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Madeira bus crash kills 28, mostly German tourists

A tour bus crash on the Portuguese island of Madeira has killed 28 people, many of them German tourists, a local official said Wednesday.

Canico Mayor Filipe Sousa told media outlets that 17 women and 11 men were killed when the bus rolled down a steep hillside after veering off a highway east of the capital, Funchal. Public broadcaster RTP reported that 22 others were taken to a hospital in Funchal with injuries "of various severities."

Sousa said the bus was carrying 55 people. Local television showed bodies scattered over the rural hillside next to the Atlantic Ocean.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known. People living in the area said the weather was fine at the time of the crash, which unfolded in daylight in the early evening.

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Madeira, approximately 600 miles northwest of the Moroccan coast, has been an autonomous region of Portugal since 1976. It is a popular vacation spot for many Europeans.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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@RealDonaldTrump doesn’t think #SleepyJoe #Biden2020 will be able to ‘do the job’ #MagaFirstNews W/@PeterBoykin

@RealDonaldTrump doesn't think #SleepyJoe #Biden2020 will be able to 'do the job' #MagaFirstNews W/@PeterBoykin President Trump, in a wide-ranging, exclusive phone interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, dismissed the launch of former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign, nicknaming him "Sleepy Joe" and saying he’s "not the brightest bulb." Biden, the president said, has name recognition but he won't "be able to do the job." ... See More When asked about Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Trump criticized his record, saying Sanders had "misguided energy" and asserted that Sanders "talks a lot" but hasn't accomplished anything. The president referred to former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas as "a fluke" who had lost much momentum and outright dismissed Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg -- although he said he was "rooting" for Buttigieg. (Trump could address Biden and the other Democratic presidential candidates when he speaks today before the National Rifle Association.) Clinton-Ukraine collusion allegations 'big' and 'incredible,' will be reviewed, Trump says The Democratic Party's youth movement: Biden's biggest challenge? Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Howard Dean warned Joe Biden about the troubles he may face in his presidential campaign, especially from the “35-year-olds” who Dean says have been running the party -- a clear nod to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and fellow freshmen Democrats. “This is a very different party than even the party Joe Biden ran in in 2012. Very different,” Dean continued. “A lot of people could win this race. There’s 20 people in there. I think it’s going to take $20 million to get to the starting line. If you can’t raise $20 million, you’re gone, and I think that’s going to take care of about six or eight of these folks. ... But it is not the same party that it was five years ago.” A progressive political group that boosted Ocasio-Cortez's bid for Congress last year vowed to oppose Biden and blasted him as part of the “old guard.” More tales from the FBI texts Text messages between former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page indicate they discussed using briefings to the Trump team after the 2016 election to identify people they could "develop for potential relationships," track lines of questioning and "assess" changes in "demeanor" – language one GOP lawmaker called “more evidence” of irregular conduct in the original Russia probe. Fox News has learned the texts, initially released in 2018 by a Senate committee, are under renewed scrutiny, with GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley and Homeland Security Committee chair Ron Johnson sending a letter Thursday night to Attorney General Bill Barr pushing for more information on the matter. President Trump, speaking on Fox News' "Hannity" Thursday night, responded to this report by accusing Strzok and Page of an attempted "coup." "They were trying to infiltrate the administration," he said. Kim accuses US of acting in 'bad faith' North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, fresh off his summit with  Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the U.S. has been acting in “bad faith” since his Hanoi meeting with President Trump over the stalemated issue of North Korean denuclearization. The North Korean leader told the Korean Central News Agency that, "the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the region is now at a standstill and has reached a critical point," the Straits Times of Singapore reported. Kim warned that the situation "may return to its original state as the U.S. took a unilateral attitude in bad faith at the recent second DPRK-US summit talks," the Korean Central News Agency added. North Korea gave US $2M hospital bill over care of American Otto Warmbier, sources say NFL Draft 2019: It's all about defense The first round of the 2019 NFL Draft saw a run on defensive players, with eight of the top 12 picks in Nashville coming from that side of the ball. After Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray was taken first overall by the Arizona Cardinals, the San Francisco 49ers started a run of four straight front-seven players by taking Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa with the second overall pick -- the highest draft slot for any Buckeye since left tackle Orlando Pace went No. 1 overall to the St. Louis Rams in 1997.

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Senate Dems Unveil Voting, Ethics Overhaul

Senate Democrats have unveiled legislation making it easier to vote and curbing the influence of big money in politics.

The bill is destined to go nowhere in the Republican-run Senate. But Democrats see it as a way to make populist appeals to voters in next year's presidential and congressional elections.

