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Ruble up on monthly taxes; sanctions and finance ministry in focus

Person holds Russian rouble notes in St. Petersburg
A person holds Russian rouble notes in St. Petersburg December 18, 2008. REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk

February 19, 2019

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian ruble edged up on Tuesday, supported by higher oil prices and month-end tax payments that usually prompt companies to convert their dollars to meet local duties.

At 0739 GMT, the ruble was 0.1 percent stronger against the dollar at 66.20 and had gained 0.2 percent to trade at 74.82 versus the euro.

The ruble is likely to benefit from companies needing to pay up to 1.8 trillion rubles ($27.21 billion) in taxes in February, according to a Reuters survey of analysts.

“We believe exporters will increase their hard currency offer in coming days, ahead of looming taxes,” VTB Capital said in a research note.

The ruble is seen firming into a range of 65-66 versus the dollar in the next few days if there are no negative sanctions-related news or a decline in investor appetite for emerging market currencies, Promsvyazbank said in a note.

The room for rouble gains, however, is limited by concerns about more U.S. sanctions against Moscow.

Last week, the threat of sanctions re-emerged as U.S. policymakers presented a new bill that was a tougher version of the one that failed to pass in Washington last year and included a proposal to impose restrictions on Russia’s sovereign debt.

Yields of Russia’s 10-year indicative OFZ treasury bonds, which move inversely with their prices, jumped to 8.5 percent last week, but soon declined and hovered near 8.28 percent on Tuesday.

Russia’s finance ministry will be in focus later in the day as it will announce details of its auctions of OFZ bonds, the papers at risk of being targeted by the U.S. sanctions.

Oil prices were supportive for Russian assets as Brent crude oil futures hovered around $66.5 a barrel, near the $66.83 level – their highest since November – hit on Monday.

Gains in Russian stock indexes, however, were modest amid sanctions concerns.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was little changed at 1,177.0 points, while the rouble-based MOEX was 0.05 percent higher at 2,473.8 points.

“The Russian market is likely to struggle, once again, for direction today, mirroring the global trend, as investors look for fresh catalysts and wait for a breakthrough in trade talks,” Alfa Bank said in a note to clients.

(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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UN officials: 13 million in Congo need aid in major increase

Top U.N. officials say the number of people needing humanitarian aid in Congo has increased dramatically in the past year to 13 million, including 7.5 million children.

Henrietta Fore, head of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, told a news conference Monday that 4 million of those children are suffering from acute malnutrition, and over 1.4 million from severe acute malnutrition "which means that they are in imminent risk of death."

U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock, who just visited Congo with Fore, said the U.N. is appealing for $1.65 billion in humanitarian aid this year — more than double the $700 million plus that it raised last year.

He cited economic stresses, the turbulent political situation surrounding December's elections, violence, displacement, and the Ebola outbreak for the worsening humanitarian situation.

Source: Fox News World

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Robert De Niro Still Believes Mueller Can Put Trump ‘Away for a Long Time’

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Source: InfoWars

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EVIL: Democrats Vote Against Bill to Protect Babies Who Survive Abortion

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Democratic Senators voted against a bill on Monday that would have ensured medical care for infants who survive an abortion, leading the American people to only come to one conclusion: Democrats support infanticide.

The bill, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, ended in a 53-44 vote, 7 votes shy of the 60-vote threshold needed for a proposed piece of legislation to pass the chamber.

Republican Sens. Scott (SC), Cramer (ND), and Murkowski (AK) were not present for Monday’s vote.

The purpose of the bill would have been to prohibit a health care practitioner from “failing to exercise the proper degree of care” in the case of a child who survives an abortion.

“Senate Democrats just voted against legislation to prevent the killing of newborn infant children,” President Trump tweeted following the vote.

“This will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress,” the president continued, adding: “If there is one thing we should all agree on, it’s protecting the lives of innocent babies.”

In this Jan. 18, 2018 file photo, professional singer Joy Villa participates in the annual March for Life towards the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

In his annual State of the Union address earlier this month, President Trump discussed the issue of abortion and the “fundamental importance of respecting human life.”

Embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, defended a very controversial pro-abortion bill last month, and in a radio interview, essentially advocated for infanticide. Trump later said he was “surprised” by Northam’s remarks, in an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Man hospitalized after fight outside Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles police say a 47-year-old man was hospitalized after an argument turned violent outside Dodger Stadium.

Police say the man was punched once by another man and fell to the ground in a parking lot following the six-hour game Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Christel Reyna says her husband, Rafael Reyna, sustained a skull fracture and is on life support following the encounter.

Reyna says she was on the phone with her husband as he was leaving the stadium and heard a woman and a man arguing with him.

She says she heard a crack and then her husband started moaning.

Police say they are investigating the encounter as an assault. No arrests have been made.

Source: Fox News National

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Group highlights civil rights abuses against Muslims

An elementary school student who received threatening notes in her classroom. A congressional candidate who dealt with anti-Islam political flyers during her campaign. And a mother who was subjected to an invasive airport search.

Those and many other cases from 2018 are highlighted in a new report released Wednesday by the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the state's largest Islamic advocacy organization.

In its first annual civil rights report, the organization said it received 232 requests for legal assistance last year, down about six percent from 2017, when the organization saw a surge in requests for help on immigration cases related to the Trump administration's ban on travelers from certain Muslim-majority countries.

The goal of the report is to educate the public about the abuses local Muslims are facing while also encouraging people to step forward if they're dealing with similar issues, said Barbara Dougan, the group's civil rights director.

"The perpetrators and haters are emboldened," she said. "The level of aggression toward women is especially troubling. Muslim women who wear hijabs are shouldering the greatest burden of the physical violence and harassment."

Among the prominent cases highlighted was one involving a fifth-grader at Hemenway Elementary School in Framingham who received two notes in her classroom storage bin — one calling her a terrorist and the other threatening her with death. The incident prompted an outpouring of support from across the country as some 500 people sent letters of encouragement to the young student as part of a campaign promoted by the council.

The report also mentions a 2018 case in which a 54-year-old Muslim woman said she was subjected to a hostile and invasive airport search while wearing a long dress and hijab. The council said the search "bordered on sexual assault" and filed a complaint with the federal Transportation Security Administration on the woman's behalf in May. At the time, the agency said it was unaware of this incident and had no formal complaint on record but added all allegations of improper behavior are thoroughly investigated.

The report notes that Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, who is a member of council's Massachusetts board of directors, was subjected to a series of bizarre, anti-Muslim mailers during her failed bid for Congress last year that attacked Islam, the council and the media.

Source: Fox News National

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Facebook down for some users: Downdetector.com

FILE PHOTO: Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of the Facebook logo in this picture illustration
FILE PHOTO: Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of the Facebook logo in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

April 14, 2019

(Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s social networking site is inaccessible to some users across the world on Sunday, according to Downdetector.com, a website which monitors outages.

The outage tracking website showed that there are more than 9000 incidents of people reporting issues with Facebook.

Downdetector.com’s live outage map showed that the issues mainly cropped up in Europe.

Separately, Downdetector.com also showed that there were issues with WhatsApp and Instagram, but with relatively lower count of outage reports.

Facebook had experienced one of its longest outages in March, when some users around the globe faced trouble accessing Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp for over 24 hours.

(Reporting by Akshay Balan in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO - A worker sits on a ship carrying containers at Mundra Port in the western Indian state of Gujarat
FILE PHOTO: A worker sits on a ship carrying containers at Mundra Port in the western Indian state of Gujarat April 1, 2014. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – India has once again delayed the implementation of higher tariffs on some goods imported from the United States to May 15, a government official said on Friday.

The new tariff structure was to come into force from May 2, the spokeswoman said without citing reasons for the delay.

Angered by Washington’s refusal to exempt it from new steel and aluminum tariffs, New Delhi decided in June last year to raise the import tax from Aug. 4 on some U.S. products including almonds, walnuts and apples.

But since then, New Delhi has repeatedly delayed the implementation of the new tariff.

