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U.S. to designate elite Iranian force as terrorist organization

Members of Iranian revolutionary guard march during parade to commemorate anniversary of Iran-Iraq war, in Tehran
EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. Members of the Iranian revolutionary guard march during a parade to commemorate the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran September 22, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY ANNIVERSARY) - GM1E79M1GMB01

April 5, 2019

By Phil Stewart, Lesley Wroughton and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is expected to designate Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps a foreign terrorist organization, three U.S. officials told Reuters, marking the first time Washington has labeled another country’s military a terrorist group.

The decision, which critics warn could open U.S. military and intelligence officials to similar actions by unfriendly governments abroad, is expected to be announced by the U.S. State Department, perhaps as early as Monday, the officials said. It has been rumored for years.

The Pentagon declined comment and referred queries to the State Department. The State Department and White House also declined to comment.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a strident Iran hawk, has advocated for the change in U.S. policy as part of the Trump administration’s tough posture toward Tehran.

The announcement would come ahead of the first anniversary of President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran and to reimpose sanctions that had crippled Iran’s economy.

The administration’s decision to make the designation was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The United States has already blacklisted dozens of entities and people for affiliations with the IRGC, but the organization as a whole is not.

In 2007, the U.S. Treasury designated the IRGC’s Quds Force, its unit in charge of operations abroad, “for its support of terrorism,” and has described it as Iran’s “primary arm for executing its policy of supporting terrorist and insurgent groups.”

Iran has warned of a “crushing” response should the United States go ahead with the designation.

IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari warned in 2017 that if Trump went ahead with the move, “then the Revolutionary Guards will consider the American army to be like Islamic State all around the world.”

Such threats are particularly ominous for U.S. forces in places such as Iraq, where Iran-aligned Shi’ite militia are located in close proximity to U.S. troops.

Former Under-Secretary of State and lead Iran negotiator, Wendy Sherman, said the move had implications for U.S. forces.

“One might even suggest, since it’s hard to see why this is in our interest, if the president isn’t looking for a basis for a conflict,” said Sherman. “The IRGC is already fully sanctioned and this escalation absolutely endangers our troops in the region.”

IRGC’S REACH

Set up after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system, the IRGC is Iran’s most powerful security organization. It has control over large sectors of the Iranian economy and has a huge influence in its political system.

The IRGC has an estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navy and air units and answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But it is the IRGC’s Quds Force, led by Major-General Qassem Soleimani, which operates outside Iran and has drawn much of Washington’s attention for its role in places such as Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

Pompeo has repeatedly singled out Soleimani and in 2017, when he was CIA director, he wrote to Soleimani and other Iranian leaders warning that the United States would hold them accountable for any attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq by forces under their control.

It is unclear what impact the U.S. designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization might have on America’s activities in countries that have ties with Tehran, including in Iraq.

Baghdad has deep cultural and economic ties with Iran and Oman, where the United States recently clinched a strategic ports deal.

(Additional reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Mary Milliken, Tom Brown and Daniel Wallis)

Source: OANN

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Australia jobs surge past expectations but unemployment ticks up

FILE PHOTO: A worker pushes a trolley loaded with goods past a construction site in the central business district of Sydney
FILE PHOTO: A worker pushes a trolley loaded with goods past a construction site in the central business district (CBD) of Sydney in Australia, March 15, 2018. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo

April 18, 2019

By Swati Pandey

SYDNEY (Reuters) – A bumper run in Australian jobs extended to March and more people went looking for work, official data on Thursday showed, a sign the country’s labor market remains strong despite a small uptick in the unemployment rate.

The local dollar jumped about a quarter of U.S. cent to $0.7200 as traders wagered the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will not rush to ease rates even though the broader economy has seemingly lost momentum.

The employment report is being closely watched for clues on monetary policy as the country’s central bank is counting on labor market strength for a long-awaited pick up in wage growth and inflation in the face of a property market downturn.

Thursday’s data showed a total 25,700 new jobs were created in March, surging past expectations for a rise of 12,000.

Encouragingly, all of that increase was led by full-time work with part-time decreasing 22,600.

“A solid set of employment figures, dominated by full-time roles, suggests that households and businesses may have to wait a little longer for rate cuts,” said Callam Pickering APAC economist at global job site Indeed.