Chief sponsor Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico says every Senate Democrat is sponsoring the measure. He says the bill will be a "defining moment" when Democratic candidates talk about their effort and Republicans defend "the status quo."

The Democratic-run House approved similar legislation earlier this month. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has criticized that bill, saying it would rewrite election rules to benefit Democrats. McConnell is not expected to let the Senate measure advance in his chamber.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Brazil announces financial package to avoid truckers’ strike

The government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced Tuesday a financial package aimed at staving off a potential truckers' strike.

Chief of Staff Onyx Lorenzoni said the Brazilian Development Bank will be providing $128 million in credit to truckers and that the Ministry of Infrastructure will spend $514 million on improving roads.

The announcement is part of a series of recent decisions by the administration aimed at appeasing the sector.

Last month Bolsonaro announced via Twitter that he would not be renewing a contract for electronic radars saying that "the vast majority of them only exist for the sole purpose of financial return for the state." An investigation by newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo found that the radars had resulted in a 21.7% reduction in fatalities on federal roads.

On Thursday, Bolsonaro canceled a planned 5.7% increase in diesel prices. The decision caused shares in Brazil's state oil company Petrobras to drop more than 13%, with many investors fearing that it could signal a more interventionist strategy by the president similar to previous governments.

Bolsonaro ran on a platform championing the freedom of the market and criticizing his predecessors from Brazil's Workers' Party for their "incompetence."

His decision to cancel the announced price hike received uncommon support from impeached President Dilma Rousseff of the Workers' Party who Tweeted Sunday that "The management of the largest Brazilian public company cannot be subjected to the short-term logic of financial speculation."

Mauricio Santoro, a political scientist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, told the Associated Press Tuesday that the decision by Bolsonaro to intervene on behalf of the truckers has left investors worried.

"From an economic perspective, the Dilma government should have been an example of what to avoid, but it is very impressive that Bolsonaro hasn't learned from her errors," he said.

The cost of fuel has been something that has long been contentious for truckers since the decision was made to peg its price to the international market. In the previous two governments, the administration had dictated the price of oil in order to control inflation. This strategy resulted in massive expenditures by the state. Following the economic recession, the ability of the government to subsidize the losses was no longer viable, and when the government floated the commodity with the international market it led to a disastrous combination of inflation during a recession.

A truckers' strike last year caused a national crisis that had an estimated economic impact of $7.7 billion and led to shortages of food, medicine and petrol. Nearly 70% of all goods are transported via highway. The truckers blocked roads and refused to work until their demands for a reduction in the price of oil were answered.

Source: Fox News World

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Trump warns Mexico over guns drawn on US troops: ‘Better not happen again!’

President Trump on Wednesday warned Mexico after their soldiers reportedly drew guns on U.S. troops at the border last week, while also calling on America's southern neighbor to do more to halt another north-bound migrant caravan.

“Mexico’s Soldiers recently pulled guns on our National Guard Soldiers, probably as a diversionary tactic for drug smugglers on the Border. Better not happen again! We are now sending ARMED SOLDIERS to the Border. Mexico is not doing nearly enough in apprehending & returning!” he tweeted.

The president’s tweets come after several Mexican military personnel reportedly questioned U.S Army soldiers who were on patrol duty near the border in Texas. Mexican soldiers reportedly pointed their weapons at U.S. troops during the encounter. The Mexican soldiers reportedly believed that the U.S. Army soldiers were on Mexican territory.

TRUMP TELLS CHILD AT EASTER EGG ROLL:  'THE WALL IS BEING BUILT NOW' 

The president of the National Border Patrol Council, Brandon Judd, said over the weekend that “these things don’t just happen by accident.”

“I don’t know one Border Patrol agent that is going to accept that story that the Mexican military thought that these national guardsmen were in Mexico,” Judd said on “Fox & Friends.” “We have hundreds upon hundreds incursions by the Mexican military into the U.S., yet we have very few incursions by Border Patrol agents into Mexico.”

Trump also warned Wednesday of a “very big” caravan and threatened, once again, to close part of the southern border.

“A very big Caravan of over 20,000 people started up through Mexico. It has been reduced in size by Mexico but is still coming. Mexico must apprehend the remainder or we will be forced to close that section of the Border & call up the Military. The Coyotes & Cartels have weapons!” the president tweeted early Wednesday.

Mexican immigration authorities are attempting to detain individuals who are part of the large caravan currently migrating north. On Monday, Mexican officials said 371 people were detained, in what was their largest single raid thus far on a migrant caravan since the groups started moving through the country last year.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the government is not letting migrants go wherever they please, but said that controls are for migrants’ security because human traffickers are allegedly infiltrated among the caravans.

