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Coexistence in a ‘danger’ zone: An inside look at Israeli settlement in the West Bank

Now that Benjamin Netanyahu is set to serve a fifth term as Israel’s prime minister, he could extend Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank -- something he promised to do if re-elected. The move would put an end to decades of Israel’s policy recognizing that the lands it seized in the Six-Day War in 1967 would be part of a negotiated settlement with Palestinians.

Netanyahu made the promise during the final stretch of his election campaign, as he competed for votes with right-wing parties that support annexing part of the West Bank.

David Ha’ivri is a Jewish resident of Kfar Tapuach, an Israeli settlement in Samaria, which is located in the area also known as the West Bank. Ha’ivri said he was “very happy” that Netanyahu is heading toward a record fifth term in office, especially because in interviews in the days before the election, Netanyahu vowed to begin annexing Israeli settlements in the West Bank if re-elected.

According to The Times of Israel, Netanyahu’s pledge came a day after he said on Israel’s Channel 13 news that he told President Trump that he would not evacuate “a single person” from any of the settlements.

NETANYAHU SAYS IF RE-ELECTED HE WILL EXTEND ISRAELI SOVEREIGNTY OVER WEST BANK

If Netanyahu follows through on the promise, it would mark a dramatic development and potentially destroy the already diminishing hope for Palestinian statehood.

Ahmed Majdalani, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Palestinians will seek the help of the international community to try to block plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

The West Bank is currently home to about 2.8 million Palestinian Arabs and 400,000 Jewish residents in 127 communities commonly referred to as settlements. Israel took control of the land in 1967 and allowed Jewish settlers to move in, but Palestinians consider the West Bank illegally occupied Palestinian land.

Ha'ivri and his wife have lived in the Israeli settlement Kfar Tapuach for nearly three decades and raised their eight children there. Neither he nor the 220 Jewish families in the village are welcome in the Palestinian controlled communities, including the one that is a short walk from his home called Yasuf. The entrance to the Arab village, which is under complete control of the Palestinian Authority, has a sign that reads, “This Road Leads to Palestinian Village The Entrance For Israeli Citizens Is Dangerous."

Sign outside the Arab village of Yasuf

Sign outside the Arab village of Yasuf

"It's very unfortunate that there are people who don't want us to live here. This is our home, this is our homeland. This is where the Jewish people need to be," said Ha'ivri.

He thinks it's important to live in the place where his ancestors have lived continuously for thousands of years. It is a feeling shared by many other Jewish people in Samaria including Eliyahu Hillel who owns Kabir Winery in Elon Moreh, an Orthodox Jewish Israeli settlement.

SHOOTING NEAR WEST BANK SETTLEMENT KILLS AT LEAST 2 ISRAELIS

“I’m living in the Bible. For me, the Bible is not history. It’s actuality, it’s present,” said Hillel, whose primary language is Hebrew.

He has lived in Elon Moreh for 35 years and raised his six kids in the Israeli settlement.

Hillel said he doesn’t mind having Palestinians as neighbors.

"It's not dangerous here. It's really, really paradise here,” said Hillel.

When asked if he ever feels like his family is in danger he answered, “Not very, not very."

ISRAELI ARMY PROBES SHOOTING DEATH OF WEST BANK PALESTINIAN

In addition to the wineries, there are many factories in Samaria. Israelis are not permitted to work in Palestinian controlled territories but, according to local officials, most of the factory workers are Palestinian at the three industrial parks in Israeli-controlled Samaria.

"This (is an) injection molding factory named ‘Twitoplast,’ we do all the product(s) for the air condition business," said Moshe Lev-ran, Twitoplast’s Export Manager, as he described the factory which is in an industrial zone in Samaria called Barkan. He said the factory has about 150 employees and half are Palestinian.

When a Palestinian employee was asked if he likes working at Twitoplast he said "yes," adding that he doesn’t mind working with Jewish people. The employee doesn’t speak English and when asked in Hebrew if there are any problems he answered, “I am supposed to bring food for my kids, what am I supposed to do?”

Sofian Dagger is a Palestinian employee at Twitoplast, an Israeli plastics company in the West Bank. 

Sofian Dagger is a Palestinian employee at Twitoplast, an Israeli plastics company in the West Bank. 