“From the perspective of policymakers, particularly the Reserve Bank, this will be viewed as a positive report,” Pickering said.

Australia is creating jobs at a brisk annual pace of 2.4 percent, much faster than the 1.6 percent rise in population.

Even so, the unemployment rate rose to 5.0 percent in March from an eight-year trough of 4.9 percent the previous month as the participation rate climbed to 65.7 percent in a sign more people went looking for work.

While the jobless rate has stayed in a 4.9-5.1 percent band since last September, consumer prices have remained lukewarm for years now.

Worryingly for the RBA, first-quarter data due next week is expected to show core inflation further cooled to 1.7 percent from 1.8 percent in the previous quarter, undershooting its 2-3 percent mid-term target.

The RBA has held the cash rate at an all-time low of 1.50 percent for 2-1/2 years now and earlier this year switched away from its long-held tightening bias to a more neutral stance. On Tuesday, minutes of the central bank’s April meeting showed it believes a cut in interest rates would be appropriate if inflation stayed low and unemployment trended high.

(Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

Source: OANN

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Trump's support for Israel's sovereignty over Golan Heights expected to make waves at UN

President Trump on Thursday tweeted his support for the United States to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, but like his move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Trump's decision is at odds with United Nations resolutions and likely won't bode well with U.S. critics at the world body.

Trump tweeted, “After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!”

Israel captured the strategically important Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. Israeli officials have argued Iran’s growing military footprint and influence in Syria has made the Syrian side of the divide a growing security threat given Tehran’s continued threats to annihilate Israel.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon wrote, "We are at the beginning of a historic moment for the State of Israel. President Trump once again proves the strength of the alliance between the US and Israel. The time has come for the world to recognize that the Golan Heights is an inseparable part of the State of Israel."

A spokesperson for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres responded with no comment when asked for reaction to Trump’s tweet.

Last month Guterres’ Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen was dismissive when asked about a push by Congress to recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli territory. He told reporters, “Obviously the Security Council is very clear that Golan is Syrian territory.”

Under former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a law in 1981 that officially annexed the Golan Heights. Begin cited serious security threats from Syria including the threat of missile attacks. Days later the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that condemned the move, adding to its resolution 242 of 1967 that called for the removal of Israeli forces from its recently conquered territory during the Six-Day War.

U.N Security Council Resolution 497 from 1981 stated in part “that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights is null and void and without international legal effect.”

Eugene Kontorovich, a professor of international law at George Mason University in Washington, D.C., and director of international law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum, told Fox News the resolution, “is not binding and has no legal force; it was merely a statement of the Council’s opinion. The U.S. has a sovereign right to disagree.”

OPINION: TRUMP'S SUPPORT OF GOLAN HEIGHTS SOVEREIGNTY, NETANYAHU VISIT CONTINUE AMERICA'S SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL

Kontorovich, who has advised senior members of the U.S. administration on the Golan Heights, praised what he described as Trump’s courage. “Only a clear statement that the Golan is part of Israel can deter Iranian and Syrian attempts to challenge Israel’s control. While American politicians of all stripes claim they support Israel’s control of the Golan, most lacked the courage to translate this into the necessary diplomatic language of sovereignty - until Pres. Trump.”

In February, Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas were joined by Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin as the lawmakers introduced bills in both chambers that would establish Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights as official U.S. policy. In a joint statement Thursday, the lawmakers applauded Trump’s tweet while warning of the serious security threats posed by Iran.

"At a time when Israel's northern border is threatened by Iranian forces and their proxies in Lebanon and Syria, including by Hezbollah's rockets, armed drones, and newly discovered terror tunnels, this recognition will be great news for our ally and its right to self-defense. More work remains to be done to align American policy with today's recognition. We look forward to advancing our bicameral legislation on the Golan Heights which acknowledges Israel's sovereignty over its territory, streamlines Congressional language, and expands the basis for joint projects on the issue."

A senior Republican congressional staffer scoffed when asked about possible U.N. criticism. “The United Nations operates in a parallel universe where they make things up so they can demonize Israel. That’s nice, but we prefer to exist in actual reality, and anyway the United States makes our own decisions with respect to issues of sovereignty. We didn't care when the U.N. threw their temper tantrum over recognizing the reality of Israel's capital of Jerusalem and we're not going to care when they have fainting spells this time either.”

