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Japan’s February household spending seen rising for third straight month: Reuters poll

Women are reflected in the window of a car dealer as they walk in a shopping district in Tokyo
Women are reflected in the window of a car dealer as they walk in a shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, December 25, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

March 29, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s household spending likely rose for a third straight month in February, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, but recent weak data such as exports and factory output clouded a moderate economic recovery.

Household spending likely grew 2.1 percent in February from a year earlier, the poll of 16 economists showed, after a 2.0 percent rise in January and a 0.1 percent gain in December.

“Wages are steadily recovering and winter bonuses grew. There was a pause in price gains, so we expect household spending increased in February,” said Shinichiro Kobayashi, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting.

Consumer spending is not necessarily bad but it lacks momentum, he said.

“Domestic demand is not strong enough to offset weakness in foreign demand. There is a chance that the economy contracted in January-March,” Kobayashi said.

Analysts said solid wages and an improving jobs market underpinned consumer spending, but worries about the outlook for the economy weighed on sentiment.

The government in March downgraded its view on the economy for the first time in three years. The Bank of Japan also pared its assessment on exports and factory output, but both said the economy remained in a moderate recovery.

Japan plans to raise the sales tax to 10 percent in October, but market speculation persists that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may postpone the twice-delayed tax hike as the economy sputters on slowing global growth and the China-U.S. trade war.

The government will release household spending data at 8:30 a.m. Japan time on Friday, April 5 (2330 GMT, April 4).

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Many ‘march for love’ in New Zealand as mosques reopen


People take part in the "March for Love" at North Hagley Park after the mosque attacks in Christchurch, March 23, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

March 23, 2019

By Tom Westbrook

CHRISTCHURCH (Reuters) – About 3,000 people walked through Christchurch in a ‘march for love’ early on Saturday, honoring the 50 worshippers massacred in the New Zealand city a week ago, as the mosques where the shooting took place reopened for prayers.

Carrying placards with signs such as, “He wanted to divide us, he only made us stronger”, “Muslims welcome, racists not”, and “Kia Kaha” – Maori for ‘stay strong’, people walked mostly in silence or softly sang a Maori hymn of peace.

“We feel like hate has brought a lot of darkness at times like this and love is the strongest cure to light the city out of that darkness,” said Manaia Butler, 16, one of the student organizers of the march.

With armed police on site, the Al Noor mosque, where more than 40 of the victims were killed by a suspected white supremacist, reopened on Saturday. Police said they were reopening the nearby Linwood mosque as well.

“It is the place where we pray, where we meet, we’ll be back, yeah,” Ashif Shaikh told reporters outside the Al Noor mosque. He said he was there on the day of the shooting in which two of his housemates were killed.

Most victims of the country’s worst mass shooting were migrants or refugees from countries such as Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Somalia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

At Saturday’s march security was heavy, with dozens of armed police officers and buses parked sideways across city streets to close them off for the march.

Shila Nair, a migrant from India who works for a migrant advocacy group called Shakti, traveled from Auckland to take part in the march.

“The support gives us hope and optimism that migrant and refugee communities in this country can have a level playing field,” she said.

“We appreciate the solidarity, but it must be carried on. It cannot be allowed to fizzle out. This is how social change happens.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who swiftly denounced the shooting as terrorism and has participated in many of the tributes and funerals for the victims, has announced a ban on military-style semi-automatic and assault rifles, some of the guns used by the shooter.

Ardern and New Zealand have been widely praised for the outpouring of empathy and unity and the response to the attacks. Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum thanked her on Twitter late on Friday.

“Thank you @jacindaardern and New Zealand for your sincere empathy and support that has won the respect of 1.5 billion Muslims after the terrorist attack that shook the Muslim community around the world,” he said on Twitter.

Muslims account for just over 1 percent of New Zealand’s 4.8-million population, a 2013 census showed, most of whom were born overseas.

On Friday the Muslim call to prayer was broadcast nationwide on television and radio and about 20,000 people attended a prayer service in the park opposite Al Noor mosque in a show of solidarity.

Many women have also donned headscarves to show their support.

In Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, a special prayer was held after the Friday sermon for the victims of the attack, according to the Saudi news website Sabq.

Most of the dead were laid to rest at a mass burial in Christchurch on Friday, when 26 victims were interred. Others have been buried at private ceremonies, or repatriated to their home countries for funerals.

Shahadat Hossain, whose brother Mojammel Haque was killed in the attack, told Reuters that she would bring his body back to Bangladesh.