Sofian Dagger, the plant manager, is also Palestinian. He has been working at Twitoplast for 20 years. He also does not speak English and when asked in Hebrew how it is for him to work in a factory with Jewish people and Arabs together he said, “We work together, it’s fine.”

When asked if he ever encounters any problems working for an Israeli company he said in Hebrew, “None at all. All my brothers, I have seven brothers, they all work for Jewish people.”

Dagger says he chose to work at Twitoplast because “the money is good," adding that the salary is better than any other place in the area. Dagger said that his son also works at the factory for the same reason.

According to Lev-ran, Twitoplast employees earn about 15-hundred dollars a month, which is more than double the wages of those employed in the Palestinian Authority, or PA governed areas. Palestinian employees at the factory also get benefits like social security, which Lev-ran said, they wouldn't receive if they worked in areas governed by the PA.

Since Israelis and Palestinians work well together at Twitoplast, Dagger wonders why there can’t be peace everywhere.

Sofian Dagger, Palestinian employee at Twitoplast 

Sofian Dagger, Palestinian employee at Twitoplast 

“I am asking everyone that there will be peace for everyone in the whole world. Not just in Israel, not just in Palestine, not just in America. We need peace, for the sake of the children. It’s a shame to have wars, it’s a shame,” said Dagger.

When asked if he thinks peace can be achieved he said, “Why not? It can happen.”

Lev-ran said he hopes Twitoplast proves that Palestinians and Israelis can coexist. He thinks peace will come when Palestinians prosper.

"A Palestinian that wake(s up) at 4 o'clock in the morning to come to work. He think(s) only one thing, how to bring food to his kids, that's what he think(s). He doesn't think how to kill me,” said Lev-ran. “So they ask me if I'm not worried when I come here to work. I'm not worried at all, we don't carry weapons here. I'm more worried in my Kibbutz (a communal settlement in Israel), which is near Gaza that I have 30 seconds to run to the shelter house when they shoot me a rocket, the Hamas. But if I provide the people in Gaza Strip work, they will fight against the Hamas and nobody will shoot me a rocket."

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When asked what he thinks about a company like Twitoplast, where Palestinians and Israelis work together, Ha'ivri answered, “I think that that is wonderful and I think that many people outside of this area are not aware of those facts on the ground.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. The video for this story was shot and edited by Talia Kaplan. Lexi Baker contributed to the filming of this piece. Stock footage provided by Pond5 and Shutterstock. Song: “The Legitimates” by Lionel Cohen.

Source: Fox News World

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Amazon Japan raises Prime membership fee for first time in 11 years

FILE PHOTO: File photo of Amazon.com's logo at Amazon Japan's office building in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO: Amazon.com's logo is seen at Amazon Japan's office building in Tokyo, Japan, August 8, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

April 12, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc’s Japanese unit raised the membership fee for its Prime service by 26 percent on Friday, the first such hike since it was launched in the country 11 years ago.

The new annual Prime membership fee is 4,900 yen ($43.86) versus 3,900 yen previously, Amazon said in a statement. The e-commerce giant did not provide a reason, but pointed to the growing number of services available to members.

Prime membership fees in Japan are far below the $119 annual fee in the United States, helping attract Japan’s thrifty consumers. The e-commerce giant has grown rapidly in Japan, exerting pressure on home-grown players like Rakuten.

While some companies are moving to hike prices in low inflation Japan due to rising labor and shipping costs, they risk being shunned by frugal consumers.

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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Swedbank report spotted anti-money-laundering breaches: Swedish TV

Construction workers push cart past Swedbank local headquarters building in Tallinn
Construction workers push cart past Swedbank local headquarters building in Tallinn, Estonia March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

March 26, 2019

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – An internal Swedbank report identified major breaches of anti-money laundering obligations involving its business in Estonia, Swedish public broadcaster SVT said on Tuesday after having seen a copy of the document.

Swedbank, which is the subject of a joint investigation by Swedish and Baltic regulators, said the draft report cited by SVT had been included in a wider external investigation which it announced last week and had been made available to authorities.

The Swedish bank conducted a review of its Estonian branch after a scandal at Danske Bank’s Estonian branch which was used to funnel some 200 billion euros ($227 billion) of suspicious payments between 2007 and 2015.

