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U.S. manufacturing output falls for second straight month

FILE PHOTO: Line workers spot weld parts of the frame on the flex line at Nissan Motor Co's automobile manufacturing plant in Smyrna Tennessee
FILE PHOTO: Line workers spot weld parts of the frame on the flex line at Nissan Motor Co's automobile manufacturing plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, U.S., August 23, 2018. REUTERS/William DeShazer/File Photo

March 15, 2019

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. manufacturing output fell for a second straight month in February, offering further evidence of a sharp slowdown in economic growth early in the first quarter.

The Federal Reserve said on Friday manufacturing production dropped 0.4 percent last month, held down by declines in the output of motor vehicles, machinery and furniture. Data for January was revised up to show output at factories falling 0.5 percent instead of slumping 0.9 percent as previously reported.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast manufacturing output rising 0.3 percent in February. Production at factories increased 1.0 percent in February from a year ago.

Motor vehicles and parts output slipped 0.1 percent last month after tumbling 7.6 percent in January. Excluding motor vehicles and parts, manufacturing output fell 0.4 percent last month.

February’s drop in manufacturing production added to soft reports ranging from retail sales to housing in suggesting the economy lost significant momentum early in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs is forecasting gross domestic product will rise at a 0.6 percent annualized rate in the first quarter. The economy grew at a 2.6 percent pace in the fourth quarter.

Manufacturing activity, which accounts for about 12 percent of the economy, is losing steam as the boost to capital spending from last year’s $1.5 trillion tax cut package fades. Activity is also being crimped by a trade war between the United States and China as well as by last year’s surge in the dollar and softening global economic growth, which are hurting exports.

The drop in manufacturing output was offset by gains in utilities and mining, leading to a 0.1 percent rise in industrial production in February. Industrial output fell 0.4 percent in January.

Utilities output rebounded 3.7 percent last month as cold temperatures boosted demand for heating. Utilities output dropped 0.9 percent in the prior month. Mining output rose 0.3 percent last month, matching January’s increase.

Oil and gas well drilling increased 2.8 percent in February after two straight monthly declines.

Capacity utilization for the manufacturing sector, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, fell to 75.4 percent last month from 75.8 percent in January.

Overall capacity use for the industrial sector dipped to 78.2 percent from 78.3 percent in January. It is 1.6 percentage points below its 1972-2017 average.

Officials at the Fed tend to look at capacity use measures for signals of how much “slack” remains in the economy — how far growth has room to run before it becomes inflationary.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: OANN

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Irish PM sings tongue-in-cheek praises of EEA’s lack of ‘red lines’

PM (Taoiseach) of Ireland Varadkar waits for President of European Council Tusk in Dublin
FILE PHOTO: Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of Ireland Leo Varadkar waits to meet with President of the European Council Donald Tusk in Dublin, Ireland March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

March 22, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar issued a tongue-in-cheek reminder on Friday that European Union and non-EU countries – which neighbouring Britain is due to become – can share land borders without needing border patrol infrastructure and customs checks.

Varadkar tweeted from Brussels on the 25th anniversary of the European Economic Area that he had enjoyed meeting his counterparts from EEA members Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, who participate in the EU’s single market without being members.

“Good to meet up with the Norwegian, Icelandic and Liechtenstein PMs. All in the single market for 25 years but not in the EU,” he wrote.

“Sensible solutions are possible once red lines don’t restrict them,” he added, as he joined a drone-shot aerial photo of EU and EEA leaders in the European Council’s cavernous atrium.

Ireland, the only country that shares a land border with Britain, fears that allowing the return of border infrastructure between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland could rekindle the violence over the province’s status that marked much of the 20th century.

But British Prime Minister Theresa May’s self-declared red line that free movement between Britain and the European Union must end has become the biggest sticking point in talks over Britain’s exit from the EU. It has led to the development of the customs union “backstop” that has triggered the ire of so many of her parliamentarians.

Asked if Britain should join the EEA, Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir acknowledged this, saying: “I don’t know if our circumstances are fitting for the UK.

“We are members of the four freedoms: freedom of people, movement, services and all that, so I don’t know if that is the right solution for the UK,” she added.

Her Norwegian counterpart Erna Solberg declined to discuss May’s conundrum but praised the benefits to Norway of the freedom of movement that May opposes.

