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German cabinet agrees Weidmann can extend term at Bundesbank for eight years

German Bundesbank President Weidmann delivers a speech during a dinner of the Hellenic Bank Association in Athens
German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann delivers a speech during a dinner of the Hellenic Bank Association in Athens, Greece, August 30, 2018. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

February 27, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – The German cabinet gave the green light on Wednesday for Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann to extend his term for another eight years, a government source said.

Weidmann’s first term expires at the end of April and the cabinet’s decision paves the way for him to stay for a second term.

The extension would in theory keep Weidmann in the mix as a possible successor to ECB chief Mario Draghi, whose job will become available at the end of October, though Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau is seen as frontrunner.

(Reporting by Holger Hansen; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Madeline Chambers)

Source: OANN

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Kushner Peace Plan Delayed Until June

White House adviser Jared Kushner's Mideast peace plan is reportedly coming out two months later than expected.

In an address Wednesday to about 100 global ambassadors at Blair House near the White House, President Donald Trump's son-in-law said the peace plan will be released after the Islamic month of Ramadan ends June 4, Reuters reported.

The information was confirmed in a tweet from Jason Greenblatt, Trump's current special representative for international negotiations.

In February, Kushner said the unveiling would happen after Israel's April 9 legislative election, which was won by parties that support incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The peace plan has two components, Reuters reported: A political piece that addresses core political issues such as the status of Jerusalem, and an economic part aimed to help the Palestinians strengthen their economy.

It is unclear if the plan will propose the creation of a Palestinian state, the Palestinians' core demand, the news agency reported.

Source: NewsMax America

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U.S., China Trade Talks Expected to Resume in Washington Next Week

U.S., China Trade Talks Expected to Resume in Washington Next Week

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:48 AM PT — Sat. Feb. 16, 2019

In an effort to end the ongoing trade war, trade talks between the U.S. and China are slated to continue in Washington D.C. next week.

On Friday, White House officials said the two sides plan to resume discussions to reach an agreement prior to the March 1st deadline.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, second from left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping as U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, left, and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, right, look on before their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, Pool)

The Washington talks are expected to be led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, along with China’s Vice Premier and Chief Trade Negotiator.

This comes after President Trump floated the idea of extending the deadline if it will bring the nations closer to a deal and prevent tariffs from rising on Chinese goods.

Meanwhile, tariffs are expected to increase from 10% to 25% if no deal is reached.

Source: OANN Top News

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Exclusive: Kids’ camp on a defense base? How Russian firms masked secret military work

russia
Map showing the location of military camps near the settlement of Molkino in southern Russia. REUTERS/Maps4News/Reuters Graphics

April 4, 2019

By Rinat Sagdiev, Anton Zverev and Maria Tsvetkova

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Behind the perimeter of a defense ministry base in southern Russia stand three barrack buildings where two witnesses say they have seen private fighters being billeted before they are dispatched to fight in Syria for President Bashar al-Assad.

Yet on paper, the barracks have nothing to do with the Russian defense ministry: court documents list them as a children’s vacation camp.

And the construction of the buildings was commissioned by an obscure private company, Megalain, without the publicly available paper trail that is legally required for projects funded by public money.

Megalain is a firm linked to Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has appeared on a U.S. sanctions blacklist for his dealings with the Russian defense ministry.

Reuters was unable to establish Prigozhin’s role, if any, in the construction project and could not determine how Megalain was selected to build the facility or who paid for it.

But the secrecy surrounding the purpose of the buildings erected on defense ministry land is an example of how companies involved in the covert campaign in Syria, where private fighters support Russia’s military, camouflage their activities.

That military intervention has been decisive in turning the tide of the war in favor of Moscow’s ally, Assad.

A significant part of the fighting is conducted by private military fighters who operate in coordination with the Russian defense ministry, dozens of people familiar with the deployment of Russian fighters to Syria have told Reuters.

The barracks near the village of Molkino in southern Russia were a staging post for these fighters, according to one person close to them who stayed in the buildings, and a second person who visited the site.

The person close to the fighters also said that a photograph shown to him by Reuters, which appeared on the website of one of the companies involved in the construction project, was of a building used by the fighters.

Russian military officials did not respond to a request for comment on the purpose of the facilities in Molkino.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the presidential administration knows nothing about the construction of the barracks and that “it was not our issue”.

Megalain did not respond to a written request for comment and there was no answer on any of the phone numbers listed for the firm.

Concord Management and Consulting, Prigozhin’s main business, said questions submitted by Reuters “have no relation to reality.”

“We consider the agency itself to be a biased media outlet,” it said.

PRIVATE FIGHTERS AND DENIALS

Reuters has documented over several years how private combatants are fighting and dying in Syria, and that they are using logistical support and infrastructure provided by the Russian defense ministry.

Russian officials have previously denied that these fighters have any connection to the state. They have said any Russians fighting in Syria on the government side are private citizens who are there as volunteers.

The buildings, completed in 2015, are on the territory of a Russian military intelligence base, and to gain access to it vehicles have to pass through a checkpoint manned by armed soldiers in defense ministry uniforms, Reuters reporters observed when they visited the site.

The existence of the buildings is disclosed in court documents seen by Reuters which describe a legal dispute between Megalain and a contractor called Sevzapstroi involved in the construction.

In its ruling, the court describes one of the buildings as a “pioneer camp” — a reference to Soviet-era summer vacation camps for children — and the other two buildings as temporary accommodation for the vacationers.

It cites an agreement between Sevzapstroi and TD Vivahaus, a sub-contractor on the project, as the source of the descriptions.