“Major breaches of AML (anti-money laundering) obligations identified in Swedbank Estonia,” SVT quoted the English summary of the report, written by the former deputy chief of Norway’s economic crimes authority, Erling Grimstad, as saying.

SVT said the report identified a number of failings including accepting customers posing a high risk of money laundering “despite the lack of information regarding beneficial owners, corporate structure, source of funds and the real nature and purpose of the business relationship”.

”A significant number of the HRNR (high-risk, non-resident)customers should never have been onboarded,” the report said.

Swedbank also failed to report suspicious transactions and activities, the report said.

Swedbank said in a statement on Tuesday it was continuing to conduct a deeper analysis of the information and working with external partners and authorities in investigating the money laundering allegations.

Shares in the bank were up 0.7 percent at 1412 GMT.

Swedish Television reported allegations last month that 50 clients transferred at least 40 billion Swedish crowns ($4.3 billion) between Baltics accounts at Swedbank and Danske Bank between 2007 and 2015.

Swedbank said last week it would continue to strengthen its anti money-laundering capabilities, saying it had flagged some 3,800 suspicious transactions to local authorities in the Baltics in 2017 and 2018, while business dealings with 886 non-resident customers had been terminated in the region.

The Swedbank board has also backed its chief executive Birgitte Bonnesen, who was chief audit executive at Swedbank between 2009 and 2011, a job which included overseeing the bank’s anti-money laundering policy.

Bonnesen then moved on to run the lender’s Baltic operations until 2014.

Swedish pension fund manager Alecta, which as a roughly 5 percent stake in Swedbank, said on Tuesday it was not satisfied with the board’s handling of the money-laundering investigation and called on it to increase transparency as soon as possible.

Alecta said the board needed strengthening and that the nomination committee had put forward Karin Hermansson, a former chief executive of the Swedish Securities Dealers Association, as an extra member of the board.

“Trust in the bank is damaged and therefore the nomination committee has now begun work on strengthening the board,” Alecta chief executive Magnus Billing said in a statement.

(Reporting by Simon Johnson, Johan Ahlander, Esha Vaish and Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Alexander Smith and Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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China says Silk Road not geopolitical tool, understands concerns

Man walks past a flower installation set up for the upcoming Belt and Road Forum in front of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing
A man walks past a flower installation set up for the upcoming Belt and Road Forum in front of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing, China April 18, 2019. Picture taken April 18, 2019. Jia Tianyong/CNS via REUTERS

April 19, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Belt and Road project is not a “geopolitical tool” or a debt crisis for participating nations, but Beijing welcomes constructive suggestions on how to address concerns over the initiative, the government’s top diplomat said on Friday.

Beijing will host a Belt and Road summit next week which 37 foreign leaders will attend, including some of China’s closest allies, though the United States which has been critical of the project is only sending low level representatives.

The Belt and Road Initiative, as it is formally called, is a key initiative of President Xi Jinping, and envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with massive infrastructure spending.

But it has proved controversial in many Western capitals, particularly Washington, which views it as merely a means to spread Chinese influence abroad and saddle countries with unsustainable debt through nontransparent projects.

The United States has been particularly critical of Italy’s decision to sign up to the plan last month, during Xi’s visit to Rome, the first for a G7 nation.

Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi, the government’s top diplomat, told reporters that the Belt and Road scheme had brought real benefits to participating countries.

“This partnership relationship is not a geopolitical tool, but a platform for cooperation,” he said.

“You can’t put hats like ‘debt crises’ onto the head of the Belt and Road, and this is not something any participating country would recognize,” Wang added.

“Of course, there is a development process for the Belt and Road. You can’t get there in one step, and it’s unavoidable it will cause some worries during its development. So we welcome all sides to come up with constructive suggestions,” he said.

CLOSE ALLIES COMING

The number of foreign leaders at the April 25-27 summit is up from 29 last time, mainly from China’s closest allies like Pakistan and Russia but also Italy, Switzerland and Austria.

The United States will not send high-level officials, a U.S. State Department spokesman said earlier this month, citing concerns about financing practices for the initiative.

Wang said there would be Americans at the summit, made up of diplomats, state-level officials, executives and academics, though he did not give details.

“We welcome any country that is interested to take part. When the United States participates, or whether it participates, is up to them to decide,” he added.