“For a long time for Norway, freedom of movement was a benefit, because in a period where we had economic growth when others had a slowdown … we benefited from the influx of labour so that our economy wasn’t overheated,” she said.

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Source: OANN

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The Hate Crimes of Jussie Smollett

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Let’s be clear: A hate crime did take place in Chicago. It’s an ongoing crime, too.

Yes, a hoax occurred -- more like two or three hoaxes -- but deliberately stoked racial animosity can’t be washed away with the forfeiture of a $10,000 bond, a few hours of dubious “community service,” or the sealing of public records in a criminal case. If history has taught us anything, it’s that hate tends to fester, especially when aided by fraud and abetted by government.

The latest chapter in America’s dispiriting culture wars began Jan. 22, when television actor Jussie Smollett reported receiving a letter with homophobic and racial invective, accompanied by a nasty threat: “You will die, black fag.” The letter also included a stick figure hanging from a tree and a white powdery substance. As its author knew, ever since the 2001 deadly anthrax letter attacks, sending such powder through the mail to a famous and politically active person would result in first-responders in hazmat suits, which is what happened.

Yet this reaction wasn’t enough to satisfy Jussie Smollett. When the white powder turned out not to be anthrax spores but crushed acetaminophen tablets, the incident attracted little attention, even in Chicago. This apparently irked Smollett.

So even as law enforcement officials came to see the Jan. 22 letter as a hoax -- they believed it was sent by Smollett to himself -- the actor came up with a gambit that would be harder to ignore. A week later, he famously recounted being punched by two white thugs who yelled racist and anti-gay slurs while touting Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan and tying a rope around his neck, then dousing him with a caustic liquid.

The cops concluded this “attack” was also a sham -- one orchestrated, staged, and financed by Smollett, who managed to convince two hapless Nigerian-American brothers to play the heavies. Police soon found a link between Smollett and the brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo, who were caught on camera buying the rope and ski masks used that night. Confronted with this evidence, the brothers confessed and said it was all Smollett’s idea, and that he had paid them $3,500 to carry it out.

These facts were unearthed only because the Chicago Police Department diligently investigated Smollett’s claims, which is more than can be said for much of the media and a host of elected Democrats – including several running for president – who accepted Smollett’s absurd story at face value.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker called it “a modern-day lynching” and used the story to drum up support for a federal anti-lynching bill he was sponsoring. An hour-and-a-half later, California Sen. Kamala Harris repeated the “modern day lynching” line while describing Smollett as “one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know.” She added: “We must confront this hate.”

Confronting hate, at least in the minds of a third Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, entailed more than extolling Jussie Smollett. It also meant firing a warning shot across the bow of anyone tempted to treat his account with the skepticism it deserved. “We are all responsible,” Gillibrand tweeted, “for condemning this behavior and every person who enables or normalizes it.”

In the real world, it must have taken some effort by the street-wise detectives who took Smollett’s original statement to keep a straight face. How is it, they surely wondered, that two racist, homophobic Trump supporters happened to be wandering around a toney Chicago neighborhood at 2 a.m. -- in zero-degree weather -- rope and Clorox at the ready, waiting in ambush for a B-list actor from a black soap opera? Why did Smollett wait 40 minutes to call it in? How did he manage to hold onto – and keep intact --  the sub sandwich he was carrying with him? And what’s with the “This is MAGA country!” battle cry – in Hillary Clinton’s hometown, a city she carried overwhelmingly in 2016 against Donald Trump?

Ah, but I have corroborating evidence, Smollett told the cops: I was on the mobile phone with my manager when I was attacked and he heard the whole thing. Great, said the detectives. Can we have the phone? Not gonna happen, replied the alleged victim. When Smollett finally consented to provide a pdf file of his call logs, he’d tampered with them, presumably to delete the calls to his accomplices. The most obvious tell was that when police arrived at his door, Smollett was still wearing the rope he claimed the attackers wrapped around his neck. Jussie Smollett was still in costume, in other words, wearing the prop he thought made his self-created character -- a hate crime victim -- more believable to the audience.

