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Polish fugitive in Spanish prison awaiting extradition

A mysterious Polish multi-millionaire who fled Poland after being convicted of secretly recording politicians in swanky restaurants is in a Spanish prison awaiting extradition after being captured last week.

Marek Falenta was sentenced to 2½ years of prison for organizing the illegal secret recordings of top Polish politicians in expensive Warsaw restaurants in 2013 and 2014.

Falenta recently fled Poland. Spanish police said they and their Polish colleagues arrested him on Friday in Cullera, a coastal town near Valencia.

A scandal sparked by the recordings contributed to the 2015 defeat of a pro-European Union government and the election of a populist right-wing party that has since eroded the independence of the judiciary, the right to assembly and media freedom.

Source: Fox News World

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Teacher who had student wipe off ash cross is back at work

Utah officials say a teacher who asked a student to wipe an ash cross off his forehead on Ash Wenesday has returned to work.

KUTV reports that the Davis County School District says fourth-grade teacher Moana Patterson is back in the classroom after gave 9-year-old Catholic student William McLeod a wet wipe to clean off the cross. She has said she did not know it was a religious symbol.

The district apologized to the family, saying it recognizes Ash Wednesday as one of the holiest days of the year in the Catholic faith. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent.

Patterson had been placed on administrative leave.

The principal of her Valley View Elementary School will work with the district officials to provide additional training to educators.

___

Information from: KUTV-TV, http://www.kutv.com/

Source: Fox News National

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Rudy Giuliani Vows to Uncover ‘Criminal’ Evidence of DOJ ‘Fraud’

Rudy Giuliani skewered the "phony politicians" at the top of the Justice Department who were sucking up to those in power to delegitimize President Donald Trump's election, and now his team intends to find "who tried to perpetrate a fraud on the American people."

"What they did here, I believe, over the next six months, we're going to uncover evidence, that what they did here was criminal," Giuliani told Fox News' "Justice with Judge Jeanine."

". . . Somebody made this up, Jeanine. Somebody conceived this. And they superimposed it, and they went out to try to prove it. And we have to find out: Who's the brains behind this? Couple of, four or five possibilities. I think we'll find them."

Giuliani's possible targets are those bandied-about names (James Comey, Andrew McCabe, among others) who have spoken out on President Donald Trump's alleged collusion with Russia to interfere with the 2016 presidential election – claims which were not corroborated by any evidence uncovered by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Mueller's report, which was summarized last week by Attorney General William Barr, found no evidence of collusion and could not find sufficient evidence to pursue a charge of obstruction of justice on behalf of President Trump. Judge Jeanine Pirro said the summary exonerated the president and "indicted" those searching for a crime neither the president nor his campaign committed.

"Well, first of all, I know you agree with me," Giuliani told Pirro. "The people it indicts are the corrupted politicians at the top of the FBI and DOJ. No field office of the FBI is implicated in this. No agent who is sacrificing his life to protect us. It's a bunch of these phony politicians at the top who corrupt themselves because they want to suck up to whoever's in power."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Biden Sorry For Being Creepy: ‘I Will Be More Mindful’ Going Into 2020

Democratic 2020 presidential frontrunner Joe Biden released a video apology Wednesday on Twitter promising to be less creepy to women in the future.

Biden pushed back against criticism of his history of unwanted touching of women and girls, saying he’s always given “gestures of support and encouragement.”

“Today I want to talk about gestures of support and encouragement that I’ve made to women – and some men – and I’ve made them uncomfortable. And I’ll always try to be, uh – in my career I’ve always tried to make a human connection. That’s my responsibility, I think,” he said in the video.

“I shake hands, I hug people, I grab men and women by the shoulders and say ‘you can do this.’ Women, men, young, old…it’s the way I’ve always been. It’s the way I show I care about them and I’m listening.”

The potential 2020 candidate continued to justify his behavior as showing “encouragement” and just being “who I am,” while carefully avoiding any mention of kissing women and girls, touching and smelling their heads and hair, and making suggestive comments.