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Trump’s tweet came ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned visit next week to the White House.

In January, Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari blamed the Security Council for its inaction on what he said was Israeli aggression against his country. He noted that his country would work to restore its sovereignty by “all means possible.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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U.S. pressing India to stop buying Venezuelan oil: envoy

FILE PHOTO: An oil pumpjack painted with the colors of the Venezuelan flag is seen in Lagunillas
FILE PHOTO: An oil pumpjack painted with the colors of the Venezuelan flag is seen in Lagunillas, Venezuela January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Isaac Urrutia/File Photo

March 10, 2019

By Lesley Wroughton, Luc Cohen and Marianna Parraga

(Reuters) – The United States is pressing India to stop buying Venezuelan oil that is a major source of revenue for President Nicolas Maduro’s government, Washington’s top envoy for Venezuela said, as the Trump administration this week threatened more U.S. sanctions to cut off Maduro’s financial lifelines.

“We say you should not be helping this regime, you should be on the side of the Venezuelan people,” Elliott Abrams told Reuters in an interview.

The Trump administration has given the same message to other governments, Abrams said, and has made a similar argument to foreign banks and private companies doing business with the Maduro government.

Abrams described the U.S. approach as “arguing, cajoling, urging.”

The pressure on India comes as the United States and its regional allies, who back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, threaten more sanctions to cut off revenue streams to Maduro’s government and force him to step down.

Washington views Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader and has imposed sanctions on the country’s oil sector and announced asset freezes and travel bans targeting top government officials.

The Indian market is crucial for Venezuela’s economy because it has historically been the second-largest cash-paying customer for the OPEC country’s crude, behind the United States, which through sanctions against Maduro has handed control of much of that revenue to Guaido.

Oil shipments to China, Venezuela’s other major importer, do not generate cash because they go to pay off billions of dollars in loans made to Caracas by Beijing.

The talks over Venezuela come as trade tensions rise between Washington and New Delhi, and when the United States is also pushing India to cease buying Iranian oil.

The United States is planning 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.

SECONDARY SANCTIONS?

U.S. sanctions typically block American firms from doing business with specific foreign governments or companies.

Seeking to prevent Indian purchases of Venezuelan crude would be part of a strategy known as “secondary sanctions,” in which Washington applies penalties to companies not based in the United States.

That strategy, and even the threat of using it, was vital in Washington’s pressure campaign to cut off revenue to Iran, which eventually helped force Tehran to negotiate a nuclear deal with six world powers in 2015.

But it has drawn criticism from some foreign governments who argue that the United States should not be able to force its policy decisions on firms in other countries.

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton this week put foreign banks “on notice” that they risked U.S. sanctions for hiding Venezuelan assets.

    “If that leads to people to cooperate voluntarily, we’re glad,” Abrams said.

Asked whether India had agreed to stop buying Venezuelan oil, Abrams said: “I don’t want to characterize the discussions, which continue.”

The issue will be discussed next week during U.S.-India diplomatic consultations in Washington, an Indian official said, adding that India “was very cognizant of the U.S. position” on Venezuela.

VITAL MARKET

Manuel Quevedo, Venezuela’s oil minister, attended a conference in New Delhi in mid-February seeking to “double” the country’s crude exports to India while boosting Venezuelan imports of Indian refined products. He also said he was open to barter payments.

    But Venezuela’s exports to India remained relatively stable in the month since the Trump administration slapped sanctions on Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA, meaning shipments were not nearly enough to make up for the fall in U.S. sales.

Venezuela directly exported 297,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude to India in February, according to Refinitiv Eikon data, which does not include barrels first shipped to other ports such as Singapore or Rotterdam. India imported 342,000 bpd of Venezuelan crude in January, and an average of 340,000 bpd last year.

That was well off the more than 400,000 bpd India used to import, on average, and not nearly enough to make up for the drop in U.S. imports to 104,800 bpd in February from more than 500,000 bpd before the sanctions hit.

    India is also being pressured by lawmakers from both major U.S. parties. Republican Senator Marco Rubio tweeted on Feb. 13 that Indian refiner Reliance Petroleum’s purchases of Venezuelan oil would undermine Guaido’s “legitimate government” and “lead to calls for secondary sanctions on Reliance”.