While the United States and China are currently working to end a bitter trade war, they have numerous other areas of disagreement, including human rights and U.S. support for self-ruled Taiwan.

China on Monday condemned as “slanderous” criticism U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made of Beijing’s policies in South America last week.

“The United States has no plans to send high-level officials from Washington to the Belt and Road Forum,” a U.S. Embassy in Beijing spokesman said.

“We call upon all countries to ensure that their economic diplomacy initiatives adhere to internationally-accepted norms and standards, promote sustainable, inclusive development, and advance good governance and strong economic institutions.”

At the first Belt and Road summit two years ago, the United States submitted a diplomatic note to China complaining about North Korea’s participation, though since then Washington and Pyongyang have sought to re-set ties, including with two summits between their leaders.

Wang said North Korea would also take part in this year’s summit, but gave no further details.

“I think this is normal as it’s an economic cooperation initiative. All countries have the freedom to attend, but I think they don’t have the right to prevent any other country from participating. This is an open, inclusive platform.”

More than 150 countries are sending delegations, and there will be some 5,000 guests, Wang said.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Michael Perry)

Source: OANN

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Brennan the Menace

Brennan the Menace

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

John Brennan was nervous. Under intense questioning by Representative Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) in May 2017, Brennan squirmed and stammered and twirled his pen as Gowdy demanded to know why the former CIA chief concluded in mid-2016 that the Trump campaign was conspiring with the Russians to manipulate the outcome of the presidential election.

Read Full Article »

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1 dead, 2 barricaded amid standoff at New Hampshire hotel

New Hampshire's attorney general's office says a man has been killed in an officer-involved shooting with police and Drug Enforcement Agency agents at a hotel. Two people remain barricaded in a first-floor room.

Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati identified the man killed as 51-year-old Stephen Marshall, of Manchester, in a news conference early Thursday. Agati says the shooting happened at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Quality Inn in Manchester, near Interstate 293 in a busy area that includes a shopping mall.

Marshall was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police had evacuated the hotel and a nearby restaurant.

No officers were hurt.

Officials say there is still an active standoff going on between officers and the two people barricaded in the hotel room as of Thursday morning.

Source: Fox News National

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Swiss National Bank unites economists in expecting rate freeze: Reuters Poll

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is pictured next to the Swiss Federal Palace in Bern
FILE PHOTO: The Swiss National Bank (SNB) is pictured next to the Swiss Federal Palace (Bundeshaus) in Bern, Switzerland December 7, 2018. Picture taken December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

March 19, 2019

ZURICH (Reuters) – The Swiss National Bank will leave its ultra-loose policy alone on Thursday, said all the economists polled by Reuters, and most don’t expect any change until at least 2021.

All 32 economists polled by Reuters expect SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan to maintain the bank’s negative interest rates and readiness to intervene in currency markets to restrain the safe-haven Swiss franc.

They expect the SNB to keep its target range for the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) locked at -1.25 to -0.25 percent, the same level since it ditched its minimum exchange rate of 1.20 Swiss francs to the euro four years ago.

None of the respondents expect any change until the end of this year, especially in view of the European Central Bank’s slowing of its own policy normalization. Most forecast it will come in 2021 at the earliest.

“We do not expect the SNB to change interest rates before the end of 2020. In fact, if we are correct in our assessment that the ECB will be forced to re-start QE next year, upward pressure on the franc – and SNB concerns about deflation – are likely to intensify into 2020,” said Jack Allen at Capital Economics.

“This means the SNB may have to delve into its toolbox to ease policy next year,” Allen said. He thinks the SNB might take rates even further into negative territory if necessary.

There was also no disagreement about the negative interest rate the SNB charges on sight deposits. All the economists expect -0.75 percent to be maintained this week.

All but one expected the bank to retain its description of the franc as “highly valued”. That one expected it will be described as “significantly overvalued”. The franc has gained 3 percent against the euro in the last 12 months to trade around 1.1360.

A strong franc weighs on Switzerland’s export-reliant economy and also adds deflationary pressure. The SNB is expected to cut its 2019 inflation forecast on Thursday from its current view of 1 percent.

The SNB will have to wait at least until the ECB starts its monetary policy tightening — now delayed to 2020 at the earliest — before it begins its own path to normalization, analysts said.