“I don’t know when our family will be able to come out of this grief,” she said.

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook, Joseph Campbell, Natasha Howitt and Jill Gralow in Christchurch, Hesham Hajali in Cairo, Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Marwa Rashad in Riyadh; Writing by Tom Westbrook and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

Source: OANN

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USA Gymnastics hires ex-NBA exec to help lead it past sex scandal

Li Li Leung newly appointed president and chief executive officer of USA Gymnastics
Li Li Leung, newly appointed president and chief executive officer of USA Gymnastics, is seen in this image released from Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., on February 19, 2019. Courtesy Wendy Barrows/USA Gymnastics/Handout via REUTERS

February 19, 2019

(Reuters) – USA Gymnastics on Tuesday named former National Basketball Association (NBA) vice president Li Li Leung as its new chief executive to help the governing body of the sport navigate the aftermath of a devastating sex abuse scandal.

Leung, who was a college gymnast at the University of Michigan, will take the helm of an organization that filed for bankruptcy protection in December as it staggered under the weight of lawsuits filed by hundreds of women who were sexually abused by former national team doctor Larry Nassar.

“I was upset and angry to learn about the abuse and the institutions that let the athletes down,” Leung said in a statement on Tuesday. “I admire the courage and strength of the survivors, and I will make it a priority to see that their claims are resolved.”

Leung, who also competed in many USA Gymnastics events and represented the United States at the 1988 Junior Pan Am Games, will assume her role as CEO on March 8 and will be based at the USA Gymnastics headquarters in Indianapolis.

“We are thrilled to have Li Li as our next president and CEO, and the Board looks forward to supporting Li Li as she delivers her vision to transform and strengthen our organization and culture,” USA Gymnastics Board Chair Kathryn Carson said in a statement.

USA Gymnastics has been in turmoil ever since dozens of female gymnasts, including Olympic champions such as Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles, came forward to accuse Nassar of sexual abuse.

Over the past two years, three CEOs — Steve Penny, Kerry Perry and interim chief Mary Bono — have been forced out of the organization after being criticized for the way they handled the situation.

Bono resigned just four days into the job last October following criticism by some top gymnasts about whether the former Republican congresswoman was fit to lead the organization.

Nassar was sentenced to up to 300 years in prison in two different trials in Michigan last year after more than 350 women, including Olympic champions Raisman and Jordyn Wieber, testified about abuse at his hands.

USA Gymnastics called Leung “perfectly suited” to lead the governing body during “this important time in our history” given her combination of business skills, management experience and passion for gymnastics.

Leung said she will collaborate with the entire gymnastics community to create positive change, including implementing initiatives to strengthen athlete health and safety and build a clear and inclusive plan for the future.

Prior to her time at the NBA, Leung worked for global sports management firm Helios Partners, where she founded, built and managed the China office, starting 2005 in anticipation of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Leung then moved on to the NBA where her main focus was managing the league’s global priority partners.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto and Gabriella Borter in New York; Editing by Scott Malone and David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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Germany criticizes Turkey in row over reporters

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan hold a rally before the official inauguration of the Cologne Central Mosque in Cologne
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan hold a rally before the official inauguration of the Cologne Central Mosque in Cologne, Germany, September 29, 2018. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen/File Photo

March 10, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – Two German journalists left Turkey on Sunday after authorities there rejected their press accreditations, a step that drew condemnation from Germany’s foreign minister and revived diplomatic tensions.

The departure of Joerg Brase, a correspondent for ZDF television, and Thomas Seibert, who works for newspaper Tagesspiegel, came a day after Germany warned its citizens they risked arrest in Turkey for expressing views Ankara may not like.

“This is not acceptable to us,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said of the journalists being stripped of their credentials. “It has nothing to do with our understanding of press freedom,” he told broadcaster ARD.

ZDF confirmed Brase had arrived back in Germany on Sunday afternoon and Tagesspiegel said Seibert had also arrived back in Germany.

The increase in diplomatic tensions follows a period of relative calm since September last year, when Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan came to Germany on a state visit aimed at repairing relations after bitter disputes.

Ankara has been smarting at what it sees as Europe’s slowness to condemn a failed coup against Erdogan in 2016, while Germany and other EU countries are concerned about the mass arrests that followed, Turkey’s clampdown on press freedom and Erdogan’s influence over Turkish diaspora communities in Europe.

Before leaving Istanbul, Brase told ZDF: “The Turkish government has managed to more or less silence the national media. They are now trying to do it with international media. And we should not submit to that.”