“And I’ve said: shaking hands, hands on the shoulder, a hug, encouragement, and now it’s all about taking selfies together. Social norms have begun to change, they’ve shifted, and the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset. And I get it. I get it,” Biden said.

Biden’s problems began after former Nevada assemblywoman Lucy Flores wrote a blistering op-ed detailing a 2014 encounter with the former vice president wherein he smelled her hair and kissed the back of her head.

Since then, social media widely mocked his creepy behavior, and several other women have come forward describing similar incidents with Biden.

The video release of Biden addressing his behavior directly signals that his campaign is desperate to shake off his touching controversy, but the damage may have been done, as some on the left and right in media have already either called Biden’s defeat, or are urging him not to run.


Source: InfoWars

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Trump thought presidency was over when told of Mueller’s appointment: ‘This is the end… I’m f—ed’

President Trump has been celebrating the findings of Robert Mueller’s report, but he wasn’t quite as positive when the special counsel was first appointed.

According to Mueller’s report, which was released to the public on Thursday morning, Trump said his presidency was finished, going so far as to state he was “f---ed”, after being told of Mueller’s appointment by then-attorney general Jeff Sessions.

“According to notes written by (Sessions' chief of staff Jody) Hunt, when Sessions told the President that a Special Counsel had been appointed, the President slumped back in his chair, and said, ‘Oh my God.  This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm f……’,” the report reads.

“The President became angry and lambasted the Attorney General for his decision to recuse from the investigation, stating, ‘How could you let this happen, Jeff?’

SPECIAL COUNSEL ROBERT MUELLER'S RUSSIA PROBE REPORT RELEASED BY JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

READ THE REPORT

“The President said the position of Attorney General was his most important appointment and that Sessions had ‘let (him) down,’ contrasting him with Eric Holder and Robert Kennedy.  Sessions recalled that the President said to him, ‘you were supposed to protect me,’ or words to that effect.

The report continued: “The president returned to the consequences of the appointment and said, ‘Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won't be able to do anything. This is the worse thing that ever happened to me.’”

The version of Mueller’s 448-page report that the Justice Department made public Thursday includes redactions, consistent with Attorney General Bill Barr’s plan to black out portions of the document—including grand jury material, information the intelligence community believes would reveal intelligence sources and methods, any material that could interfere with ongoing prosecutions and information that could implicate the privacy or reputational interests of “peripheral players.”

Democrats, for weeks, demanded to see the full, unredacted report, and blasted Barr for resisting their requests.

CHAFFETZ ON RELEASE OF MUELLER REPORT: 'DEMOCRATS ARE SCRAMBLING... I THINK IT'S PART OF THEIR DEMISE'

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., has already vowed to move “very quickly” to issue subpoenas for the full report should he and his colleagues not be satisfied with the amount of, and basis for, redactions.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The partisan warfare that has marked the probe from the start extended into the report’s release day, with Barr coming under fire from Democrats for his decision to hold a press conference in advance of the release. Barr already had come under fire from Democrats after he issued a four-page summary of the special counsel report, in which he stated there was no evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 campaign.

Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Jake Gibson, Catherine Herridge and Bill Mears contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Shell unions agree to new wage offer to end Pernis strikes: spokesman

FILE PHOTO: A passenger plane flies over a Shell logo at a petrol station in west London, Britain
FILE PHOTO: A passenger plane flies over a Shell logo at a petrol station in west London, Britain, January 29, 2015. REUTERS/Toby Melville

April 25, 2019

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch trade unions on Thursday said they have agreed to a new offer by Royal Dutch Shell to end a wage dispute which has hit production at Shell’s Pernis oil refinery and Moerdijk chemical plants in recent weeks.