“Pressure on the SNB is mounting from two sides: on the one hand, the financial industry and pension funds are increasingly coming under pressure, which puts pressure on the SNB to end the negative interest rate phase as early as possible,” said Alessandro Bee at UBS.

“On the other hand, the weakness in European growth and the various political risks lead to a higher risk of a Swiss franc appreciation. The SNB is between a rock and a hard place.”

(Reporting by John Revill, polling by Manjul Paul and Richa Rebello, editing by Larry King)

Source: OANN

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Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta
Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta, Cyprus, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Stefanos Kouratzis

April 26, 2019

NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cypriot police searched on Friday for more victims of a suspected serial killer, in a case which has shocked the Mediterranean island and exposed the authorities to charges of “criminal indifference” because the dead women were foreigners.

The main opposition party, the left-wing AKEL, called for the resignation of Cyprus’s justice minister and police chief.

Police were combing three different locations west of the capital Nicosia for victims of the suspected killer, a 35-year-old army officer who has been in detention for a week.

The bodies of three women, including two thought to be from the Philippines, have been recovered. Police sources said the suspect had indicated the location of the third body, found on Thursday, and had said the person was “either Indian or Nepali”.

Police said they were searching for a further four people, including two children, based on the suspect’s testimony.

“These women came here to earn a living, to help their families. They lived away from their families. And the earth swallowed them, nobody was interested,” AKEL lawmaker Irene Charalambides told Reuters.

“This killer will be judged by the court but the other big question is the criminal indifference shown by the others when the reports first surfaced. I believe, as does my party, that the justice minister and the police chief should resign. They are irrevocably exposed.”

Police have said they will investigate any perceived shortcomings in their handling of the case.

One person who did attempt to alert the authorities over the disappearances, a 70-year-old Cypriot citizen, said his motives were questioned by police.

The bodies of the two Filipino women reported missing in May and August 2018 were found in an abandoned mine shaft this month. Police discovered the body of the third woman at an army firing range about 14 km (9 miles) from the mine shaft.

Police are now searching for the six-year-old daughter of the first victim found, a Romanian mother who disappeared with her eight-year-old child in 2016, and a woman from the Phillipines who vanished in Dec. 2017.

The suspect has not been publicly named, in line with Cypriot legal practice.

A public vigil for the missing was planned later on Friday.

(Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard
FILE PHOTO: An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard, Britain December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 26, 2019

LONDON, April 26 – British factories stockpiled raw materials and goods ahead of Brexit at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s, and they were increasingly downbeat about their prospects, a survey showed on Friday.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly survey of the manufacturing industry showed expectations for export orders in the next three months fell to their lowest level since mid-2009, when Britain was reeling from the global financial crisis.

The record pace of stockpiling recorded by the CBI was mirrored by the closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index published earlier this month.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

Source: OANN

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo

April 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.

The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.

Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.

But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.

Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.

High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.

It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.

Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.

“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.

The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.

Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.

Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.

Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.

Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.

This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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The German share price index DAX graph at the stock exchange in Frankfurt
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Staff

April 26, 2019

By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh

(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Friday after losses in heavyweight banks and Glencore outweighed gains in healthcare and auto stocks, while investors remained on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data for the first quarter.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent by 0935 GMT, eyeing a modest loss at the end of a holiday-shortened week. Banks-heavy Italian and Spanish indices were laggards.

The banking index fell for a fourth day, at the end of a heavy earnings week for lenders.

Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after posting lower first quarter profit, hurt by intensifying competition and Brexit uncertainty, while its investment bank also registered poor returns.

Weakness in investment banking also dented Deutsche Bank’s quarterly trading revenue and sent its shares lower a day after the German bank abandoned merger talks with smaller rival Commerzbank.

“The current interest rate environment makes it challenging for banks to make proper earnings because of their intermediary function,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist eurozone, at Rabobank.

Since the start of April, all country indexes were on pace to rise between 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, their fourth month of gains, while Germany was strongly outperforming with 6 percent growth.

“For now the current sentiment is very cautious as markets wait for the first estimates of the U.S. GDP growth which could see a surprise,” Mevissen said.

U.S. economic data for the first-quarter is due at 1230 GMT. Growth worries outside the United States resurfaced this week after South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted at the start of the year and weak German business sentiment data for April also disappointed.