“We don’t want for them to just have free passage, not just out of legal concerns but for questions of safety,” he said.

According to Mexican immigration authorities, Mexico has deported 11,800 migrants so far this month and is being more selective in who is given a visa, which allows a migrant to remain in the country and work.

VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: CONGRESS MUST ACT TO END THE CRISIS ON OUR BORDER

Trump has threatened for months to close the border if Mexico does not stop the flows of migrants, and if Congress does not act to end what he calls “loopholes” in immigration law that allow detained migrants to be released into the U.S. until a scheduled court date.

Earlier this month, Trump visited the border amid an escalating immigration crisis, lamenting that “our country is full” and warning potential migrants thinking about crossing into the U.S. that this country “can’t take you anymore.”

“Whether it’s asylum, whether it’s anything you want, its illegal immigration, can’t take you anymore. Our country is full, our area is full, the sector is full, can’t take you anymore. I’m sorry, can’t happen, so turn around—that’s the way it is,” Trump said at a roundtable in Calexico, California earlier this month.

The president has warned of a full-fledged crisis at the border for months. This week, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the total apprehensions at the border for 2019 surpassed the total apprehensions for 2018. CBP said that as of last week, Border Patrol had apprehended more than 418,000 migrants since the beginning of fiscal 2019. Along the southwest border, there have been more than 414,000 apprehensions so far this year, compared with 396,579 last fiscal year.

The border crisis comes amid a massive shakeup at the Department of Homeland Security. Earlier this month, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned. The president appointed then-CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan to replace her as acting secretary.

McAleenan has appointed John Sanders to serve as acting CBP commissioner; former head of the Transportation Security Administration David Pekoske to be his acting deputy secretary at DHS; and Patricia Cogswell as acting TSA administrator. The White House, earlier this month, announced that James M. Murray would become head of the U.S. Secret Service—replacing Randolph “Tex” Alles.

Fox News' Adam Shaw, Griff Jenkins, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News Politics

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The Latest: Defense asks for officer's acquittal on murder

The Latest on the homicide trial of a white Pennsylvania police officer in the shooting of an unarmed black 17-year-old (all times local):

12:30 p.m.

The lawyer for a white police officer charged with killing an unarmed black teenager is asking the judge for an acquittal on murder charges.

Former Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld shot and killed 17-year-old Antwon Rose after pulling over a car suspected to have been involved in a drive-by shooting minutes earlier.

Prosecutors charged Rosfeld with an open count of homicide, meaning the jury has the option of convicting him of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter.

Defense lawyer Patrick Thomassey asked the judge to clear Rosfeld of murder, saying prosecutors failed to show he acted with malice as required under the law. Thomassey made his motion after prosecutors rested their case.

The judge says he will rule later Thursday.

___

11:40 a.m.

A firearms analyst has matched one of the bullets recovered from the body of Antwon Rose II body to a gun fired by the white police officer who's on trial in the teenager's death.

Raymond Everett works for the Allegheny County medical examiner's office.

He testified Thursday at the homicide trial of former East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld, who fired three bullets into Rose after pulling over a car suspected to have been involved in a drive-by shooting minutes earlier.

The unarmed black 17-year-old had been a passenger in the car.

Rosfeld's lawyers say the shooting was justified.

Everett told jurors that two guns with extended magazines were recovered from the car.

The prosecution is expected to rest its case shortly.

___

10 a.m.

Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case against a white former East Pittsburgh police officer charged in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

Michael Rosfeld's trial continues Thursday for a third day in a Pittsburgh courtroom.

Rosfeld fired three bullets into 17-year-old Antwon Rose II in June after pulling over an unlicensed taxicab suspected to have been used in a drive-by shooting minutes earlier. Rose was a front-seat passenger in the cab and was shot as he fled.

After prosecutors rest their case, the defense is expected to call an expert witness on the use of deadly force.

In his opening statement earlier this week, defense attorney Patrick Thomassey said the area where the shooting happened is a high-crime area. He told jurors Rosfeld was "a policeman who did his duty."

___

3 a.m.

Prosecutors will call more witnesses to the stand in the trial of a white former East Pittsburgh police officer charged in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

Michael Rosfeld's trial continues Thursday into its third day in a Pittsburgh courtroom.

The first two days of testimony included compelling statements from witnesses and neighbors, one of whom said he heard Rosfeld panicking, repeatedly saying "I don't know why I shot him. I don't know why I fired."

Rosfeld fired three bullets into 17-year-old Antwon Rose II after pulling over an unlicensed taxicab suspected to have been used in a drive-by shooting minutes earlier. Rose was a front-seat passenger in the cab and was shot as he fled.