Seibert added: “Turkey will not succeed in muffling our media. We will keep reporting about Turkey from wherever that might be.”

ZDF director Thomas Bellut said Brase had reported from Turkey factually and knowledgeably, adding: “ZDF will continue to report about this important country extensively, impartially, factually and critically.”

Maas also expressed alarm at comments made by a Turkish minister threatening those in Germany who supported the Kurdish PKK guerrilla group, fighting for autonomy in southeast Turkey, while at home, then spent vacations in Turkey.

Both sides are eager to avoid a severe deterioration in ties with Turkey’s economy in crisis and Germany, home to 3 million people of Turkish origin, reliant on Turkey to help contain a Syrian migrant crisis beyond Europe’s borders.

In February last year, a Turkish court freed German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel pending trial after indicting him for alleged security offences – a move that helped ease tensions between the two NATO allies for a period.

Asked about the rejection of the accreditations on Friday, Turkish Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said Germany and Turkey could have disagreements but “these are not impossible to solve … What will remain is the Turkish-German friendship”.

(Reporting by Reuters TV and by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

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Accuser feels no longer ‘alone’ in claims against Costa Rican ex-president

Costa Rica's former president and 1987 Nobel Peace Laureate Oscar Arias, speaks to the media after presenting his statement regarding complaints against him over sexual assault at the Attorney's Office, in San Jose
FILE PHOTO - Costa Rica's former president and 1987 Nobel Peace Laureate Oscar Arias, speaks to the media after presenting his statement regarding complaints against him over sexual assault at the Attorney's Office, in San Jose, Costa Rica February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Hazel Salazar

February 27, 2019

By Alvaro Murillo

SAN JOSE (Reuters) – The first of several women to bring sexual misconduct claims against Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said on Tuesday that she felt grateful for the outpouring of support since going public with her story.

“The most prevalent feeling is gratitude… to all the people who have believed in me,” said Alexandra Arce, an anti-nuclear activist, in her first public statement since filing a criminal complaint against Arias in early February.

“I thought I was alone, but now I see I’m not,” she said outside a San Jose courthouse following an appearance to provide information in the case.

Beginning with Arce’s account, the growing list of accusations against Arias have become some of the most prominent examples of the #MeToo movement in Latin America, where activism has been more focused on ending femicide and violence against women.

At least five other women have also come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against the two-time president, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his role negotiating an end to civil wars in Central America.

Speaking through attorneys, Arias, 78, has denied Arce’s allegations and declined to comment on subsequent claims.

Arce, who is not seeking monetary damages, alleged that Arias touched her breasts and put his hand under her clothes in 2014, according to The New York Times and local media.

“As a psychiatrist, I’ve seen victims in my practice. Unfortunately, I was the one violated this time. I spent a long time feeling frustrated because there was nothing I could do,” she said.

(Reporting by Alvaro Murillo, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Bill Rigby)

Source: OANN

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Rep. Mike Turner: The Mueller report ‘gives us confidence back in our democracy’

As Congress awaits the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia report, Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, a Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee, said it “gives us confidence back in our democracy.”

Turner made the comment on “America’s Newsroom” Monday, saying confidence returned because "it says that there was no collusion and we know certainly that we did not have the aspect of the Trump campaign doing that.”

He added, “I do think there should be a concern, though, in knowing what has happened with respect to the Hillary Clinton and Democratic National Committee-funded dossier, where they actually hired a retired former intelligence officer that was British for the purposes of talking to Russians and then use that information in a way where the government used it to undertake surveillance on the other campaign. I think that's absolutely wrong and I think that's a threat.”

MUELLER REPORT EXPECTED TO BE RELEASED THURSDAY MORNING

Mueller's much-anticipated report is set to be released to the public and Congress with redactions on Thursday morning, the Justice Department announced Monday. The news comes despite mounting calls from Democrats to first release the report to Congress without redactions.

“We gave Mueller the assignment of to come to a conclusion and that’s certainly what he’s done, is finding no collusion,” Turner said in response to Democrats' demands to first release the report to Congress. “One thing is going to be important, though, is that I think it would be absolutely wrong for portions of the report to be released to Congress and not released to the public because already we have people like Adam Schiff and his minions standing up and saying that the Barr statement says that there was no criminal collusion found. Well actually, the quote directly from the report says that they were unable to establish a collusion at all. So if they are going to twist words that we all can read, we certainly don't want to give select access and then let others tell us what it says.”

