President Donald Trump said Wednesday U.S. automaker General Motors will invest $700 million in Ohio and create 450 jobs, selling one of its shuttered plants to a company that will produce electric trucks.

“GREAT NEWS FOR OHIO!” Trump tweeted.

Trump said he had talked to GM chief Mary Barra who told him of plans to sell the Lordstown, Ohio plant to Workhorse, a company that focuses on producing electric delivery vehicles.

In November, GM shuttered five U.S. plants, including auto assembly plants in Michigan and Ohio, as part of a 15 percent cut in its workforce worldwide — cutting around 14,000 employees — a move which drew Trump’s wrath on Twitter.

But in March, GM announced plans to invest $1.8 billion in U.S. operations creating 700 new jobs. About $300 million will be geared towards production of electric vehicles at the auto giant’s Orion plant in Michigan, creating 400 jobs, the company said in a statement.

“I have been working nicely with GM to get this done. Thank you to Mary B, your GREAT Governor, and Senator Rob Portman. With all the car companies coming back, and much more, THE USA IS BOOMING!” Trump said.

The U.S. president has repeatedly berated companies by name to pressure them into investing more or reversing decisions on job cuts.

 
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In the U.S., there’s an old saying that there are only two things that are certain in life: death and taxes.

But as it turns out, death is way more certain than taxes in the United States.

Corporations and some wealthy individuals, including President Donald Trump, are able to legally avoid any federal taxation in some years by deducting business expenses such as capital investments, charitable donations, interest on their home loans, health care costs and numerous other write-offs from their corporate or personal income.

In a report late Tuesday, The New York Times said from 1985 to 1994, Trump lost more than $1 billion in his real estate business operations and paid no federal income taxes in eight of those 10 years.

Trump called the report inaccurate but did not dispute any specific facts. He said it was “sport” for developers to game the U.S. tax code so they did not have to pay taxes.

Unlike U.S. presidents for the past four decades, Trump has balked at releasing his tax returns, although opposition Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives are seeking, so far unsuccessfully, to get him to divulge his returns for the last six years. A court fight over the dispute is possible.

The independent Tax Policy Center estimates that in 2018, 44% of Americans paid no federal income tax under the country’s progressive sliding scale of taxation, where those making the most money, in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, pay a higher percentage tax than those with way less annual income.

Various provisions of the U.S. tax code, such as the standard deduction to reduce taxable income or such allowable itemized deductions as for making donations to charities or for expenses to operate a business from home, can sharply reduce income subject to federal taxation.

But even those individuals not subject to any federal taxation, however, likely have paid payroll taxes, payments to cover mandatory withholding from their paychecks to fund the government’s pension plan for older and retired workers, and health insurance for Americans over 65. About three-quarters of American households pay federal income taxes, the payroll taxes or both.

The median annual U.S. household income is $56,516, meaning half earn more, half less.

According to one recent survey of nearly 130,000 American consumers, the average American spends $10,489 each year in federal, state, and local income taxes, about 14% of the average survey respondent’s gross income.

In the corporate world, however, with the tax overhaul pushed to passage by Trump and Republican lawmakers in 2017 that cut the basic federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, 60 of the biggest U.S. corporations avoided paying any taxes last year, according to the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

The research group said these companies should have paid a collective $16.4 billion in federal income taxes, but instead, with various legal deductions from their income, received a net tax rebate of $4.3 billion.

It reported that among the 60 profitable U.S. corporations paying no federal income taxes last year were some of the country’s best known businesses, including General Motors, Amazon, Chevron, Netflix, Delta Air Lines, IBM, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, and Eli Lilly.

 
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If a rising tide lifts all boats, then Vietnam may find that there is a related saying in economics: when the tide goes out, you will see who was swimming naked.

The Southeast Asian country has fared fairly well amid the trade frictions around the world, with its foreign investment and gross domestic product continuing to grow. But even Vietnam is not immune if a recession hits the global economy, as some are expecting, which is why they are bracing for a hard landing. News this week that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to increase tariffs on Chinese goods has just added to the frictions, sending Asian stock markets plummeting.

An economic downturn — in other words, the tide going out — could expose vulnerabilities for Vietnam, the equivalent of those swimming naked. Most analysts are forecasting slower GDP growth for Vietnam in the year ahead.