Trade friction between India and the U.S. has escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans earlier this year to end preferential trade treatment for India that allows duty-free entry for up to $5.6 billion worth of its exports to the United States.

In a further blow, U.S. on Monday demanded buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers including India to continue importing limited volumes.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar in New Delhi and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Source: OANN

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One of Joe Biden’s newly-hired senior advisers has seemingly had a very recent change of heart.

Symone Sanders, a prominent Democratic strategist and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., staffer in 2016, was announced as one of the big-name members of Team Biden on Thursday.

But Sanders, who has also served as a CNN contributor, is seen in resurfaced footage from November 2016 expressing her opposition to a white person leading her party after Donald Trump’s election.

“In my opinion, we don’t need white people leading the Democratic party right now,” Sanders told host Brianna Keilar during a discussion on Howard Dean potentially becoming DNC chairman.

BIDEN HIRES FORMER BERNIE SANDERS’ SPOKESPERSON AS SENIOR ADVISER

“The Democratic party is diverse, and it should be reflected as so in leadership and throughout the staff, at the highest levels. From the vice chairs to the secretaries all the way down to the people working in the offices at the DNC,” she said.

Sanders wrapped up her remarks by saying: “I want to hear more from everybody. I want to hear from the millennials and the brown folks.”

Footage of the interview was resurfaced by RealClearPolitics.

After news of her hiring broke on Thursday, Sanders backed her new boss on Twitter.

TRUMP ASSESSES 2020 DEMS; TAKES SWIPES AT BIDEN, SANDERS; DISMISSES HARRIS, O’ROURKE; SAYS HE’S ROOTING FOR BUTTIGIEG

“@JoeBiden & @DrBiden are a class act. Over the course of this campaign, Vice President Biden is going to make his case to the American ppl. He won’t always be perfect, but I believe he will get it right,” she wrote.

The hiring of Sanders has been viewed as another indication of the expected tough fight that Biden and Sanders are in for as the two frontrunners battle a deep Democratic field.

While Sanders himself didn’t torch Biden as he jumped into the race, it’s clear that many of his progressive supporters view the former vice president as a threat.

Biden’s entry into the race – at least in the early going – sets up a battle between himself and Sanders, who thanks to his fierce fight with eventual nominee Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination, enjoys name ID on the level of the former vice president.

BIDEN VOWS THAT ‘AMERICA IS COMING BACK,’ SPARKING ‘MAGA’ COMPARISONS

Justice Democrats — who also called Biden “out-of-touch” – is an increasingly influential group among the left of the party. They’ve championed progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as well as Sanders. The group was founded by members of Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.

Biden has pushed back against the perception that he’s a moderate in a party that’s increasingly moving to the left. Earlier this month he described himself as an “Obama-Biden Democrat.”

And Biden said he’d stack his record against “anybody who has run or who is running now or who will run.”

Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile – a Fox News contributor – highlighted that “Joe Biden can occupy his own lane in large part because he’s earned it. He’s earned the right to call himself whatever.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

But she emphasized that “elections are not about the past, they’re about the future…I do believe he has the right ingredients. The question is can he find enough people to help him stir the pot.”

Fox News Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who is facing increased calls for her immediate resignation, remains in poor health and is not “lucid” enough to decide whether to step down, her attorney told reporters late Thursday.

Steve Silverman, speaking outside one of Pugh’s residences which was raided by the FBI and IRS earlier in the day, said the embattled city leader could make a decision as early as next week.

“She is leaning toward making the best decision in the best interest in the citizens of Baltimore City,” he said, adding that Pugh has “several options” to consider.

“She just needs to be physically and mentally sound and lucid enough to make appropriate decisions.”

BALTIMORE MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH, ON LEAVE AMID BOOK PROBE, HAS HOMES AND CITY HALL OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDS

Silverman said Pugh met with a doctor at home Thursday and plans to do so again Friday, the Baltimore Sun reported.

In the latest image-tarnishing scandal for struggling Baltimore, the first-term Democratic mayor faces accusations that she used children’s book deals to cover up kickbacks for favorable treatment as a state lawmaker and city leader that earned her roughly $800,000 over several years.

