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Atlanta child murders evidence to be re-examined by investigators

Four decades after the Atlanta area was rocked by the killings of more than 20 children and young adults, officials announced Thursday they plan to re-test evidence from the cases.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields, speaking at a news conference, said that technology has changed "considerably" since the murders and could finally give families of the unsolved killings a definite answer as to who was behind the slayings of their children.

"It may be there is nothing left to be tested," Bottoms told reporters. "But I do think that history will judge us by our actions and we will be able to say we tried."

DNA, FORENSIC GENEALOGY LINK MAN WHO DIED IN 2017 TO 2 COLD CASE RAPES, KILLING

Altogether, 29 people — all of them black, most of them boys — were killed in the Atlanta area between 1979 and 1981. The man suspected in the killings, Wayne Williams, was only convicted of killing two men.

Williams, who is black, was convicted in 1982 and is serving a life sentence in connection with the two killings. Authorities said that animal and other fibers linked Williams to the two killings based on technology at the time of the trial. He has maintained his innocence, saying he was framed and that Atlanta officials covered up evidence of a Ku Klux Klan role in the killings to avoid a race war in the city.

Accused in Atlanta child murders, Wayne Williams is in handcuffs as he leaves a car for his court trial in 1982.

Accused in Atlanta child murders, Wayne Williams is in handcuffs as he leaves a car for his court trial in 1982. (Getty Images)

Bottoms stressed that authorities are not officially re-opening the case, but working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look at "every single thing we have that is related to this case" in order to give the case a fresh look.

"Even though there is evidence tying Williams to these 22 children, he was only ever tried on the cases of two murdered adults," Shields said. "This has caused some of the victims’ families to believe that they were never afforded justice.”

Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields said that that officials plan to "painstakingly" go through all of the boxes of evidence.

Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields said that that officials plan to "painstakingly" go through all of the boxes of evidence. (FOX5)

The effort will involve Atlanta Police, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, according to FOX5.

Bottom's announcement came a week after she announced during her State of the City address that she is looking to form a permanent memorial to honor the murdered children and adults. Reexamining the evidence also comes ahead of a documentary on the cases that will soon air on the Investigation Discovery Channel, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

DNA LEADS TO ARREST IN COLD CASE MURDERS OF TWO ALABAMA GIRLS, REPORTS SAY

The chief said that officials plan to "painstakingly" go through all of the boxes of evidence to see if anything can be retested or if there may be any evidence that has never been tested because the technology did not exist at the time.

“The fact that I had to work to find out where the evidence was is indicative that no one has gone through it exhaustively,” Shields told reporters. “We need to exhaustively go through it and say, could this be looked as evidence?”

Catherine Leach, whose son Curtis Walker was among those murdered, said she just wants "some closure."

Catherine Leach, whose son Curtis Walker was among those murdered, said she just wants "some closure." (FOX5)

District Attorney Paul Howard, who had just started with the District Attorney’s Office at the murders, called those years “a very tough time for our community” and added, “many heavy hearts still exist in our community.”

Howard added the case will be the first one handled by his office’s Conviction Integrity Unit, which will allow family members and others to make an application to review a case to see if a conviction is justified.

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For Catherine Leach, whose son Curtis Walker was among those murdered, she said she still doesn't have closure after almost 46 years.

“It seems like the Atlanta Missing and Murdered Children have been forgotten in this city. We want some closure," she told reporters. "I want to know who killed Curtis. His case is still sitting on the shelf, getting dusty and rusty.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Dem rep brushes off Pelosi pushback, says he’ll pursue Trump impeachment

Outspoken Democratic Rep. Al Green is not letting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s newly announced opposition to impeachment proceedings hold him back.

Green, D-Texas, speaking with Fox News, said Tuesday that he still intends to bring articles of impeachment against President Trump to the House floor for a vote.

PELOSI SAYS SHE'S OPPOSED TO IMPEACHING TRUMP: 'HE'S JUST NOT WORTH IT'

“Each member of the House has the prerogative to bring impeachment to a vote. I intend to bring impeachment to a vote, and I will do so because the president has been acknowledged by leaders and others that he is not fit to hold the office,” Green said. “He’s causing harm to society and as such, he should be impeached.”