CNV union spokesman Piet Verburg said unions on Friday will advise employees at Europe’s largest oil refinery and the chemical plants to end their strikes, which started on April 8.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

Source: OANN

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Trump’s deputy press secretary: Designating Iran’s government as foreign terrorist organization is an effort to improve the country

President Trump's principal deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley believes the White House's decision to designate Iran's Revolutionary guard as "foreign terrorist organization" is part of a plan to put pressure on the country to "change its behavior."

While speaking to "America's Newsroom" on Monday morning, Gidley defended the president's decision and said it illustrates Trump's ability to do what other administrations have threatened but not acted on.

"This is the first time the United States has recognized another government as a foreign terrorist organization," Gidley said. "A lot of other administrations have threatened it, but this President, again, came to the table and did it. It's an important move for the administration and for safety and security around the globe."

He went on to argue that there was no specific "tipping point" that catalyzed the decision, but that Iran's reputation as a "state sponsor of terrorism" has long been known.

The move is a part of an ongoing "maximum pressure campaign," Gidley said, that is intended to motivate Iran to "do something different than what they have been, which is wreaking havoc across the globe and sponsoring those who do."

NIELSEN OUT AT HOMELAND SECURITY AS TRUMP FOCUSES ON BORDER

President Donald Trump announced the decision to label the IRGC as a "foreign terrorist organization" on Monday, which holds the potential to have a ripple effect on military, diplomatic and ecomonic relations throughout Iran and the Middle East at large

President Donald Trump announced the decision to label the IRGC as a "foreign terrorist organization" on Monday, which holds the potential to have a ripple effect on military, diplomatic and ecomonic relations throughout Iran and the Middle East at large (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

DESPITE CRUMBLED CALIPHATE, HUNT FOR BAGHDADI CONTINUES IN SYRIA

President Trump announced the decision on Monday, which holds the potential to have a ripple effect on military, diplomatic and economic relations throughout Iran and the Middle East at large.

"This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a state sponsor of terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft," President Donald Trump said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Iran has yet to respond, but it's possible that they could retaliate, or impose travel bans prohibiting executives and companies from dealings with the United States.

Fox News' Matthew Lee and the Associated Press contributed to the reporting of this story.

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain's far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain’s far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By John Stonestreet and Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Vox party, aligned to a broader far-right movement emerging across Europe, has become the focus of speculation about last minute shifts in voting intentions since official polling for Sunday’s national election ended four days ago.

No single party is anywhere near securing a majority, and chances of a deadlocked parliament and a second election are high.

Leaders of the five parties vying for a role in government get final chances to pitch for power at rallies on Friday evening, before a campaign characterized by appeals to voters’ hearts rather than wallets ends at midnight.

By tradition, the final day before a Spanish election is politics-free.

Two main prizes are still up for grabs in the home straight. One concerns which of the two rival left and right multi-party blocs gets more votes.

The other is whether Vox could challenge the mainstream conservative PP for leadership of the latter bloc, which media outlets with access to unofficial soundings taken since Monday suggest could be starting to happen.

The right’s loose three-party alliance is led by the PP, the traditional conservative party that has alternated in office with outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists since Spain’s return to democracy in the 1970s.

The PP stands at around 20 percent, with center-right Ciudadanos near 14 percent and Vox around 11 percent, according to a final poll of polls in daily El Pais published on Monday.

Since then, however, interest in Vox – which will become the first far-right party to sit in parliament since 1982 – has snowballed.

It was founded in 2013, part of a broader anti-establishment, far-right movement that has also spread across – among others – Italy, France and Germany.

While it is careful to distance itself from the ideology of late dictator Francisco Franco, Vox’s signature policies include repealing laws banning Franco-era symbols and on gender-based violence, and shifting power away from Spain’s regional governments.

TRENDING

According to a Google trends graphic, Vox has generated more than three times more search inquiries than any other Spanish political party in the past week.

Reasons could include a groundswell of vocal activist support at Vox rallies in Madrid and Valencia, and its exclusion from two televised debates between the main party leaders, on the grounds of it having no deputies yet in parliament.

