House votes to hold Barr, Ross in contempt over census citizenship question

The Democratic-controlled House has voted to hold two top Trump administration officials in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas related to a decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

The House voted, 230-198, on Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt. The vote is largely symbolic because the Justice Department is unlikely to prosecute them.

The action marks an escalation of Democratic efforts to use their House majority to aggressively investigate the inner workings of the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump last week abandoned his bid to inject a citizenship question into the census, after the Supreme Court said the administration’s justification for the question “seems to have been contrived.” Trump directed agencies to try to compile the information using existing databases.

Microsoft says it has detected hundreds of attempts to infiltrate U.S. political websites

Microsoft says it has detected more than 740 infiltration attempts by nation-state actors in the past year targeting U.S.-based political parties, campaigns and other democracy-focused organizations including think tanks and other nonprofits.

A company spokeswoman would not name or further characterize the targets. All subscribe to Microsoft’s year-old AccountGuard service. It provides free cyberthreat detection to candidates, campaigns and other mostly election-related groups.

Microsoft MSFT, -0.59%  did not say how many infiltration attempts were successful but noted in a blog post Wednesday that such targeting similarly occurred in the early stages of the 2016 and 2018 elections.

A year ago, Microsoft said it had detected attempts to infiltrate the networks of U.S. senatorial candidates and think tanks.

Wednesday’s announcement was timed to coincide with the annual Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

Showdown with Trump looms as House votes to block arms sale to Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON — Congress is heading for a showdown with President Donald Trump after the House voted to block his administration from selling weapons and aircraft maintenance support to Saudi Arabia.

The Democratic-led House on Wednesday passed the first of three resolutions of disapproval, 238-190, with votes on the others to immediately follow. Trump has actively courted an alliance with Riyadh and has pledged to veto the resolutions.

The Senate cleared the measures last month, although by margins well short of making them veto proof. Overturning a president’s veto requires a two-thirds majority.

The arms package is worth an estimated $8.1 billion and includes precision guided munitions, other bombs, ammunition, and aircraft maintenance support.

Opposition in Congress to closer U.S-Saudi ties escalated last year after agents of the kingdom killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Amarin Stock Down On Possible AdCom Meeting By FDA Related To Vascepa

In a SEC filing, Amarin Corporation plc (AMRN) stated that it is possible that the FDA will choose to conduct an AdCom meeting with respect to the company’s sNDA seeking an expanded indication for Vascepa. Amarin said any delay in obtaining the expanded marketing approval could materially harm the company’s business.

However, Amarin noted that the FDA has not yet informed Amarin whether it plans to hold an AdCom meeting.

Shares of Amarin were down more than 9% on the announcement.

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Posts Wider Loss In Q1; Confirms FY Sales Forecast

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (HBGRF.PK) said its first-quarter business performance was impacted in particular at the end of the reporting period by the increasing reluctance to invest and the corresponding shift in sales due to the economic downturn. For fiscal 2019/20, Heidelberg continues to expect sales at the previous year’s level. However, the company adjusted its margin target and net result after taxes.

For the first-quarter, after taxes, the Group reported a negative result of around 31 million euros compared to a negative result of 15 million euros, a year ago. Including the IFRS 16 effect of around 4 million euros, EBITDA excluding restructuring result was at 14 million euros, below the unadjusted prior-year figure of around 20 million euros.

First-quarter sales were 502 million euros, compared to 541 million euros, prior year. Incoming orders were down to 615 million euros from 665 million euros.

For the full year, the company adjusted its outlook for the operating result and is projecting a target margin for EBITDA excluding restructuring result in a range of 6.5 to 7 percent of sales.

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