The real-life audience, however, wasn’t limited to Smollett’s gullible Hollywood allies or ambitious politicians or a press corps that has lost its way in the Era of The Donald. It also included the public and the police, and they were inclined to look behind the curtain even if Democratic presidential wannabes were not. When cops found the actor’s complicit stagehands, Smollett was arrested and charged with making false police report. A Cook County grand jury indicted him on 16 counts.

As the hoax unraveled, the commentary turned to speculating about why the successful actor, who seemingly had everything to lose and nothing to gain, would do such a thing. The Osundairo brothers themselves told police that Smollett was indignant that his fake-anthrax gambit didn’t get more attention. Chicago police were also told that Smollett was dissatisfied with his $125,000-per-episode salary on the Fox show “Empire,” and figured a hate-crime plot line would strengthen his negotiating position – a rationale Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson found “despicable” and “shameful.”

It turned out that those asking why a rich, successful guy with the world at his fingertips would stoop this low were asking the wrong question.  After the criminal charges were suddenly dropped against him, without explanation, it seems that a better, and more disturbing, question to ask is this: What did he have to lose? Did their 1987 fake rape and kidnap hoax hurt Tawana Brawley or Al Sharpton? Did Fox even formally fire Smollett from “Empire”? So far, the only ones who lost their jobs were some 50 Northwestern Memorial Hospital employees accused of accessing Smollett’s medical records or, in some cases, simply checking to see if he’d been admitted under an assumed name. Since his “injuries” were self-inflicted or fake, you might think that hospital administrators would be forgiving. You’d be wrong.

Although it’s a story line that only the conservative media seem to be following, it turns out that racial hoaxes are disturbingly commonplace in this country. Worse, the mainstream media often stokes them, or in some cases, takes the lead in pushing them. Their very frequency suggests a couple of disquieting deductions: First, in our victimhood culture the demand for such outrages may now exceed the supply. Second, it turned out that Jussie Smollett may have understood the political zeitgeist far better than those outraged by his scam.

This became clear Monday when the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped all charges against Smollett without bothering to offer any explanation to the court and then joined his defense lawyers in offering a series of deceitful, contradictory, and specious explanations to reporters. Adding to the perception that the fix was in, the prosecutor then stood mute as a judge acquiesced to a defense motion to seal the entire matter. The only reason journalists found out this was happening at all was that the publicist for one of Smollett’s attorneys tipped off the local media.

Because this happened in famously corrupt Chicago, the thought immediately occurs that a bribe was paid. That would be easier to accept. Sadly, the truth appears to be that racial politics taints this case. State’s Attorney Kim Foxx initially said that she recused herself from the case after a politically well-connected Chicagoan reached out to her privately on Smollett’s case. But Foxx did not recuse herself. She pretended to, while secretly pulling the plug on prosecution. The after-the-fact snippets of explanations she provided were an insult to the intelligence of her listeners.

A crime like this wouldn’t always result in a jail sentence, she seemed to be saying, but instead would result in community service – and Smollett already did community service. This is nonsense. A premeditated offense this malicious that took precious resources away from a police department overwhelmed by violent crime might well have earned the perpetrator some time behind bars. As for the “community service,” it turns out that Jussie Smollett spent a day and a half at Chicago’s Rainbow PUSH office. The PUSH employees present thought he was just hanging out with them.

Even a prosecutor willing to accept a diversionary disposition to this case – one that didn’t entail incarceration -- would have made the offender plead guilty and pay restitution to the city, which would have been far more than the $10,000 bond Smollett forfeited. A guilty plea would have likely necessitated a public apology, which in turn would have vindicated the police department and presumably served as a warning to future hoaxers. Instead, the nation was treated to the spectacle of this shameless scam artist saying, “I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I’ve been accused.” Hearing this made a normal person cringe – and wonder if there is something wrong with Jussie Smollett’s mental makeup. But what is Kim Foxx’s excuse?

These were not victimless crimes. Smollett’s staged “MAGA hat” attack was a calculated slander against every American who voted for Donald Trump. I wasn’t one of those voters, but they number some 63 million. What Jussie Smollett was trying to do with that phony 2 a.m. attack in the street and his fake anthrax letter was stir up animosity against every one of them. Let’s be blunt: He was trying to foment racial unrest in this country. One can only assume he’d have been pleased if some actual MAGA hat wearers were physically attacked in retaliation. Those are his hate crimes. They certainly seem worthy of some jail time, if only as a deterrent.