The trial is expected to take a week or more.

Source: Fox News National

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Former ICE acting director on border: ‘This is a crisis I’ve never seen before at this level’

Former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan, a Fox News contributor, said Tuesday that the situation at the southern border “is a crisis I've never seen before at this level.”

Homan, who served as acting ICE director under President Donald Trump from 2017-2018, made the comment on “America’s Newsroom” a day after Mexican police and immigration agents detained hundreds of Central American migrants in the largest single raid on a migrant caravan since the groups started moving through the country last year.

“I think it's a good thing that they're stepping up because I've been saying the criminal cartels are operating with impunity in Mexico,” said Homan.

FORMER ICE ACTING DIRECTOR DISCUSSES WHAT KEVIN MCALEENAN CAN ACCOMPLISH AS ACTING DHS BOSS 

“It is actually a crime in Mexico to commit alien smuggling trafficking, especially of women and children, so I'm glad Mexico is finally stepping up but I will hold my final judgment until I see, number one, will this be a sustained operation that’s going to continue? And number two, what are the results of these operations? Are they going to give them asylum in Mexico? Are they going to deport them back to their homeland? Or are they going to end up releasing them slowly only to make their way to the United States?"

He added, “I know we have CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) observers and advisers down there along with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), I just want to see what the result of this is and what the long-term implications are.”

Homan also told “America’s Newsroom” that according to figures released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Rio Grande Valley sector, more than 164,000 people were apprehended so far this fiscal year, which surpasses the total number of apprehensions in 2018. Also, on average, border patrol agents reportedly arrest more than 1100 people per day.

“I've done this for 34 years. I started in border patrol in 1984. This is the worst I've ever seen it,” said Homan in response to the latest figures.

KEVIN MCALEENAN, NEW ACTING DHS BOSS, HAS LONG RECORD IN BORDER SECURITY

Homan added that there have been years when agents arrested more than one million people but he said it’s important to note that 95 percent of those arrests were Mexican nationals who were processed and removed within an hour.

“When I was a border patrol agent, I caught the same alien three or four times in one shift. So that million wasn’t really a million, it was probably a half a million just entering multiple times,” said Homan.

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“But this by far is the worst I’ve ever seen it because this one million people, they’re coming and they’re not going home cause they're taking advantage of the asylum laws, they could take years to get them removed. This is a crisis I've never seen before at this level.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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A worker walks on the roof of a new home under construction in Carlsbad
FILE PHOTO: A worker walks on the roof of a new home under construction in Carlsbad, California September 22, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. economy is growing at a 2.08% annualized pace in the second quarter based on upbeat data on durable goods orders and new home sales in March, the New York Federal Reserve’s Nowcast model showed on Friday.

This was faster than the 1.92% growth rate calculated by the N.Y. Fed model the week before.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Extraordinary European Union leaders summit in Brussels
FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrives at an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels, Belgium April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday he had assured China’s Huawei Technologies that it would not face discrimination in the rollout of Italy’s 5G telecoms network.

Conte was speaking on a visit to China where he said he met Huawei’s chief executive, Ren Zhengfei. The prime minister’s comments were carried in Italy by TV broadcaster Sky Italia.

“I told him that we have adopted some precautions, some measures to protect our interests that demand very high levels of security … not only from Huawei but any company entering into the 5G arena,” he said.

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

(Writing by by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Angelo Amante)

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) – President Donald Trump on Friday was expected to announce his intention to revoke the United States’ status as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty, which was signed in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama but never ratified by Congress, two U.S. officials said.

Trump was expected to announce the decision in a speech in Indianapolis, to the National Rifle Association, the officials said. The NRA, a powerful gun lobby group, has long been opposed to the treaty, which was negotiated at the United Nations.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott)

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A remote controlled robot for the 'Isotopium: Chernobyl' game is seen at the game's location in Brovary
A remote controlled robot for the ‘Isotopium: Chernobyl’ game is seen at the game’s location in Brovary, Ukraine April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

April 26, 2019

By Margaryta Chornokondratenko

KIEV (Reuters) – A Ukrainian computer game that brings to life a town abandoned after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster may not sound like everyone’s idea of fun but has attracted 60,000 people globally since its launch in October.

Players of “Isotopium: Chernobyl” drive tanks around the ghost town of Prypyat near Chernobyl, knocking out competitors as they search for an energy source called isotopium and collecting points every time they find some.

While the game takes its theme from the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine, which marked its 33rd anniversary on Friday, it was also inspired by the 2009 science fiction film “Avatar”.

Newcomers to the game think they have entered a virtual world when in fact they are controlling a real robot, equipped with a camera and computer, which makes its way around a model of the town rendered down to the tiniest detail.