    Albio Sires, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives’ subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, wrote to India’s ambassador in Washington on Feb. 12 expressing concern about what Sires called Venezuela’s “attempts to work around U.S. efforts to hold Maduro accountable and approach one of our strongest partners in the process.”

    “We’re going to start doing some lobbying to see if we can get India not to buy oil from Venezuela,” Sires, a Democrat, said in a late February interview.

    Venezuelan oil made up just 4.2 percent of India’s total imports in January, data show. Venezuela is also not a top foreign policy priority for India, as it is for other major buyers like Russia, said Moises Rendon of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

    “The U.S. has enough leverage to get India to pull away the relationship with Venezuela,” Rendon said. “That’s why the U.S. role here is key.”

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Washington, Marianna Parraga in Mexico City and Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Source: OANN

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Asian, European LNG prices crash below $5 on oversupply

FILE PHOTO: A liquified natural gas (LNG) tanker leaves the dock after discharge at PetroChina's receiving terminal in Dalian
FILE PHOTO: A liquified natural gas (LNG) tanker leaves the dock after discharge at PetroChina's receiving terminal in Dalian, Liaoning province, China July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Chen Aizhu

March 21, 2019

By Sabina Zawadzki

LONDON (Reuters) – Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) broke below the $5 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) mark this week following a 13-week price slide that reflects the absence of growth in demand or any major outages.

Spot prices for May delivery to Northeast Asia dropped 80 cents to $4.65 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) this week according to traders although there were few actual transactions with Asia’s biggest buyers, Japan, Korea or China.

Asian LNG spot prices are now at their lowest level since May 2016 and close to the lowest point in Refinitiv records going back to 2010 of $4.00 per mmBtu, which was reached in April 2016.

They are also lower than the European natural gas hub price in the Netherlands and Britain, which usually trade at a premium to spot Asian LNG prices. The last time this happened was in January and February of 2015, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

There were two transactions completed in the Platts market on close (MOC) window, both cargoes to India.

The first one was sold by Vitol to Gunvor for Indian west coast delivery at the start of May for $4.55 per mmBtu. Vitol also sold to Glencore a cargo to Dahej terminal for the end of May at $4.75 per mmBtu.

In Europe, prices were heard at discounts of 20 cents to month-ahead Dutch gas prices at the TTF hub, which were at around $4.98 per mmBtu on Thursday.

Deliveries into North West Europe have jumped to 67 cargoes, or 4.24 million tonnes, this month from 54 cargoes in January, which was a record high for the region since Refinitv Eikon data began in 2013.

The influx has helped to halve prices at both the Dutch and British hubs since their peaks in September.

The market has been inundated with supplies coming onstream from the United States, Russia and Australia. In addition Egypt, which has had to import LNG in previous years due to gas shortages, has started to ramp up its exports.

A cyclone heading for north western Australia may disrupt LNG loading there, according to Kpler, a shipping intelligence company.

Vessels have been cleared at Dampier, loading point for Woodside’s Pluto and North West Shelf LNG, and Ashburton, the loading point for Chevron’s Wheatstone LNG, according to Pilbara Port Authority.

(Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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California man sentenced to 20 years for fatal ‘swatting’ of Kansas man

A California man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday after making fake emergency calls to authorities across the country which led to the fatal shooting of a Kansas man by police.

Tyler R. Barriss, 26, admitted last November to calling Wichita police from Los Angeles in late 2017 to falsely report a shooting and kidnapping at the Kansas home where 28-year-old Andrew Finch lived. He pleaded guilty to a total of 51 federal charges related to fake calls and threats.

Finch answered the door when police descended on his home, and an officer shot the unarmed man.

FLASHBACK: MAN ARRESTED IN 'CALL OF DUTY' 'SWATTING' HOAX THAT LED TO FATAL POLICE SHOOTING

FILE - In this May 22, 2018, file photo, Tyler Barriss, of California, appears for a preliminary hearing in Wichita, Kan. Barriss, who pleaded guilty to 51 charges related to fake emergency calls and threats will be sentenced in federal court in Wichita, Friday, March 29, 2019, and could face decades in prison.