Conservative daily La Vanguardia called its enforced absence from Monday’s and Tuesday’s debates “a gift from heaven”, while left-wing Eldiario.es suggested the PP was haemorrhaging votes to Vox in rural areas.

Ignacio Jurado, politics lecturer at the University of York, agreed the main source of additional Vox votes would be disaffected PP supporters, and called the debate ban – whose impact he said was unclear – wrong.

“This is a party polling over 10 percent and there are people interested in what it says. So we lose more than we win in not having them (in the debates),” he said

For Jose Fernandez-Albertos, political scientist at Spanish National Research Council CSIC, Vox is enjoying the novelty effect that propelled then new, left-wing arrival Podemos to 20 percent of the vote in 2015.

“While it’s unclear how to interpret the (Google) data, what we do know is that it’s better to be popular and to be a newcomer, and that Vox will benefit in some form,” he said.

For now, the chances of Vox taking a major role in government remain slim, however.

The El Pais survey put the Socialists on around 30 percent, making them the frontrunners and likely to form a leftist bloc with Podemos, back down at around 14 percent.

The unofficial soundings suggest little change in the two parties’ combined vote, or the total vote of the rightist bloc.

That makes it unlikely that either bloc will win a majority on Sunday, triggering horse-trading with smaller parties favoring Catalan independence – the single most polarizing issues during campaigning – that could easily collapse into fresh elections.

(Election graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2ENugtw)

(Reporting by John Stonestreet and Belen Carreno, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of the OPEC is seen at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

April 26, 2019

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he called the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and told the cartel to lower oil prices.

“Gasoline prices are coming down. I called up OPEC, I said you’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,” Trump told reporters.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy near Lyon
Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy in Meyzieu near Lyon, France, April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot

April 26, 2019

By Julien Pretot

MEYZIEU, France (Reuters) – Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas was wringing out his women’s team shirts in the locker room on a rainy London day eight years ago when he decided it was time to take gender equality more seriously.

It was halftime in their Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal at Meadow Park with 507 fans watching and Aulas realized that his players did not have a another kit for the second half.

“Next time, there will be a second set just like for the men, that’s how it’s going to work from now on,” he said.

Lyon have since won five Champions League titles to become the most successful women’s team in Europe and recently claimed a 13th consecutive domestic crown.

They visit Chelsea on Sunday in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, with a fourth straight title in their sights.

At the heart of their achievements is a pervasive ethos that promotes gender equality throughout the club, starting in the youth academy.

In 2013, Aulas appointed former Lyon and France player Sonia Bompastor as head of the Women’s Academy — the female equivalent of one of France’s top youth set-ups that has produced players such as Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette and Hatem Ben Arfa.

At the Youth Academy, girls and boys share the same facilities.

“Pitches, physiotherapy rooms are the same for all,” the 38-year-old Bompastor told Reuters.

As the girls train under the watch of former Lyon and France international Camille Abily, the screams of the boys practicing can be heard nearby.

The boys and girls also benefit from the same psychological support that includes hypnosis sessions and yoga.

“We have a ‘mental ability’ cell and the hypnotist acts on the girls’ subconscious, on their deeply held beliefs after observing them on and off the pitch,” Bompastor added.

SAME TREATMENT

One message the Academy staff are trying to convey is that girls are as good as boys.

“Women’s nature is such that we have low self-esteem. So self-esteem is a big topic for our girls,” said Bompastor.

This is not the case with the boys, she added.

“Some 14, 15-year-old boys still think they would beat our professional players, we tell them this would not be happening. We still need to work on those beliefs,” she said.

Female players also have to face questions that their male counterparts do not, Bompastor explained.

“In France there is a problem with the way women are considered, there are high aesthetic expectations. So we get heavy questions on femininity, intimate questions that men don’t get,” she said.

OL’s Academy has been held up as a shining example for others to follow, even in the U.S., where women’s soccer has a wider audience than in Europe.

“About one third of the (senior women’s) squad comes from the Academy, we have a good balance,” said Bompastor.

