https://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/nigel-farage-s-new-brexit-party-wins-official-recognition-1.823449

British electoral authorities said Friday they had officially recognised a new ‘Brexit Party’ backed by Nigel Farage, a key campaigner in the referendum vote to leave the European Union.

Recognition by the Electoral Commission means the party can now contest elections in Britain – and potentially in the European Parliament if Brexit is delayed beyond March 29.

“The party was founded with my full support and with the intention of fighting the European election on May 23 if Brexit has not been delivered by then,” Mr Farage told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

He said he would stand for election, adding that the party had received “hundreds of applications” from other would-be candidates, and “significant” funds had been pledged.

“The engine is running,” he said.

In December, Mr Farage left the UK Independence Party (UKIP) which he had co-founded and turned into a hugely influential force as its leader.

He fell out with the current UKIP leadership after it appointed a far-right activist, Tommy Robinson, as an adviser in December. The party is also languishing in the polls.

The Brexit Party “was registered on February 5,” a spokesman for the Electoral Commission told AFP.

It is led by Catherine Blaiklock, a former UKIP official and parliamentary candidate, who told the Telegraph she expected “thousands” of people from the ruling Conservatives to defect.

He is holding a copy of the Haitian Constitution

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article225999135.html

Sen. Youri Latortue, who represents the Artibonite region, said two people, including an 18-year-old protester, were killed and 10 others were injured in a protest in the city of Gonaives that degenerated as police opened fire to disperse the crowd. He accused police of killing the 18-year-old at the port.

But a police source refuted the claim, citing a video that showed the teen in a conflict with armed agents at the port and not Haiti National Police officers, who were not at the scene.

In addition to Gonaives, protests were also reported in the southern cities of Port Salut, Jacmel and Les Cayes. In Port-au-Prince, the U.S. embassy issued security alerts for certain areas, including roadblocks and protests around Aristide University in Tabarre and near a police station in Delmas. It also reportedly asked embassy employees, along with those employed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, to leave a Petionville hotel over security concerns.

A top White House official said Friday that an FBI raid on a bank in Puerto Rico is an example of the administration using all available “tools” to pressure Venezuela’s socialist leader, Nicolas Maduro.

“The US will continue to use all tools to separate Maduro & his cronies from money that rightfully belongs to the people of Venezuela,” tweeted White House national security adviser John R. Bolton. “Those who continue to plunder the resources of Venezuela & stand against its people will not be forgotten.”

He was referring to the FBI’s raid on Wednesday against the BSJI bank in San Juan, Puerto Rico, over alleged violations of U.S. sanctions imposed on those who do business with Venezuela’s government.

An FBI spokesman told The Associated Press that federal officials suspect someone might have used the bank to launder money from a person or entity on the sanctions list.

Hector Vazquez Muniz, chief financial officer of Banco San Juan Internacional, said in a statement to the AP that the bank is complying with the U.S. sanctions and denied wrongdoing.

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oops sauce https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/feb/8/bolton-fbi-raid-puerto-rico-bank-aimed-maduro/

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-saudi-khashoggi-pompeo/pompeo-provided-u-s-congress-with-updates-on-khashoggi-killing-state-department-idUKKCN1PY01H?rpc=401&

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo provided an update on the investigation into Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing to Congress on Friday, a State Department spokesperson said.

The spokesperson did not offer any details on what Pompeo told lawmakers.

Congress had given the Trump administration a deadline of Feb. 8 to submit a report on who bears responsibility for Khashoggi’s death and whether Washington would impose sanctions on that person or people. Congressional aides said they had not received any such report from the White House by early Friday evening.