MUELLER PROBE HAS COST TAXPAYERS MORE THAN $25 MILLION, SPENDING REPORT REVEALS

Last month, Mueller submitted his almost 400-page report to the Justice Department for review by the attorney general and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. In a letter to Congress, Attorney General Bill Barr relayed some of the primary findings of the report, stating the special counsel found no evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians during the 2016 presidential election.

Barr said he identified four areas of the report that he believed should be redacted including grand jury material and information the intelligence community believes would reveal intelligence sources and methods.

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On Monday, Turner said even though redactions are expected in the Mueller report, it would hopefully provide “a greater picture.”

“The basic core of the work that's been done by the Mueller group and certainly their conclusions, I think we'll have enough to be able to understand exactly how they got there, what they looked at and why we should be able to take this as a complete report,” said Turner.

Source: Fox News Politics

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The Latest: EU urges Libyan rival forces to start talking

The Latest on the situation in Libya (all times local):

5:00 p.m.

The European Union's foreign policy chief has called on all sides in the escalating Libyan military conflict to stop fighting and start talking.

Federica Mogherini said Monday that European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg were united in their call for a truce.

Mogherini says all sides in the recent surge in fighting should "go back to the negotiating table under the auspices of the U.N. and make sure that the Libyan people get what they really want, which is peace and stability for their country."

The U.N. says that fighting over Libya's capital that erupted last week has already displaced 2,800 people. The death toll has risen to 49, including civilians.

Libya is a departure point for many refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

___

4:45 p.m.

The only functional airport in the Libyan capital has announced it was hit by an airstrike amid clashes between rival armed groups for control of Tripoli. No casualties were reported.

The official Facebook page of the Mitiga airport said a fighter jet attacked the facility on Monday. There were no other details.

A video circulated online shows a fighter jet firing and allegedly targeting the airport. The facility, located 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of the city center, originally functioned as a military base.

The fighting for Tripoli erupted last week when the self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Khalifa Hifter, began an offensive against the capital, clashing with rival militias that support the U.N.-backed government.

___

2:50 p.m.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Libya says 2,800 people have been displaced by fighting between rival militias over the capital, Tripoli.

Maria do Valle Ribeiro said Monday that clashes have prevented emergency services from reaching casualties and civilians, and have damaged electricity lines.

She warned that the increased violence is worsening the situation for migrants held in Tripoli's detention centers.

Fighting was underway Monday at the international airport, some 24 kilometers (15 miles) from central Tripoli.

The self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Khalifa Hifter, began an offensive against the capital last week.

Rival militias that support the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli have vowed to recapture all the areas recently seized by Hifter's forces.

The two sides reported that at least 41 people, including civilians, had been killed since Thursday.

Source: Fox News World

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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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)

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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)

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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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Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren suggested that doctors and nurses don’t treat African American women the same way they do white women.

Warren appeared on Wednesday together with a number of other 2020 Democratic candidates at the She The People Forum in Houston, discussing issues concerning women of color.

WARREN’S $1.25T EDUCATION PLAN ‘SWEEPING’ GIVEAWAY TO THE WEALTHY AT EXPENSE OF THE POOR, WAPO EDITORIAL BOARD SAYS

The Massachusetts senator announced on stage a plan to decrease the childbirth mortality rate among black women while identifying a systematic problem with how they are treated.

“And there is a specific problem, as you rightly identified, for women of color who are three, four times more likely to die in childbirth,” Warren said.

“And here’s the thing, even after we do the adjustments for income, for education, this is true across the board. This is true for well-educated African American women, for wealthy African American women, and the best studies that I’m seeing put it down to just one thing, prejudice,” she added.

“That doctors and nurses don’t hear African American women’s medical issues the same way that they hear the same things from white women.”

“That doctors and nurses don’t hear African American women’s medical issues the same way that they hear the same things from white women.”

— Elizabeth Warren

CHARLIE KIRK: WARREN AND OTHER DEMS OFFER FREE MONEY – BUT DON’T TELL YOU PRICE WILL BE YOUR FREEDOM

Warren went on to get into details of her plan, noting that hospitals will be given bonuses if they manage to reduce the childbirth mortality rate among black women in an effort to give financial incentives for those doctors and nurses to provide better care.

“And if they don’t, then they’re going to have money taken away from them,” Warren added.

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“I want to see the hospitals see it as their responsibility to address this problem head-on and make it a first priority. The best way to do that is to use the money to make it happen because we gotta have change, and we gotta have change now.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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