Economic slowdown ahead

It “is important to recognize that the region continues to face heightened pressures that began in 2018 and that could still have an adverse impact,” said Andrew Mason, who is acting as the chief economist for the World Bank in the East Asia and Pacific region. “Continued uncertainty stems from several factors, including further deceleration in advanced economies, the possibility of a faster-than-expected slowdown in China, and unresolved trade tensions.”

His office projects the Vietnamese economy will expand 6.6 percent in 2019, while researchers at Capital Economics peg growth at an even lower rate of 6 percent year-on-year. That compares with the annualized rate of 7.1 percent in 2018.

The pending slowdown, if it comes, would be due to a variety of reasons, not least among them global demand. If more and more countries see their economies decelerate — because of the trade wars or otherwise — they will buy fewer goods from Vietnam. As an export-led economy based on factory products, Vietnam is extremely sensitive to the knock-on effects of foreign trade and consumption.

Another key risk factor for the economy is the portfolio of state-owned enterprises. The government has not divested its shares in the enterprises as quickly as planned. At the same time it faces a growing burden from tax and spending needs.

Public debt and a budget deficit

“Fiscal policy is also likely to become less supportive. Vietnam has one of the highest levels of public debt and the largest budget deficit in the region,” Capital Economics, an economic research company, said in a note to investors. “Tighter policy, in the form of slower spending growth and higher taxes, is needed to bring debt levels down to more sustainable levels.”

Both the company and the World Bank agree that, besides public debt, private debt poses a notable challenge in the country as well, especially at banks. Lenders have not completely offloaded their non-performing loan problem, which refers to loans that are unlikely to be repaid. That contributes to tightening credit, which can be a blessing and a curse.

“On the plus side, weaker credit demand is needed to reduce risks in the financial sector and put the economy on a more sustainable footing,” Capital Economics wrote. “But in the near term a slowdown in credit growth will drag on consumption and investment growth.”

Large trade deals

All of this comes during a transition period for Vietnam, which is preparing for new trade deals like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. Academic researchers Tran Thi Bich Nhan and Do Thi Minh Huong say the transition period will create plenty of opportunities, but not everyone will come out ahead.

“In terms of society, the increased competition from participating in FTAs can push some companies in developing countries, primarily state-owned enterprises and companies with outdated production technology, into difficulties, bringing along the possibility of unemployment for a portion of the workforce,” Nhan and Huong wrote in the finance ministry’s official newspaper.

If Vietnam adds to that a slowdown in the global economy, workers and other vulnerable groups are most likely to be hardest hit. While the overall impact of a recession is generally negative, some say there is a silver lining. When the tide goes out, it can help distinguish between the efficient and inefficient companies, distinguish between an economy’s strengths and the weaknesses to be addressed. But no one expects it to be a pleasant process.
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Drivers for ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft are turning off their apps to protest what they say are declining wages at a time when both companies are raking in billions of dollars from investors.

Organizers are planning demonstrations in 10 U.S. cities Wednesday, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, as well as some European locations like London.

The protests arrive just ahead of Uber’s initial public stock offering, which is planned for Friday. Uber hopes to raise $9 billion and is expected to be valued at up to $91.5 billion.

It’s not the first time drivers for ride-hailing apps have staged protests. Strikes were planned in several cities ahead of Lyft’s IPO last month, although the disruption to riders appeared to be minimal. More cities are participating in Wednesday’s protest, however.

“Drivers built these billion dollar companies and it is just plain wrong that so many continue to be paid poverty wages while Silicon Valley investors get rich off their labor,” said Brendan Sexton, executive director of the Independent Drivers Guild, in a statement. “All drivers deserve fair pay.”

In New York, striking drivers shut down their services at 7 a.m. and planned to remain inactive until 9 a.m., though it was still easy to locate a driver during rush hour near Wall Street in lower Manhattan on Wednesday.

Drivers in Los Angeles are planning a 24-hour strike and picket line at Los Angeles International Airport.

Uber, in a prepared statement Wednesday, said it is constantly working to improve the working environment for drivers.

“Drivers are at the heart of our service ? we can’t succeed without them ? and thousands of people come into work at Uber every day focused on how to make their experience better, on and off the road.”

Lyft said its drivers’ hourly earnings have increased over the last two years, that 75 percent of its drivers work less than 10 hours per week to supplement existing jobs and that on average the company’s drivers earn over $20 an hour.

“We know that access to flexible, extra income makes a big difference for millions of people, and we’re constantly working to improve how we can best serve our driver community,” Lyft said.