“I’m getting tons of requests from American universities and foreign clubs, who want to come and visit our facilities.”

‘ONE CLUB’

The salaries of the senior players is one area where there remains a large discrepancy between Lyon’s men’s and women’s teams.

While the three best-paid women players in the world are at Lyon with Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg earning 400,000 euros ($445,520) a year, this figure is dwarfed by the around 4 million euros earned annually by men’s player Memphis Depay.

There is, however, a level of interaction between the men’s and women’s players that is not present at many other clubs.

“When you talk about OL you talk about women and men, you talk about one club and you feel it when you are here or outside in the city,” Germany defender Carolin Simon told Reuters.

“We see it when we play in the big stadium. It’s not ‘normal’ for women’s football,” the 26-year-old, who joined the club last year, added.

Lyon’s female players also enjoy respect from their male counterparts, Simon said.

“It’s very cool, it’s a big honor to feel that it doesn’t matter if you are a professional man or woman. We talk with the men, there are handshakes, it’s a good atmosphere and it’s also why we are successful,” said Simon.

“The men respect us and it’s not just for the cameras.”

Her team mate, England’s Lucy Bronze, sees the men’s respect as key to improving women’s football.

“We might not be paid the same but they are just normal with us, they see us as footballers the same as they are,” Bronze told Reuters.

“Being at Lyon has really opened my eyes. To improve women’s football, it starts with having the respect of your male counterparts. It’s the biggest thing because they can influence so many people.”

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo

April 26, 2019

GENEVA (Reuters) – Yemeni authorities have rounded up about 3,000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopians, in the south of the country, “creating an acute humanitarian situation,” the U.N. migration agency said on Friday.

“IOM is deeply concerned about the conditions in which the migrants are being held and is engaging with the authorities to ensure access to the detained migrants,” the International Organization for Migration said.

The migrants are held in open-air football stadiums and in a military camp, it said in a statement.

The detentions began on Sunday in the city of Aden and the neighboring province of Lahj, which are under the control of the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran-aligned Houthi rebels control Sanaa, the capital, and other major urban centers.

Both sides are under international diplomatic pressure to implement a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire deal agreed last year in Sweden and to prepare for a wider political dialogue that would end the four-year-old war.

Thousands of migrants arrive in Yemen every year, mostly from the Horn of Africa, driven by drought and unemployment at home and lured by the wages available in the Gulf.

(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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U.S. dollar notes are seen in this picture illustration
U.S. dollar notes are seen in this November 7, 2016 picture illustration. Picture taken November 7. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them.

1/DOLLAR JUGGERNAUT

The dollar has zipped to near two-year highs, leaving many scratching their heads. To many, it’s down to signs the U.S. economy is chugging ahead while the rest of the world loses steam. After all, Wall Street is busily scaling new peaks day after day.

Never mind the cause, the effect is stark. The euro has tumbled to 22-month lows against the dollar and investors are preparing for more, buying options to shield against further downside. Emerging-market currencies are also in pain, with Turkish lira and Argentine peso both sharply weaker.

Now U.S. data need to keep surprising on the upside or even just meet expectations. The International Monetary Fund sees U.S. growth at 2.3 percent this year. For Germany, the forecast is 0.8 percent. The U.S. economy’s rude health has given rise to speculation the Fed might resume raising interest rates. Unlikely. But as other countries — Canada, Sweden and Australia are the latest — hint at more policy easing, there seems to be one way the dollar can go. Up.

(GRAPHIC: Dollar outperforms G10 FX – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dz17S5)

2/FED: UP OR DOWN?

Wall Street is near record highs and recession worries are receding, so as we mentioned above, investors might wonder if the Federal Reserve will start raising rates again.

Such a pivot is unlikely after the Fed killed off rate-rise expectations at its March meeting. And the latest Reuters poll all but puts to bed any risk of rates will go up this economic cycle, given inflation remains below the Fed’s alarm threshold and unemployment is the lowest in generations.