FILE - In this May 22, 2018, file photo, Tyler Barriss, of California, appears for a preliminary hearing in Wichita, Kan. Barriss, who pleaded guilty to 51 charges related to fake emergency calls and threats will be sentenced in federal court in Wichita, Friday, March 29, 2019, and could face decades in prison. (Bo Rader/The Wichita Eagle via AP, File)

Authorities said Finch was not involved in the dispute nor playing the “Call of Duty: WWII” video game when he answered the door. Police said an Ohio gamer recruited Barriss to “swat” – or report a false emergency call to get authorities to descend on an address.

However, the address they used was old.

The intended target in Wichita, Shane Gaskill, 20, and the man who allegedly recruited Barriss, Casey Viner, 19, of North College Hill, Ohio, are charged as co-conspirators.

Authorities say Viner provided Barriss with an address for Gaskill that Gaskill had previously given to Viner. Authorities also say that when Gaskill noticed Barriss was following him on Twitter, he gave Barriss that old address and taunted him to "try something."

Viner and Gaskill pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to obstruct justice, wire fraud and other counts. Viner has notified the court he intends to change that plea at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday. Gaskill's trial has been delayed to April 23 amid plea talks with federal prosecutors.

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Finch's family has sued the city of Wichita and the unidentified officers involved. Police have said the officer who shot Finch thought he was reaching for a gun because he moved a hand toward his waistband. Prosecutors declined to charge the officer.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation recognized swatting as an emerging threat as early as 2008, noting it had become commonplace among gamers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Alleged New York cult leaders charged with child pornography, plead guilty to racketeering

The spiritual leader of alleged New York sex cult Nxivm (pronounced ‘Nexium’) was slapped with child pornography charges on Thursday, just hours after a second leader pleaded guilty to racketeering offenses while running the organization.

Federal prosecutors charged Keith Raniere, 58, in a case already alleging he coerced female members into being his sex slaves, forcing them to be branded with his initials below the waist. Court documents reportedly revealed pornographic images of a 15-year-old, as well as electronic messages between Raniere and the minor, indicating a sexual relationship.

GUILTY PLEA, NEW CHARGES IN NEW YORK SEX SLAVE CASE

Nancy Salzman, 65, former president of the controversial group, admitted to stealing critics' email addresses and tampering with evidence. She is to be sentenced July 10 on charges of racketeering, and could face between 33 and 41 years in prison, NBC News reported.

Prosecutors say Nxivm was a sex-trafficking ring disguised as a mentoring group. Meant to trap new recruits within its pyramid scheme, Nxivm allegedly made its members financially vulnerable, forcing them to pay thousands of dollars for personal and professional development courses that often left them deep in debt.

“Smallville” actress Allison Mack and Seagram’s liquor heiress Clare Bronfman, along with Raniere and Salzman and two other members, were indicted in July over their alleged involvement with the group’s multilevel marketing scheme, said to be designed to recruit sex slaves. Members who recruited new slaves were reportedly rewarded with money and status bumps.

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Raniere’s attorney, Marc Agnifilio, defended his client, responding to the added pornography charged with sharp criticism.

"These 11th-hour charges three weeks before the trial begins serve only to taint the jury panel,” Agnifilio said. "Had they been legitimate, the government would have brought these charges a year ago."

Source: Fox News National

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FILE PHOTO: The Credit Suisse logo is pictured on a bank in Geneva
FILE PHOTO: The Credit Suisse logo is pictured on a bank in Geneva, Switzerland, October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

April 26, 2019

ZURICH (Reuters) – Shareholders approved Credit Suisse’s 2018 compensation report with an 82 percent majority on Friday, overriding frustrations expressed at its annual general meeting over jumps in executive pay during a year its share price plummeted.

Three shareholder advisers had recommended investors vote against Switzerland’s second-biggest bank’s remuneration report, while a fourth backed the report but expressed reservations about whether management pay matched performance.

The approval marked a slight increase over the 80.8 percent support garnered for the bank’s 2017 compensation report.

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; Editing by Michael Shields)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the trading floor of Barclays Bank at Canary Wharf in London
FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the trading floor of Barclays Bank at Canary Wharf in London, Britain December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Simon Jessop and Sinead Cruise

LONDON (Reuters) – Activist investor Edward Bramson is likely to fail in his attempt to get a board seat at Barclays’ annual meeting next week, even though shareholders are dissatisfied with performance of the group’s investment bank.

New York-based Bramson’s Sherborne Investors and the board of the British bank have been sparring for months over Barclays’ strategy.