In New York, striking drivers are planning to proceed in a caravan across the Brooklyn Bridge and then hold a rally outside Uber and Lyft offices in Queens.

Strikes are also planned in Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego and Stamford, Connecticut.

 
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Instead of managing livestock with her family on her Floyd, Iowa, farm, Pam Johnson would rather see tractors in her fields.

“I look outside at the weather and how we should be planting right now to have optimum yields this year, and we’re kind of stuck,” she told VOA, standing in a building on her farm that provided shelter from the intermittent downpours.

Johnson says she is stuck — not just because of the soggy weather, but also between a rock (trade agreements) and a hard place (tariffs). 

“The soybean tariffs are hurting us here,” she somberly explained. 

Tariffs on soybeans, imposed by China in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, have been in place for a year. The impact on prices, and the bottom line for farmers’ income, depends on exports for strong grain prices. As the price of soybeans, in particular, continue to fluctuate, concerns across the agricultural industry have heightened.

Adding to those concerns, the U.S. Congress has yet to schedule a vote to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which replaces the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.

But Johnson is not one to wait around, either for drier weather or certain economic conditions. She recently decided to hit the road.

“Thought it was really important to make sure that I got my voice heard and the voice of other farmers about how important trade is to us and how the tariffs are hurting us. And thought it was well worth my time to get away from the farm during planting season to talk to congressmen and senators about what issues are important to us,” she said.

To send that message, she joined “Motorcade for Trade,” part recreational vehicle, part moving billboard, sponsored by Farmers for Free Trade.

Motorcade for Trade

“What you’ll be seeing as we’re going down the roadway on our Motorcade for Trade are facts about the importance of U.S., Canada and Mexico trade,” said Angela Marshall Hoffman, executive co-director of Farmers for Free Trade. “It’s really an effort to bring attention to what’s happening not just in rural America, but what’s happening across America, and how important Canada and Mexico trade is to our state, our economy, and most important, to the farms and ranches who depend on that trade across the country.” 

For Hoffman, Motorcade for Trade’s mission is personal. She owns a ranch in Wyoming where operations are disrupted by the uncertainty created by tariffs and ongoing trade negotiations.

“Are we going to put in new fence lines? Are we going to wait on a major construction project? Are we going to work with others to maybe run more cattle or not?” she outlined. “What we hear across the board, no matter what industry we’re in right now, is there is a lot going on with the trade war. Right now, there is desperate need for certainty.”

These were some of the concerns Johnson was able to deliver during one of her stops, which put her face to face with one of her elected officials.

“Is it possible to get USMCA passed this session?” she asked Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. 

Out of her control

During the roundtable discussion with Johnson and other business owners impacted by tariffs, Ernst said she believes there is strong support in both houses of Congress for passage of the USMCA this year.

In a separate interview with VOA, Ernst said she has President Donald Trump’s ear on these issues and believes he has farmers like Johnson in mind as negotiations continue.

“The president does want to see good and fair trade deals,” she explained. “And so, once those have been negotiated — especially once we have Canada and Mexico done — once we can seal the deal with China, we continue to work on other trade agreements, new trade agreements, around the globe. Then, we will have an expanding market for our American farmers.” 

While Johnson believes Ernst understands what’s at stake, and despite the senator’s assurances, she has mixed emotions about something she admits is out of her control: congressional approval of the USMCA.

“My hope is that it is going to be passed this summer,” she said. “My fear is that it doesn’t.”

Her other fear is also out of her control — the weather. 

What she and her family need most is a few sunny days to dry out the fields, so regardless of tariffs or trade agreements, they at least have an optimal crop to market.
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U.S. stocks slid Tuesday as escalating trade tensions between the United States and China triggered global growth fears and drove investors away from riskier assets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its second-biggest daily percentage drop of the year, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq registered their third-biggest percentage drops, even as the major indexes pared losses to end off their session lows.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said late Monday that China had backtracked from commitments made during trade negotiations. Those comments followed President Donald Trump’s unexpected statement Sunday that he would raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent.

Beijing said Tuesday that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will visit the United States Thursday and Friday for trade talks. Additional tariffs are set to take effect Friday if a trade agreement is not reached by then.

Investor concerns

Monday’s comments from Lighthizer and Mnuchin raised concerns among some investors that trade talks between China and the United States could take much longer to resolve than previously thought.

“Week after week, we’ve heard there has been progress and that a deal would be reached,” said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis. “Now the goalposts have moved. There’s been quite a shift in expectations.”

