported that the top search results “were almost all anti-abortion,” such as videos of Dr. Antony Levatino, an abortion specialist who became an anti-abortion advocate; a video of a woman describing her regret after an abortion; and a clip of conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. After her inquiry with Google, the search results began including more pro-abortion content. A Google employee noted in the discussion thread that it “seems like we are pretty eager to cater our search results to the social and political agenda of left-wing journalists.”

https://www.theepochtimes.com/google-manipulates-search-results-on-controversial-topics-report-says_2781066.html

Georgia’s Stacey Abrams Is Making Moves for New Election Prospects

Stacey Abrams may have lost the 2018 election for governor of Georgia but the former Democratic state lawmaker is eyeing higher elected offices, including a U.S. Senate seat in 2020. In a Jan. 26 MSNBC interview with activist Al Sharpton, Abrams said she hasn’t decided which office she’ll pursue next, but to expect an announcement by March 31. Sharpton introduced Abrams as “a star of the Democratic Party.” Regarding a Senate bid, Abrams said she is considering “if it’s the right job for the work she wants to do.”

Sharpton then pivoted to voter suppression, an issue at the center of Abrams’s career and what she has blamed for her midterm election loss after current Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, won the seat. “We know we did not have a fair fight in Georgia. That’s why I created Fair Fight Action, which is an organization dedicated to pushing voting rights for everyone,” Abrams said. “The organization we founded is not a partisan organization, it’s a democracy organization,” she said.

But Fair Fight Action has also been identified as a so-called “dark money” organization. Dark money refers to political spending where donors are not disclosed and sources of funding are unknown. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, dark money groups are responsible for a “staggering gap” in tracking how political spending impacts elections—and arguably makes them unfair. A Wall Street Journal investigation, published Jan. 23, found that liberals now outpaced conservatives in dark money midterm election spending, after years of right-leaning nonprofits leading the way.

Documents filed with the Georgia Secretary of State show that Abrams is now expanding her dark money operations. She was listed as Fair Fight Action’s chief executive in December, with the organization itself being created by restructuring and rebranding another Abrams dark money group, as first reported by the Daily Beast. Fair Fight Action was formerly called the Voter Access Initiative but a name change occurred on Dec. 14. The tax-exempt nonprofit’s existing articles of incorporation were also amended to allow for greater political activity. Previously, the Voter Access Initiative was prohibited from “directly or indirectly” participating or intervening in “any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.” But that is no longer the case.

Among other activities, Fair Fight Action is now able to donate to super PACs that can support or attack specific candidates, potentially paving the way for Abrams to challenge Georgia’s incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue in 2020. Abrams’s 2018 gubernatorial effort would have made her the nation’s first black female governor in the nation’s history. She lost by only 17,000 votes to Kemp, who served as Georgia’s Secretary of State from 2010 until Nov. 8, 2018, or two days after the polls closed.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/georgias-stacey-abrams-is-making-moves-for-new-election-prospects_2780868.html