The third hoax -- the dropping of charges against this man for no reason that makes sense under the law -- assures that the malicious seeds Smollett planted will linger and take root. Millions of people will believe him. “The charges were dropped,” they’ll say, and they won’t be wrong. This, too, is a kind of hate crime, this one committed under color of law by elected officials.

Shortly after Donald Trump’s election as president, the venerable Washington Post adopted as its mantra “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” Some Trump supporters chafed at this slogan, seeing it as a subtle dig at their guy. Maybe it is, but the newspaper’s sentiment is undeniably true. In Chicago, democracy also dies in the daylight. In the middle of the morning, in open court.

Carl M. Cannon is the Washington Bureau Chief for RealClearPolitics. Reach him on Twitter @CarlCannon.

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Rep. Tim Ryan: Obamacare With ‘Public Option’ Moves Healthcare Forward

Democratic presidential primary contender, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, said Sunday he supports the Obamacare healthcare model, but also favors a “public option” — a government-run heath insurance agency.

In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Ryan said Democrats need to rally around “issues we can unify around and pass” if they want to retake the White House, suggesting healthcare as an example.

“I want more people to have more affordable coverage,” he said. “I want there to be some kind of public option where middle class people who work hard and play by the rules can get some help so they're not getting squeezed by the pharmaceutical companies and the health care companies.”

“And so what does that look like after it goes through the process? It ended up with the Affordable Care Act, so I voted for it,” he said. “I also supported the public option in the Affordable Care Act but we couldn't get it done. I'm saying let's move the ball forward. President Trump and the Republicans right now want to kick people off of healthcare. That's going in the wrong direction.”

Ryan said his other presidential platform priority is “creating an industrial policy in the United States.”

“We are getting our clocks cleaned by China right now when it comes to electric vehicles, when it comes to solar panels, when it comes to additive manufacturing,” he said.

“These are areas that are growing significantly and for electric vehicles there's two million electric vehicle cars now, there's going to be 30 million in 2030. Who's going to make those cars? I want us to be making those cars in the industrial Midwest in America.”

He added it will involve “public-private partnerships.”

“The old coal community, steel communities, rubber and auto communities that have lost jobs the last 30 years, there's been no plan to help those communities at all. That's going to be a priority for me and we're gonna get it done.”

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Source: NewsMax Politics

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French pilot in 1976 Uganda hijacking dies at 95

A French pilot who's remembered as a hero for his actions in the 1976 hijacking of an Air France plane to Uganda's Entebbe airport has died at the age of 95.

Michel Bacos was awarded the Legion of Honor, France's highest decoration, for refusing to leave the plane's passengers after the plane was hijacked and grounded. Some 110 hostages were held in the airport terminal for nearly a week by seven pro-Palestinian hijackers before Israeli commandos freed them.

Nice mayor Christian Estrosi said in a statement Bacos died on Tuesday in the southern French city.

"By refusing with bravery to quit in the face of anti-Semitism and barbary, he honored France", Estrosi said.

Four hostages were killed along with the terrorists.

Source: Fox News World

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Oldest southern sea otter in captivity, Charlie, dies in California aquarium at 22

The oldest southern sea otter in a zoo or aquarium died on Monday in California, according to the aquarium where he was kept.

Charlie was 22 years old when he died at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

THREE RARE RIVER OTTERS DISAPPEAR FROM NORTH CAROLINA ANIMAL SANCTUARY, OFFICIALS SAY

“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that our sea otter Charlie passed away this morning,” the aquarium tweeted, in part, on Monday.

The aquarium posted a series of tweets about the beloved sea otter, who celebrated his 22nd birthday on March 2 by eating colorful seafood cupcakes.

According to the aquarium, Charlie is only the second sea otter to reach 22 years old. Male southern sea otters typically only live 10 to 14 years in the wild.

“Known for his intelligence and easy-going disposition, Charlie could often be seen sucking his paw while relaxing on exhibit,” one tweet from the aquarium said. “In addition to his role as an animal ambassador living at the Aquarium, Charlie also contributed to scientific research.”

The aquarium went on to say that Charlie “was the first otter in the world to give a voluntary blood sample” and that he participated in a study about how sea otters perceive sound from 2011 to 2013.