Investors expressed concern that additional tariffs, if imposed, could interrupt supply chains and hamper economic growth.

“The threat of tariffs has not been trotted out since the end of December,” said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh. “It could disrupt the symbiosis between (China and the United States).”

Stocks sensitive to trade 

Trade-sensitive industrial and technology stocks marked the biggest percentage declines among the S&P 500’s major sectors. All 11 sectors were in the red, with only utilities and energy falling less than 1%.

Shares of Boeing Co., the largest U.S. exporter to China, slipped 3.9%, and shares of Caterpillar Inc., another industrial stalwart sensitive to China, declined 2.3%.

Among technology stocks, Microsoft Inc. shares slid 2.1%, while Apple Inc. shares dropped 2.7%. Apple and Microsoft were the top two drags on the S&P 500.

The CBOE Volatility Index, a gauge of investor anxiety, spiked to its highest level in more than three months.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 473.39 points, or 1.79%, to 25,965.09, the S&P 500 lost 48.42 points, or 1.65%, to 2,884.05 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 159.53 points, or 1.96%, to 7,963.76.

Bright spots

In a bright spot, American International Group Inc. shares jumped 6.8% after the insurer reported a quarterly profit that blew past expectations.

With earnings season now in its homestretch, first-quarter profits are now expected to rise 1.2%, a sharp improvement from the 2.3% decline expected at the start of the earnings season.

Of the 414 S&P companies that have reported earnings so far, about 75% have surpassed analysts’ estimates, according to Refinitiv data.

Conversely, Mylan NV shares tumbled 23.8%, the most among S&P 500 companies, after the drugmaker reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue and failed to provide greater clarity on a potential revamp of the company’s strategy.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 4.13-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.32-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week highs and seven new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 44 new highs and 62 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.8 billion shares, compared to the 6.71 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
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German sports car maker and Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche will pay a 535-million-euro ($598 million) fine over diesel vehicles that emitted more harmful pollutants than allowed, Stuttgart prosecutors said Tuesday.

“The Stuttgart prosecutor’s office has levied a 535-million-euro fine against Porsche AG for negligence in quality control,” the investigators said.

Porsche “abstained from a legal challenge” against the decision, the prosecutors office added.

Tuesday’s levy against Porsche is the latest in a string of fines against VW over its years-long “dieselgate” scandal.

The auto behemoth admitted in 2015 to manipulating 11 million vehicles worldwide to appear less polluting in laboratory tests than they were in real driving conditions.

Following fines against VW, high-end subsidiary Audi and now Porsche, no further investigations over “administrative offences” remain open against the group, a spokesman told AFP.

But legal proceedings against individuals, including former chief executive Martin Winterkorn, remain open.

Meanwhile, thousands of investors are suing the company for the losses they suffered on its shares when news of the scandal broke, while hundreds of thousands of drivers are also demanding compensation.

In its own statement, Porsche said the negligence punished by prosecutors was identified “several levels below the board.”

The firm also said that the cost of the fine was included in a provision of around one billion euros booked by the VW group in the first quarter.

So far the total costs of “dieselgate” for the Wolfsburg-based behemoth have mounted to 30 billion euros.

Shares in VW were down 2.2 percent around 2:00 pm in Frankfurt (1200 GMT) at 154.10 euros, against a DAX index of blue-chip shares down 0.7 percent.
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U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday that American technologies and expertise could play an important role in developing India’s economy, but were facing significant barriers to accessing its markets.

Ross told a gathering of business leaders in New Delhi that foreign companies were at a disadvantage due to India’s tariff and non-tariff barriers and myriad regulations.

Ross said India was already the world’s third largest economy and by 2030 it would become the world’s largest consumer market because of the rapid growth of its middle class. “Yet today, India is only the U.S 13th largest export market due to overly restrictive market access barriers.”

Meanwhile, the United States is India’s largest export market, accounting for something like 20 percent of the total. “That’s a real imbalance, and it’s an imbalance we must drive to counter,” he said.

He noted that India’s average applied tariff rate is 13.8 percent, the highest of any major world economy.

India’s Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said India would like to work with the United States to resolve such issues in a way that benefits both countries.

“We will address the issues with the United States in a manner that will make this relationship better not just between the United States and India, but for the rest of the world as well,” Prabhu said.

Ross said that American companies now have a unique opportunity to increase defense technology sales to India which in turn would help balance the trade relationship between the two countries.