BALTIMORE’S ACTING MAYOR SAYS HE ‘WOULD HATE TO SEE’ EMBATTLED MAYOR RETURN AFTER BOOK SCANDALS

As a state senator, 69-year-old Pugh sold $500,000 worth of her self-published “Healthy Holly” illustrated paperbacks to the University of Maryland Medical System, a major state employer whose board she sat on for nearly 20 years.

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

UMMS reportedly paid Pugh for 100,000 copies of her books between 2011 and 2018 with the stated intention of distributing the books to schools and day care centers. But some 50,000 copies remain unaccounted for and officials are probing if they were even printed.

Pugh also made $300,000 in bulk sales to other customers including health carriers that did business with the city of Baltimore.

BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL CALLS ON EMBATTLED MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY

The politically isolated Pugh slipped out of sight on April 1 after a hastily organized press conference where she called her no-contract book deals a “regrettable mistake.” That same day, Maryland’s governor called on the state prosecutor to investigate allegations of “self-dealing.”

Pugh took an indefinite leave of absence, citing her health deteriorating intensely after a bout with pneumonia.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide. (Loyd Fox/Baltimore Sun via AP)

On Thursday morning, agents with the FBI and IRS searched her two Baltimore homes, her City Hall offices, and a nonprofit organization she once led. The home of at least one of Pugh’s aides was also scoured.

Silverman said federal agents also served a subpoena at his law firm, retrieving Pugh’s original financial records. They did not seek any attorney-client privileged communications, he said.

Pugh’s attorney said she was “emotionally extremely distraught” following the searches by FBI and IRS agents.

“There was nothing incriminating that came out of her home,” Silverman said.

UMMS spokesman Michael Schwartzberg told reporters that the medical system received a grand jury witness subpoena seeking documents and information related to Pugh.

Other probes against Pugh include a review by the city ethics board and the Maryland Insurance Administration.

BALTIMORE MAYOR’S $500G DEAL FOR ‘HEALTHY HOLLY’ CHILDREN’S BOOKS DRAWS SCRUTINY

In recent weeks, the calls for Pugh’s resignation have intensified with the strongest voice coming from Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who did not mince words after Thursday’s early morning raids.

“Now more than ever, Baltimore City needs strong and responsible leadership. Mayor Pugh has lost the public trust,” he said. “She is clearly not fit to lead. For the good of the city, Mayor Pugh must resign.”

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall.

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun via AP)

Many of her fellow Democrats, including those on Baltimore’s demoralized City Council and state lawmakers, are also insisting that Pugh put the citizens’ interests above any attempt to preserve her political career.

City Council member Brandon Scott called the Thursday raids “an embarrassment to the city.”

However, only a conviction can trigger a mayor’s removal from office, according to the city solicitor. Baltimore’s mayor-friendly City Charter currently provides no options for ousting its executive.

Six of Pugh’s staffers joined her on paid leave earlier this month; three of them were fired this week by the acting mayor.

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Pugh came to office in late 2016 after edging out ex-Mayor Sheila Dixon, who had spent much of her tenure fighting corruption charges before being forced to depart office in 2010 as part of a plea deal connected to the misappropriation of about $500 in gift cards meant for needy families.

She would certainly face a bruising 2020 Democratic primary if she were to return and run for reelection. Veteran City Council leader Bernard “Jack” Young, who is serving as acting mayor, said as she went on leave that he would merely be a placeholder. But this week, before the raids, he said “it could be devastating for her” if she tried to return.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad
FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad, California, U.S., April 22, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Amit Dave and Mayank Bhardwaj

AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc has sued four Indian farmers for cultivating a potato variety that the snack food and drinks maker claims infringes its patent, the company and the growers said on Friday.

Pepsi has sued the farmers for cultivating the FC5 potato variety, exclusively grown for its popular Lay’s potato chips. The FC5 variety has a lower moisture content required to make snacks such as potato chips.

PepsiCo is seeking more than 10 million rupees ($142,840.82) each for alleged patent infringement.

The farmers grow potatoes in the western state of Gujarat, a leading producer of India’s most consumed vegetable.