On the first day of the new Congress this year, Green and Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., introduced articles of impeachment against the president. The pair also raised the issue in 2017 and 2018, to no avail.

“This is not about any individual. It’s about liberty and justice for all. It’s about maintaining our democracy. It’s not about Democrats, it’s about keeping the republic, and frankly, not about Republicans,” Green said Tuesday. “It’s about our country. I love my country.”

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 15: Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, speaks during a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Texas. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 15: Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, speaks during a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Texas. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Green’s comments follow Pelosi making her most-public attempt yet to tamp down impeachment chatter.

“I’m not for impeachment,” Pelosi told The Washington Post Magazine in an interview published Monday. “Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country.”

She added: “And he’s just not worth it.”

Trump’s attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said that Pelosi was “being realistic as to the political reaction” of impeachment.

“Maybe she doesn’t see any real evidence of anything wrongful,” Giuliani told Fox News on Tuesday.

TLAIB SAYS SHE'LL INTRODUCE ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT AGAINST TRUMP THIS MONTH

Meanwhile, senior Democrats appeared to get in line with Pelosi on the issue -- for the time being.

“We need to have as much information as possible … the American people are going to have to decide,” House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters Tuesday. “While we have impeachment authority, we have to be very cognizant of what the American people need.”

“The distraction would be major,” Hoyer said.

Even House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is leading one of several Trump-focused investigations on Capitol Hill, sided with Pelosi, calling her “absolutely right” to hold back on impeachment proceedings.

“A bipartisan process would have to be extra clear and compelling,” Schiff told reporters. “I think the speaker is absolutely right. In its absence, an impeachment [process]  becomes a partisan exercise doomed for failure. And I see little to be gained by putting the country through that kind of wrenching experience.”

But freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who has repeatedly advocated impeachment, suggested she'd continue to speak her mind on the issue.

“Speaker Pelosi has always encouraged me to represent my district, never has told me to stop,” she told reporters. “Has never told me to do anything differently. Ever.”

Fox News’ John Roberts, Jared Halpern, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Mississippi raises high-stakes reading bar for third graders

More than 35,000 Mississippi third graders sat down in front of computer this week to take reading tests, facing a state mandate to "level up" or not advance to fourth grade. But with the bar set higher this year, state and local officials expect more students will fail the initial test, even with efforts to improve teaching.

Mississippi is one of 16 states nationwide that demand third grade students pass a reading score threshold or flunk. Nevada and Michigan plan to impose such requirements in the next two years, and Alabama lawmakers are considering one.

The mandatory retention policy remains controversial nationwide. Experts agree students who flunk a grade are more likely to drop out. While third-grade reading policies typically call for intensive remedial work for students who are held back, one study found the boost helps for a while but eventually fades.

For students, parents and teachers, the high-stakes testing can bring butterflies, although Mississippi hasn't seen the organized pushback against testing seen in many other states. Bernardytte Robinson, a fifth grade math teacher at Key Elementary in Jackson, said her daughter Ayden Harris, a third grader at the same school, has been sweating the exam since school began in August.

"She said 'I don't want to fail, mom,'" Robinson said Ayden told her on Monday, the first day of testing. "I said 'You're not going to fail.' I said 'You've got this.'"

When the Magnolia State implemented its requirement in 2015, students only had to reach the second, or basic, level on a state test scored in five tiers. This year, the state is raising the bar, saying students must reach the third level. That's still one step short of proficiency, but state Superintendent Carey Wright and others say it's important to raise expectations.

"We needed to do this, and we need to do this in increments, because we wanted to make sure that our students began moving more toward the proficient level and being more prepared for fourth grade," said Kymona Burk, the state literacy director.

The Republican policymakers who adopted Mississippi's plan from Florida support it, pointing to improvements in performance on a nationwide test. Mississippi is paying for literacy coaches to help improve instruction in 182 of 420 schools statewide with a third grade. The state has also provided training on teaching reading to 13,000 people, and provides extra money for summer schools for struggling readers.

Last year, 93% of Mississippi students passed at the basic level on their first attempt, but only 75% reached the third level. Burk said the share of students scoring three or above has been increasing, but she predicts only about 80% will pass. Schools will get scores in early May and students retest in mid-May. A second retest comes after summer school. About 3% of students were allowed to advance last year without passing for various reasons.