Bilateral trade in goods and services registered a 12.6% rise to $142 billion in 2018.

Exports of U.S. goods and services to India reached $58.9 billion in 2018, up 19% from 2017, according to the U.S. Embassy.

India offers business opportunities in the sectors of aerospace, defense, energy, health care and environmental technologies.

Representatives of more than 100 U.S. companies are visiting India as part of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s largest annual trade mission program, Trade Winds. They’re looking for opportunities in aerospace, defense, energy, health care and environmental technologies.

The delegation met with government leaders, market experts and potential business partners in New Delhi on Tuesday. They also will visit Ahmadabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

 
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China has confirmed that its top trade negotiator will travel to the United States to conduct a new round of trade talks later this week, even after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened higher tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods after he complained the process is taking too long.

The Commerce Ministry issued a statement Tuesday that Vice Premier Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s top economic advisor, will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for two days of talks beginning Thursday.

Trump’s Twitter comments on Sunday about the new tariffs sent Asian stocks and U.S. futures tumbling Monday and added uncertainty over the future of U.S.-China trade negotiations. Despite the market drop, China’s official media stayed silent on Trump’s comments all morning.

Hours later, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that China is “trying to get more information” about Trump’s comments about new tariffs but stressed that Beijing’s negotiating team is still preparing to travel to the U.S. for talks this week. Geng did not say whether Vice Premier Liu would lead the delegation.

“The tweet is a big wrench in China’s foreign trade policy,” Nick Marro, analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU), told VOA. “There were a lot of expectations that at least the groundwork for a deal will be finalized this week,” he said, explaining why Beijing should be upset by the new threat.

Tweet with teeth

In his tweet, Trump said he would increase tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent on Friday. This would reverse a decision Washington took last February to keep it at 10 percent in the midst of trade talks.

“The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!,” Trump said, expressing dissatisfaction about the pace of trade negotiations and what he considered a Chinese attempt to renegotiate some aspects of the proposed deal.

Lighthizer on Monday confirmed that tariffs will be imposed Friday. He and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin told reporters Trump had learned over the weekend that Chinese officials “were trying to go back on some of the language” that had been negotiated in 10 earlier rounds of talks. They did not offer details.

Trump also said his policy of hiking taxes on Chinese goods had paid dividends.

“These payments are partially responsible for our great economic results,” he said.

He went further, saying another $325 billion of Chinese goods which “remain untaxed” will be taxed at 25 percent. He did not specify a timeline for making this change.

Unaffected stance

In its response Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry expressed hope that there is no change in the situation, and the two countries will continue to strive for an end to the trade war.

“What is of vital importance is that we still hope the United States can work hard with China to meet each other half way, and strive to reach a mutually beneficial, win-win agreement on the basis of mutual respect,” Geng said.

Echoing China’s confidence that trade talks would not be disrupted by Trump’s tweet, Shanghai-based expert Shen Dingli said, “China and the U.S. have big and overlapping stakes in bilateral trade. They will overcome any difficulties for a successful outcome of the trade talks.”

 
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Farah Ballout’s big, infectious smile is the first thing that greets you at her workplace, a cafe in Lebanon with a mission to do more than just brew coffee.

Before she was hired, the 29-year-old — who has Angelman Syndrome, a genetic disorder that means she has developmental disabilities — had struggled to find work in a country with high unemployment.

“I feel like it is a dream that I started here,” Ballout said as tears rolled down her face. “It feels like you are walking into your home — it doesn’t feel like you are going to work.”

Almost all the 14 staff at the Agonist coffee shop near Beirut where Ballout has worked for the past five months have special needs, from autism to Down’s Syndrome.

Wassim El Hage set up the business in December to help people with disabilities, who are typically excluded from the workforce in Lebanon.

As a social enterprise — a business that aims to do good as well as make profit — it faces even more of a challenge than most startups in a country whose economy has been badly hit by years of political instability and a mass influx of refugees.

The country is grappling with an unemployment rate of 30 percent, and nearly 2,200 businesses closed last year, according to Lebanon’s chamber of commerce.

For El Hage, that was part of the motivation — Lebanon, he said, desperately needs organizations prepared to hire people who would otherwise struggle to find jobs.

“It is not my target to make money or to make profit for my own self. My target is to give them back this money [for them] to be integrated, to be independent, to have a real life,” he told Reuters. “We need it in Lebanon.”