“We have been growing potatoes for a long time and we didn’t face this problem ever, as we’ve mostly been using the seeds saved from one harvest to plant the next year’s crop,” said Bipin Patel, one of the four farmers sued by Pepsi.

Patel did not say how he came by the PepsiCo variety.

A court in Ahmedabad, the business hub of Gujarat, on Friday agreed to hear the case on June 12, said Anand Yagnik, the lawyer for the farmers.

“In this instance, we took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety,” A PepsiCo India spokesman said. “This was done to protect our rights and safeguard the larger interest of farmers that are engaged with us and who are using and benefiting from seeds of our registered variety.”

PepsiCo, which set up its first potato chips plant in India in 1989, supplies the FC5 potato variety to a group of farmers who in turn sell their produce to the company at a fixed price.

The All India Kisan Sabha, or All India Farmers’ Forum, has asked the Indian government to protect the farmers.

The farmers’ forum has also called for a boycott of PepsiCo’s Lay’s chips and the company’s other products.

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

PepsiCo is the second major U.S. company in India to face issues over patent infringement.

Stung by a long-standing intellectual property dispute, seed maker Monsanto, which is now owned by German drugmaker Bayer AG, withdrew from some businesses in India over a cotton-seed dispute with farmers, Reuters reported in 2017. (reut.rs/2ncBknn)

(Reporting by Amit Dave in AHMEDABAD and Mayank Bhardwaj in NEW DELHI; Editing by Martin Howell and Louise Heavens)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By P.J. Huffstutter and Shradha Singh

CHICAGO/BENGALURU (Reuters) – Archer Daniels Midland Co said on Friday it was considering spinning off its ethanol business after slim biofuel margins and Midwestern floods slammed the U.S. grains merchant’s profit, which tumbled 41 percent in the first quarter.

ADM said it was creating an ethanol subsidiary, which will include dry mills in Columbus, Nebraska; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Peoria, Illinois.

The ethanol subsidiary will report as an independent segment, the company said, allowing options “which may include, but are not limited to, a potential spin-off of the business to existing ADM shareholders.”

Results were hit by the “bomb cyclone” blizzards that devastated the Midwest and Great Plains this year, causing massive flooding across Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, washing out rail lines and wreaking havoc in the moving and processing of corn, soybeans and wheat. One-sixth of U.S. ethanol production was halted.

In March, ADM warned Wall Street that flooding and severe winter weather in the U.S. Midwest would reduce its first-quarter operating profit by $50 million to $60 million.

“The first quarter proved more challenging than initially expected,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano, with earnings down in its starches, sweeteners and bioproducts unit. Luciano said impacts of the severe weather ultimately “were on the high side of our initial estimates”.

Ongoing problems in the ethanol industry added to the problems and “limited margins and opportunities” for ADM, Luciano said.

The ethanol industry has been in the midst of a historic downswing due to the U.S.-China trade war, excess domestic supply and weak margins.

ADM, which had been an ethanol pioneer, signaled to Wall Street in 2016 that it was hunting for options and considering sales of its U.S. dry ethanol mills. Luciano told Reuters this year that offers ADM had received for the mills were too low.

In addition, ADM said it planned to repurpose its corn wet mill in Marshall, Minnesota, to produce higher volumes of food and industrial-grade starches.

Other major traders are alsy trying to distance themselves from struggling ethanol businesses. Louis Dreyfus Company BV spun off its Brazilian sugar and ethanol business Biosev in 2013. Rival Bunge sold its sugar book and has sought a buyer for its Brazilian mills since 2013.

ADM, which makes money trading, processing and transporting crops, such as corn, soybeans and wheat, has been looking to strengthen its core business. Last month it said it would seek voluntary early retirements of some North American employees and cut jobs as part of a restructuring effort.

The company expects to lower 2019 capital spending by 10 percent to between $800 million and $900 million.

Net earnings attributable to the company fell to $233 million, or 41 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $393 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $15.30 billion from $15.53 billion. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 46 cents per share, while analysts on average had estimated 60 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Shradha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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