Mississippi has long flunked the largest proportion of young students nationwide, often students from poor households who enroll lacking groundwork for academics. Last year, Mississippi held back 9% of kindergartners, 8% of first graders and 6% of second graders.

Harvard University education Professor Martin West studied Florida, where then-Gov. Jeb Bush pioneered the third grade policy. The policy has been promoted in Mississippi and other states by the Foundation for Excellence in Education, which Bush chairs. West said his study finds students held back because of reading problems aren't any more or less likely to drop out, compared to students who just barely pass. He said students who flunk and get intensive help in Florida get an academic boost for several years, but said it fades out.

Overall, West said he can't prove third-grade retention policies work. He said states that appear successful "have used the requirement not primarily as a way to retain more students, but as a focal point to concentrate educators' attention on improving literacy in early grades."

Last year, all students at A.W. James Elementary in Drew passed on the first try, but Principal Barbara Akon isn't so sure all her 39 third graders will clear the bar this time. Despite an average class size of 13 and intensive focus, Akon said pretests showed six students in danger of failing. She said the Mississippi Delta school set a pass-rate goal of 90%, or 35 students.

"We want 100%, but this being the first time they've had to score this high, we have some concerns," Akon said.

Outcomes could be worse elsewhere. Adrian Hammitte, interim superintendent in Jefferson County, said he overhauled reading instruction when he took over this year, with help from outside consultants. But only 45% of Jefferson County's third graders scored three or above last year, and 16% flunked third grade.

"With the new score needed, that level three, and how we performed last year, I'm a little nervous," Hammitte said of his 110 students. "I feel good about what we put in place. Now we just wait and see."

____

Follow Jeff Amy at: http://twitter.com/jeffamy .

Source: Fox News National

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German minister urges sanctions on EU members flouting principles

Foreign ministers of Sweden, Germany and Denmark in Finland
Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas attends a news conference with Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini, Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallstrom and State Secretary for Foreign Policy of Denmark Jonas Bering Liisberg, in Helsinki, Finland March 19, 2019. Lehtikuva/Jussi Nukari via REUTERS

March 21, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Thursday the European Union should cut funding and impose sanctions on members which pass laws that contravene core EU principles such having an independent judiciary and freedom of the press.

Maas told German broadcaster ZDF that countries like Romania, Hungary and Poland received more EU funding than they provided, so curtailing that could provide important leverage.

“There are basic core principles that all must respect,” Maas said on a ZDF program. With members that breach them, “we’ll have to investigate if that should have financial consequences,” he added.

Cutting funding “is the only language that is understood there,” he said of countries which pass laws to restrict freedom of the press, for instance.

The European Parliament’s main center-right bloc voted on Wednesday to suspend the Fidesz party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban amid concerns it had violated European Union principles on the rule of law.

Orban, who took power in 2010, has tightened controls over Hungarian public life, including the courts, the media and the economy, as well as education and now scientific research.

The EU is also at odds with Poland and Romania over legal steps that critics say undermine the rule of law and other core European values.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Richard Chang)

Source: OANN

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Fed’s Powell says no immediate policy responses needed to economy

FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two day Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting in Washington, U.S.
FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two day Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

March 9, 2019

By Alexandria Sage

PALO ALTO (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve does not see problems in the U.S. economy that warrant an immediate change in its policy, and it will be careful not to shock financial markets as it stabilizes its bond portfolio, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday.

The U.S. central bank is nearing a major milestone in its efforts to unwind economic stimulus measures enacted to fight the 2007-09 recession.

In a wide-ranging speech at Stanford University, Powell said the Fed was “well along” in discussions on a plan to end a runoff of its balance sheet, which ballooned during and after the recession.

While there were “cross-currents” pointing to economic risks, none were flashing warning signals serious enough for the Fed to change its interest rate policy stance, he said.

“With nothing in the outlook demanding an immediate policy response and particularly given muted inflation pressures, the committee has adopted a patient, wait-and-see approach,” Powell said in prepared remarks, referring to the Fed’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee.