Before the March rate-pause announcement, a preponderance of economists penciled in one or more increases this year. But that has flipped. A majority of those surveyed April 22-24 see no further tightening through December and more are leaning toward a cut by the end of next year.

Indeed, interest rate futures imply Fed Funds will be below the current 2.25-2.50 percent target range by this December.

Recent positive consumer spending and exports data have eased market concerns of a sharp economic slowdown. But inflation probably needs to run hot for a long period to panic policymakers off their wait-and-see course.     

(GRAPHIC: Federal funds and the economy – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DzjTZz)

3/HEISEI TO REIWA

Next week ends three decades of Japan’s Heisei era. Heisei, or Achieving Peace, began in 1989 near the peak of a massive stock market bubble and closes with the country trapped in low growth, no inflation, and negative interest rates.

The new era that dawns on May 1 is called Reiwa, meaning Beautiful Harmony. It begins when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne. But do investors really want harmony? What they want to see is a bit of economic growth and inflation to shake up the status quo.

The Bank of Japan’s stimulus toolkit to revive a long-suffering economy is anything but harmonious and yet it’s set to stay. The central bank confirmed recently rates will stay near zero for a long time. But the coming days may not be harmonious or peaceful for currency markets. A 10-day Golden Week holiday kicks off on April 29 and investors are fretting over the risk of a “flash crash” – a violent currency spasm that can occur in times of thin trading turnover.

The year has already seen two yen spikes and many, including Japan’s housewife-trader brigade – so-called Mrs Watanabes – appear to have bought yen as the holiday approaches. Their short dollar/long yen positions recently reached record highs, stock exchange data showed.

(GRAPHIC: Japan stocks: from Hensei to Reiwa – https://tmsnrt.rs/2W6a7Fe)

4/EARNING TURNING

Quarterly earnings were supposed to be the worst in Europe in almost three years, but with a third of results in, things are looking a little rosier.

Two-thirds of companies’ results have beat expectations, and they point to earnings growth of 4.5 percent year-on-year. Financials have delivered the biggest surprises, according to analysis by Barclays.

That might just show how low expectations were. In fact, analysts are still taking a red pen to their estimates.

The latest I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv shows analysts on average expect first-quarter earnings-per-share for STOXX 600-listed companies to fall 4.2 percent. That would be their worst quarter since 2016 and down sharply from an estimated 3.4 percent just a week earlier.

Those estimates may end up being a little too bearish as earnings season goes on, quelling worries that Europe is heading toward a corporate recession.

GSK and Reckitt Benckiser will give the market a glimpse of the health of the consumer products market and spending on everything from toothpaste, washing powder and paracetamol.

(GRAPHIC: Earnings forecasts – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DuO2ZF)

5/WAITING FOR THE OLD LADY

Sterling has gone into the doldrums amid the Brexit delay and unproductive talks between the UK government and the opposition Labour party on a EU withdrawal deal. The resurgent dollar, meanwhile, has taken 2 percent off the pound in April. It is unlikely the Bank of England will be able to rouse it at its May 2 meeting.

Despite robust retail and jobs data of late, the economic picture is gloomy – 2019 growth is likely to be around 1.2 percent, the weakest since 2009, investment is down and Governor Mark Carney says business uncertainty is “through the roof”.

Indeed, expectations for an interest rate increase have been whittled down; Reuters polls forecast rates will not move until early 2020, a calendar quarter later than was forecast a month ago. The hunt for a new governor to replace Carney in October adds more uncertainty to the mix.

The recent run of UK data has fueled hopes of economic rebound. That’s put net hedge fund positions in the pound into positive territory for the first time in nearly a year. The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street might temper some of that optimism.

(GRAPHIC: Sterling positions – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XJwUXX)

(Reporting by Alden Bentley in New York, Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore; Karin Strohecker, Josephine Mason and Saikat Chatterjee in London; compiled by Sujata Rao; edited by Larry King)

Source: OANN

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