Bramson wants to scale back Barclays’ investment bank to reduce risk and boost shareholder returns. Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley remains staunchly committed to growing the business out of trouble.

After failing to persuade Staley to change course since he began building a 5.5 percent stake in the bank in March last year, Bramson hopes a board seat will rachet up the pressure.

Both sides have written to shareholders pitching their case and Bramson has courted investors in one-on-one meetings, although none have publicly backed him yet.

Interviews by Reuters with five institutional investors in Barclays suggest Bramson has failed to persuade them.

Sherborne declined to comment.

Mirza Baig, head of investment stewardship at top-40 shareholder Aviva Investors, said Bramson was welcome on the bank’s register but the boardroom was a step too far.

“He has created a lot of value at other businesses, but, generally, when he has come in as executive chair and taken full control. This would be a different case where he would just be one lone voice on the board,” he said.

A second Barclays shareholder said he backed Bramson’s goal of improving returns but via an “evolutionary” approach.

“If you look at banks that have tried to restructure their operations in investment banking – you look at Natwest Markets, Deutsche Bank – I struggle to think of an example where a roughshod restructuring has been accretive to shareholder value.”

A third, top-30 investor said he had been impressed by incoming Chairman Nigel Higgins’ grasp of the challenge in hand, and felt investors would give him time.

“Management know they have to execute and deliver improved returns… [Higgins] will continue to re-shape the board but obviously he didn’t feel that having someone with a diametrically opposed view on it would be helpful.”

A fourth, top-30 investor agreed: “We voted for the chairman to come in and it would be crazy to allow an activist to join the board (at this time).”

Jupiter Fund Management, the 24th largest investor, said it also planned to vote against Bramson.

Barclays has nearly 500 institutional shareholders, Refinitiv data showed.

Since Staley joined Barclays in 2015, the investment bank returns relative to capital invested have increased but are still underperforming the overall business.

Barclays’ first-quarter figures showed the investment bank posted a 6 percent drop in income from its markets business and a 17 percent fall in banking advisory fees.

Returns in the investment bank fell to 9.5 percent from 13.2 percent a year ago.

Famed for successful campaigns against smaller British companies in sectors from chemicals to advertising, Bramson’s board seat pitch has been rebuffed by shareholder advisory firms.

Institutional Shareholder Services, the world’s biggest, said Bramson’s proposal “falls short of what can reasonably be expected from a shareholder trying to address issues at a 28 billion pounds, systemically important bank”.

Glass Lewis also flagged concern about Bramson’s lack of banking experience and “questionable” shareholding structure, referring to Sherborne’s use of derivative contracts to hedge losses should its strategy fail.

Critics said the arrangement meant his interests are not truly aligned with those of other long-term shareholders.

British advisory firm Pirc, however, said it recommended that investors abstain in the vote on Bramson’s proposal as a challenge to the board to do better in the year ahead – or face a similar contest in 2020.

(Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2019/04/918/516/02_2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

After an over 15-month pregnancy, “Akuti,” a 7-year-old Greater One Horned Indian Rhinoceros, gave birth as a result of induced ovulation and artificial insemination at Zoo Miami, April 23, 2019.

Ron Magill/Zoo Miami

https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2019/04/918/516/02_2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

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FILE PHOTO: File photo of a Chevron gas station sign in Del Mar, California
FILE PHOTO: A Chevron gas station sign is seen in Del Mar, California, in this April 25, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – U.S. oil and natural gas producer Chevron Corp reported a 27 percent fall in quarterly earnings on Friday, hit by lower crude prices and weaker margins in its refining and chemicals businesses.

Net income attributable to the company fell to $2.65 billion, or $1.39 per share, for the first quarter ended March 31, from $3.64 billion, or $1.90 per share, a year earlier.

Earlier in the day, larger rival Exxon Mobil Corp reported earnings well below analysts’ estimates, as margins in its refining business were hurt by higher Canadian prices and heavy scheduled maintenance.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

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FILE PHOTO: Ford logo is seen at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan
FILE PHOTO: The Ford logo is seen at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Friday the U.S. Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into the automaker’s emissions certification process in the United States.

The potential concern does not involve the use of defeat devices, the company said in a regulatory filing. (https://bit.ly/2VqjHpl)

Ford had voluntarily disclosed the matter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board in February.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)

Source: OANN

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