He said the Fed would soon communicate details of its plan to stop shrinking its $4 trillion balance sheet later this year. His remarks appeared aimed at reassuring financial investors that the Fed would take pains not to shock investors.

“As we feel our way cautiously to this goal, we will move transparently and predictably in order to minimize needless market disruption and risks to our dual-mandate objectives,” he said. The Fed’s dual mandate is for maximum employment and the maintenance of stable prices.

Powell’s remarks were the last from any Fed policymakers until the conclusion of the Fed’s next policy-setting meeting, to be held March 19-20.

His remarks came after the Labor Department on Friday reported that U.S. employment growth almost stalled in February, a sign of a sharp slowdown in economic activity in the first quarter.

The Fed had released a statement in January that suggested it was no longer sure if it would continue raising interest rates, after hiking rates four times in 2018. Markets may look to the Fed’s quarterly interest-rate-hike projections, to be released after the Fed’s upcoming March meeting, for clues of when it might continue with rate hikes.

On Friday, however, Powell warned against reading too much into those forecasts, noting that in the past markets at times had misread them as policy promises. He said he asked a small panel of fellow Fed policymakers to figure out a better way to communicate their role.

In December the rate-hike forecasts suggested policymakers expected two rate hikes this year. Markets currently expect none.

Powell also called out the need for the Fed and other central banks to find better ways to deal with pervasive low inflation, and said that as the Fed reviews options this year, it ought to pay serious attention to strategies that would drive inflation higher to make up for past bouts of sluggish inflation.

But Powell said he sees a “high bar” for any fundamental changes to the Fed’s current approach because of the potential of inadvertently undermining the public’s confidence in the U.S. central bank’s commitment to fighting inflation.

(Additional reporting by Ann Saphir and Jason Lange; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Jimmy Carter, Trump Discuss China ‘Getting Ahead’

Jimmy Carter said Sunday President Donald Trump called him with concerns “China is getting ahead of us,” and the United States’ oldest living former president agreed, NPR’s Emma Hurt reports.

“He suggested maybe it’s because China hasn’t been spending money on war like the U.S.,” Hurt wrote on Twitter.

Carter, who counts the breakthrough with China among the top accomplishments of his presidency, made the comments while speaking at a church in Georgia Sunday morning.

Trump, he said, called him after he sent him a letter suggesting the creation of an advisory panel to improve U.S.-China relations.

Carter sent the note in January after first mentioning the idea during an appearance at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

"Just have a very small group — I'd say about six — of distinguished people who have faith and confidence," Carter said then, given "the need for future understanding and the avoidance of conflict between our two countries."

The report comes a day after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said trade talks with China were nearing a “final round.”

Beijing and Washington are seeking a deal to end a bitter trade war marked by tit-for-tat tariffs that have cost the world’s two largest economies billions of dollars, disrupted supply chains and rattled financial markets.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Kosovo court orders Serb man detained for war crimes trial

A Kosovo court has ordered a Serb man to be detained while he awaits trial on charges of genocide and war and humanitarian crimes during Kosovo's 1998-99 war for independence.

The court says in a statement Monday that the man, identified only by his initials as Z.K., is suspected of belonging to a Serb police unit that killed four ethnic Albanians and tortured and robbed a family of 19 in a southern Kosovo village in March 1999.

Since the war the defendant, who was arrested last week, has been living in Kragujevac, Serbia.

About 10,000 people died and about 1,650 remain missing from the war, which ended after a 78-day NATO air war that stopped a bloody Serb crackdown against ethnic Albanian independence fighters.

Serbia has not recognized Kosovo's independence.

Source: Fox News World

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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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U.S. President Trump departs for travel to Indianapolis from the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said trade talks with China are going very well, as the world’s two largest economies seek to end talks with a trade agreement to defuse tensions.

Trump said on Thursday he would soon host China’s President Xi Jinping at the White House.

Earlier this week, the White House said that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would travel to Beijing for more talks on a trade dispute marked by tit-for-tat tariffs between the two countries.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments on North Korea this week following the Russian leader’s summit with Pyongyang’s Kim Jong Un.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump also said China was helping with efforts aimed at the denuclearization of North Korea.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Makini Brice; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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