The tiny country is home to more than a million refugees, mostly from its war-ravaged neighbor Syria.

Since its own civil war ended in 1990, Lebanon has faced a raft of challenges, from electricity shortages to garbage mountains due to a lack of landfill sites — and now social enterprises are stepping in to help.

These include Compost Baladi, which manages waste and compost, and SunRay Energy, which helps rural communities in Lebanon adopt solar energy with a lease program and flexible payments.

But social entrepreneurs say a lack of funding and government support are making it difficult for such ventures to thrive.

‘Snowball of change’

Unlike many countries including Britain and Thailand, Lebanon offers no tax breaks or other incentives to help the sector.

“There is no single governmental policy or strategy to manage the social enterprises field,” said George Ghafary, head of a social enterprise that employs former substance abusers, prisoners and disadvantaged women to work on environmental projects. “Social enterprises can create a snowball of change, especially if the government offers incentives to existing companies … thus creating even bigger impact.”

No one at the Labor Ministry was available for comment on the government’s policy.

Samer Sfeir co-founded ProAbled, which trains people in Lebanon with special needs to work and companies to hire them. He bemoaned a lack of funding for social enterprises and contrasted the government’s approach with that of Britain, where the government actively seeks out such businesses to supply publicly funded goods and services.

“It is not difficult to start a social enterprise, but to scale it is hard … everybody is focused on starting something new, not working on helping what already exists,” he said.

“Regular business already struggle in Lebanon’s economy, but social enterprises have even a more difficult time, because it is more costly to run, and eventually your profit margin is less because you are giving back.”

Acceptance

It is a problem El Hage, 32, is familiar with. He started Agonist with his own money after failing to raise private investment due to skepticism the cafe would be a success.

In fact, he said, Lebanese people have come from all over the country to get their caffeine fix with a side of banter from people they would not usually get to meet.

As coffee and pastries are handed out, staff often sit and chat with customers. Before leaving, each customer is asked to put their hand in a basket and pick a positive proverb.

“This big-time changes the way Lebanese see people with disabilities — to accept them exactly as they are,” said one return customer, Vincent El Khoury. “Many people look at them as less than, and I hate this.”
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Pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta said on Monday that clean Russian oil had started flowing from Belarus towards Ukraine and it was ready to resume oil exports to the European Union following a transit hiatus over contaminated crude.

Flows through the Druzhba pipeline were suspended in late April because tainted crude had entered the system, sending shocks through global oil markets and damaging Russia’s image as a reliable supplier of energy.

The southern spur of the Druzhba pipeline passes from Belarus through Ukraine to Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. It was not immediately clear if clean supplies were also flowing on the northern spur, which runs directly between Belarus and Poland and Germany.

“The oil with the quality, which is in line with the standard, has started to flow…to the Druzhba pipelines system in the direction of Ukraine for further transportation to the EU countries,” Ukrtransnafta said.

It said that the deliveries of clean oil started at 1417 Kiev time (1117 GMT).

The Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft did not reply to a request for comment.

The Energy Ministry in Moscow said on Saturday that clean Russian oil had arrived at the Mozyr hub in southeast Belarus, where the Druzhba pipeline splits to the north and the south.

However, earlier on Monday, sources at Belarusian state oil firm Belneftekhim and in the trading sector said that Belarus had no idea when clean Russian oil flows would resume. The section of the pipeline inside Belarus is controlled by a local firm, Gomeltransneft Druzhba.

The clean oil is backed up behind millions of barrels of contaminated crude in the pipeline system and there is no clear plan yet on how to discharge the tainted supply, traders and industry sources have said.

The Soviet-built Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline normally transports around 1 million barrels per day of crude, which accounts for some 1 percent of global oil trade.

Transmission via the pipeline was halted due to high levels of organic chloride, a chemical compound used to boost oil extraction by cleaning wells and accelerating the flow of crude.

Options for disposing of the contaminated oil include selling it at a heavy discount or storing it in tanks. But customers are not keen and there is insufficient storage capacity, trading sources say.

Some crude that reaches Mozyr is fed into a refinery there.

The Mozyr plant has yet to resume crude processing and is still cleaning tainted equipment, the Belneftekhim source said.

Separately, the Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, which is linked to Druzhba, is still loading contaminated oil onto tankers, trading sources said. It was hard to find a buyer for this oil, they added.

The Russian Energy Ministry has said clean oil was expected to arrive at the port on May 7.
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