Among the biggest drags on the benchmark index in Europe were the basic resources sector and the oil and gas sector, weighed down by Britain’s Glencore and France’s Total, respectively.

Glencore dropped after reports that U.S authorities were investigating whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the commodity exchange act.

Energy major Total said its net profit for the first three months of the year fell compared with a year ago due to volatile oil prices and debt costs.

Chip stocks in the region including Siltronic, Ams and STMicroelectronics lost more than 1 percent after Intel Corp reduced its full-year revenue forecast, adding to concerns that an industry-wide slowdown could persist until the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, healthcare, which is also seen as a defensive sector, was a bright spot. It was helped by French drugmaker Sanofi after it returned to growth with higher profits and revenues for the first-quarter.

Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES led media stocks higher after it maintained its full-year outlook on the back of the company’s Networks division.

Automakers in the region rose 0.4 percent, led by Valeo’s 6 percent jump as the French parts maker said its performance would improve in the second half of the year.

Continental AG advanced after it backed its outlook for the year despite reporting a fall in first-quarter earnings.

Renault rose more than 3 percent as it clung to full-year targets and pursues merger talks with its Japanese partner Nissan.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones and Elaine Hardcastle)

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

By Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan

(Reuters) – The “i word” – impeachment – is swirling around the U.S. Congress since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted Russia report, which painted a picture of lies, threats and confusion in Donald Trump’s White House.

Some Democrats say trying to remove Trump from office would be a waste of time because his fellow Republicans still have majority control of the Senate. Other Democrats argue they have a moral obligation at least to try to impeach, even though Mueller did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election or with obstruction of justice.

Whether or not the Democrats decide to go down this risky path, here is how the impeachment process works.

WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?

The U.S. Constitution says the president can be removed from office by Congress for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Exactly what that means is unclear.

Before he became president in 1974, replacing Republican Richard Nixon who resigned over the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”

Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and author of a forthcoming book on the history of impeachment, said Congress could look beyond criminal laws in defining “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Historically, it can encompass corruption and other abuses, including trying to obstruct judicial proceedings.

HOW DOES IMPEACHMENT PLAY OUT?

The term impeachment is often interpreted as simply removing a president from office, but that is not strictly accurate.

Impeachment technically refers to the 435-member House of Representatives approving formal charges against a president.

The House effectively acts as accuser – voting on whether to bring specific charges. An impeachment resolution, known as “articles of impeachment,” is like an indictment in a criminal case. A simple majority vote is needed in the House to impeach.

The Senate then conducts a trial. House members act as the prosecutors, with senators as the jurors. The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides over the trial. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the 100-member Senate to convict and remove a president from office.

No president has ever been removed from office as a direct result of an impeachment and conviction by Congress.

Nixon quit in 1974 rather than face impeachment. Presidents Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were impeached by the House, but both stayed in office after the Senate acquitted them.

Obstruction of justice was one charge against Clinton, who faced allegations of lying under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Obstruction was also included in the articles of impeachment against Nixon.

CAN THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN?

No.

Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene if Democrats tried to impeach him. But America’s founders explicitly rejected making a Senate conviction appealable to the federal judiciary, Bowman said.

“They quite plainly decided this is a political process and it is ultimately a political judgment,” Bowman said.

“So when Trump suggests there is any judicial remedy for impeachment, he is just wrong.”

PROOF OF WRONGDOING?

In a typical criminal court case, jurors are told to convict only if there is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” a fairly stringent standard.

Impeachment proceedings are different. The House and Senate “can decide on whatever burden of proof they want,” Bowman said. “There is no agreement on what the burden should be.”

PARTY BREAKDOWN IN CONGRESS?

Right now, there are 235 Democrats, 197 Republicans and three vacancies in the House. As a result, the Democratic majority could vote to impeach Trump without any Republican votes.

In 1998, when Republicans had a House majority, the chamber voted largely along party lines to impeach Clinton, a Democrat.

The Senate now has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with Democrats. Conviction and removal of a president would requires 67 votes. So that means for Trump to be impeached, at least 20 Republicans and all the Democrats and independents would have to vote against him.

WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED?

A Senate conviction removing Trump from office would elevate Vice President Mike Pence to the presidency to fill out Trump’s term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2021.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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