SOMEONE IS KILLING CALIFORNIA’S PROTECTED SEA OTTERS

In a post about Charlie, the aquarium said he was orphaned in 1997 during the El Niño storms. He spent some time at a sea otter rescue program, but experts decided he couldn’t live on his own.

Charlie, the oldest southern sea otter held by any zoo or aquarium, died Monday, April 22, 2019 at the age of 22, at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Calif. (Robin Riggs/Aquarium of the Pacific via AP)

Charlie, the oldest southern sea otter held by any zoo or aquarium, died Monday, April 22, 2019 at the age of 22, at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Calif. (Robin Riggs/Aquarium of the Pacific via AP)

He moved in at the Aquarium of the Pacific in 1998 before it was opened to the public, the aquarium said.

The aquarium lost another otter in January. Brook, a female, was 21 when she died of congestive heart failure.

California's sea otters are considered threatened. Hunting in the 18th and 19th centuries nearly wiped them out.

Conservation efforts have brought the population to about 3,000 but otters still face threats such as pollution and habitat loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Giuliani cryptically warns person behind Russia collusion claim will be outed: ‘Just pay attention’

Rudy Giuliani issued a cryptic warning Monday that whoever convinced the FBI to pursue the Russia collusion investigation into the Trump campaign will soon be outed, as he also called on President Trump's "shameless" critics to apologize for their claims in the wake of the Mueller report's conclusion.

Speaking with "Fox & Friends" after the report turned in no evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy, Giuliani was asked whether someone tricked the FBI into opening the original investigation.

GRAHAM SENDS OMINOUS TWEET TO COMEY

"Yes, yes, yes -- and you're going to find out, believe me, who it was," Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer and the former New York City mayor, said.

As Giuliani and other Trump allies call for an investigation into the investigators, much has already emerged about the backstory of the original Russia probe. Anti-Trump former FBI officials Lisa Page and Peter Strzok were heavily involved, as was former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Ex-British spy Christopher Steele also compiled the controversial "dossier" on Trump and his associates that played at least some role in the investigation.

WATCH FOX NEWS' LIVE COVERAGE

"Now the question is if there were three investigations -- no evidence of collusion -- who made it up?" Giuliani asked on "Fox & Friends" Monday morning. "It didn't just come out of thin air. I want to know who did it. Who paid for it? Who fueled it? Because the person that did it, and the group that did it, knows it's untrue because they invented it."

But Giuliani would not say if he was referring to Steele or FBI agents or someone else, stating only that his team was working on it and predicting the individual responsible would be held accountable.

"Just pay attention," Giuliani said.

He then implored Democrats to "at least stop and say 'I was wrong,'" adding that they should be happy for the country but he says they are unhappy with the findings.

"Shame on them! Shame on them!" he said, calling Trump an "innocent man" who didn't do what they accused him of doing.

READ THE MUELLER REPORT FINDINGS

Trump "has been absolved, vindicated, exonerated," given "complete vindication," the Trump lawyer said.

Giuliani blasted the 675-day investigation "conducted by people who had every motive to get [Trump] and tried every tactic -- and some I don't approve of -- to get it."

He called Mueller an "honest man," but blasted him for trying to make stuff up.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Democrats, meanwhile, stressed that while Mueller's report -- a summary of which was transmitted to Congress by Attorney General Bill Barr -- did not find evidence of collusion, it also did not exonerate President Trump on the issue of whether he obstructed justice. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said they could not support such a case, but Democratic leaders want to see more documentation.

"Attorney General Barr’s letter raises as many questions as it answers.  The fact that Special Counsel Mueller’s report does not exonerate the president on a charge as serious as obstruction of justice demonstrates how urgent it is that the full report and underlying documentation be made public without any further delay," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

Yet Trump told reporters Sunday that the findings represented a "complete and total exoneration," calling it "an illegal takedown that failed."

"So after a long look, after a long investigation, after so many people have been so badly hurt, after not looking at the other side, where a lot of bad things happened, a lot of horrible things happened, lot of very bad things happened for our country, it was just announced there was no collusion with Russia, the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," Trump said as he prepared to board Air Force One to return to Washington from his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida.

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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