“When playing our game, for the first 5-10 minutes many players don’t understand that it is not fictional,” said the game’s co-founder Sergey Beskrestnov. “They message us saying: ‘You have cool texture, you have good graphics, your designer is good, well done. You have a cool operating system.’

“People then reply: ‘It is not an operating system, it is real,’ and the player can’t believe it is real,” said Beskrestnov, speaking mid-game from Prypyat city square as he towers over surrounding five-storey buildings.

Kiev-born Beskrestnov was just 12 years old when on April 26, 1986 a botched test at the nuclear plant in the then Soviet Union sent clouds of smoldering nuclear material across large swathes of Europe, forced over 50,000 people, including Beskrestnov’s family, to evacuate and poisoned unknown numbers of workers involved in its clean-up.

Beskrestnov and his partner Alexey Fateyev used Google maps and hundreds of pictures from the Chernobyl area to recreate Prypyat landmarks, including residential buildings, a hotel, concert hall, amusement park and a stadium.

The game’s real-scale model occupies a 180 square meter (1,938 sq. ft) basement of a residential building in the Ukraine city of Brovary, just 150 km (93 miles) from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and 30 km east of Kiev.

Miniature radioactivity warning signs, graffiti on the walls of abandoned buildings and tables and chairs left scattered inside a small cafe all add to the creepy atmosphere of a once lively town.

“It’s a really neat concept …,” Shaun Prescott wrote in a review of the game published by PC Gamer magazine in January. “Controlling the tanks is kinda cumbersome, but they are tanks, after all.”

An attentive player will notice at least one inaccuracy – the real Chernobyl nuclear power plant is not located in town as it is in the game.

It costs $9 to immerse in the atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic town for an hour but only 20 people at a time can play simultaneously. Beskrestnov’s company, Remote Games, said 62,615 people around the world have registered to play the game, including around 15,000 in France and 10,000 in the United States.

A camera fixed on top of a moving tank broadcasts high quality signal in real time, allowing players from as far apart as Australia and Canada enjoy the game without facing any time delay in delivering video signals.

Its creators next ambition is to devise a game featuring the colonization of Mars in which 1,000 people will be able to simultaneously control robots on different missions involved in the operation.

“Many people advise us to contact Elon Musk directly because it resonates his dreams and ideas,” Beskrestnov jokes.    

(Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks sign is show on one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California
FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks sign is show on one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 19,2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Initial optimism over first-quarter results from Starbucks Corp was waning fast on Wall Street on Friday, as analysts questioned the longer-term prospects of its new sales push given subdued overall customer traffic numbers especially in China.

The company on Thursday beat brokerage estimates for quarterly same-store sales on the back of demand for its new Cloud Macchiato, Matcha tea and cold brews in the United States.

However, BTIG’s Peter Saleh was one of a number of sector analysts who said while customers forking out for higher-priced new drinks had helped drive growth in same-store sales, “anemic” traffic at cafes remained a concern.

He and others pointed to a 1 percent decline in footfall at cafes in the Chinese market, viewed as crucial to the chain’s growth for the foreseeable future.

More broadly, transaction numbers, the substitute analysts use for customer traffic, were unchanged in all three of the company’s global regions.

Shares in the company, which hit a record high after the results on Thursday, fell 1 percent in morning trade.

“We remain cautious given near-term headwinds surrounding China, including cannibalization, increasing competition (and) a slowing economy,” Wedbush analyst Nick Setyan said.

Starbucks has also poured money into beefing up its delivery network in China as it battles with local startup Luckin Coffee, whose speedy growth led it to file for an IPO in the United States earlier this week.

New menu items and partnerships with delivery services, the heart of the company’s strategy to win back customers lost to artisanal coffee shops and cheaper fast-food rivals, did help Starbucks’ sales in its home market.

However, analysts said growth in China may continue to be subdued.

Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog said she expects store expansion in China to take priority over comparable sales growth.

She downgraded her rating on Starbucks’ to “market perform” from “outperform”, arguing that the company facing tough sales comparisons later on in 2019 from last year and the current rich valuation of shares meant the stock had limited room to rise.

“Investors will be hesitant to invest new money in a stock with a topline that, while still strong, is unlikely to meaningfully accelerate,” Herzog said.

Still, the company’s solid same-store growth in the United States, improving profit margins and a lower tax rate for the rest of the year led at least 6 Wall Street brokerages to raise their price targets on the stock to as high as $81.

11 of 29 brokerages rate Starbucks “buy” or higher, 17 “hold” and 1 “sell” or lower. Their median price target is $75.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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