A manager from Vivahaus, a construction firm which court documents show was hired by Sevzapstroi to carry out some of the work, told Reuters it was required to fake the purpose of the buildings in official paperwork it filed relating to the project.

“We had an agreement with the client that we’d write it would be a beautiful pioneer camp near the Black Sea,” said the manager, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

He did not specify whether he was referring to his direct client Sevzapstroi or the ultimate client Megalain.

According to the court documents, Megalain transferred 86 million rubles ($1.4 million at the time) to contractor Sevzapstroi to construct the three buildings at Molkino.

Sevzapstroi has since ceased to exist and no one connected to the firm could be reached for comment.

At the time of the payment, Megalain was 50 percent owned by a company called Lakhta and 50 percent held by Concord Management and Consulting, according to Spark database, which collates official data on businesses from the tax service and the state statistics agency. 

Concord Management and Consulting was majority-owned by Prigozhin from 2003-2011, according to the database.

At the time of the transaction with the Molkino facility, Concord was owned by Prigozhin’s mother. She is not listed any more. From 2017, Prigozhin himself became the owner again, the database showed.

The second Megalain co-owner, Lakhta, was founded in 2003 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who at the time was the sole owner, the database showed.

Lakhta was owned from 2013 to 2018 by Svetlana Sobirova. She was sales manager of the Lakhta Park real estate project, which, according to Spark, is owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s wife, Lyubov.

Reached by telephone, Sobirova said she no longer works for Lakhta Park and declined to comment further. An employee of Lakhta Park said he could not comment and the firm did not respond to a written request for comment.

A manager for Vivahaus said on Thursday the firm could not comment because all the staff working in the company in 2015 had since left.

Reuters received no response to requests for comment sent to Prigozhin’s wife and mother, via Concord.

PICTURE OF BUILDING

Prigozhin was put on a U.S. sanctions blacklist in 2016 for “extensive” business dealings with the Russian defense ministry.

A U.S. federal grand jury last year indicted Prigozhin and 12 other Russians, alleging that he funded a conspiracy to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Prigozhin has in the past told Russian media he was not worried about the U.S. measures against him because he has no business interests in the United States and does not plan to travel there.

The U.S. State Department and the U.S. Treasury Department, which administers sanctions, did not respond to questions about Prigozhin.

TD Vivahaus’s internet site, in a section showing off its portfolio of work to prospective clients, had a picture of a building exactly matching one of the structures in the court documents.

The site said only that it was a “residential building” in Molkino, without giving details.

Reuters showed the photograph to one of the two witnesses, a person close to the group that organizes the private combatants and who has stayed at the group’s camp in Molkino.

He told Reuters the building in the photograph was part of the camp used for the fighters.

The second person visited the camp on two occasions last year when he was looking for information about his son, who left for Syria to fight with private combatants.

Later the father learned that he had died. The father also had a friend working for military intelligence at the camp adjacent to the barrack buildings.

The father described to Reuters the exact location of the facilities, and his description matched the location of the buildings paid for by Megalain.

“Children’s camp” on a Russian military base: https://tmsnrt.rs/2I4cXHN

(Editing by Christian Lowe and Mike Collett-White)

Source: OANN

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American Airlines indefinitely suspends flights to Venezuela

FILE PHOTO: People walk past an American Airlines logo at John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport in in New York
FILE PHOTO: People walk past an American Airlines logo on a wall at John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport in in New York November 27, 2013. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

March 28, 2019

(Reuters) – American Airlines Group Inc is indefinitely suspending its flights to Venezuela, as the country continues to struggle with political turmoil and unrest.

The airline will continue working with team members, union leaders and other key stakeholders to restart service when conditions are right, a company spokeswoman told Reuters on Thursday.

American Airlines had temporarily suspended its flights to the country earlier this month after its pilots union urged its workers to deny trips in the wake of a travel advisory issued by the U.S. State Department.

A number of airlines have stopped their flights to the South American country because of security concerns and disputes over money they say the Venezuelan government owes them.

(Reporting by Soundarya J in Bengaluru and Tracy Rucinski in Chicago; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

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Carrefour eyes 1,229 job cuts in French hypermarkets: union

The logo of Carrefour is seen on shopping trolleys at a Carrefour Hypermarket store in Toulouse
The logo of Carrefour is seen on shopping trolleys at a Carrefour Hypermarket store in Toulouse, France, March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

March 28, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – Carrefour plans to cut 1,229 jobs as it downsizes its large hypermarket stores in France under a plan to boost sales and profits at Europe’s largest retailer, the Force Ouvriere union told Reuters.

The plan, which is being discussed with the FO, CFDT and CFE-CGC unions, entails departures via a conventional collective bargaining agreement, said FO union representative Michel Enguelz.

Carrefour had earlier confirmed to Reuters that it was in talks over a conventional collective bargaining agreement, but the company did not specify any figures over possible job losses.

The likely cuts and downsizing will result from the removal of jewelry corners in hypermarkets, cuts among managers and automation of petrol stations.

Last month Carrefour, which has made reviving sales at its French hypermarket stores where it employs 60,000 people a priority, raised its savings goal to 2.8 billion euros ($3.2 billion) by 2020 from 2 billion previously.

In January 2018, Carrefour launched a five-year plan a year ago to cut costs, boost E-commerce investment and seek a partnership in China with tech giant Tencent.

The plan notably includes expanding into convenience stores to reduce exposure to large hypermarket stores and having a greater focus on organic products and private labels.

Carrefour achieved savings of 1.05 billion euros in 2018, the first year of the plan.

(Reporting by Pascale Denis and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

Source: OANN

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Can Trump block Twitter users whose views he dislikes? U.S. Appeals Court skeptical

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump participates in briefing on southern U.S. border in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a briefing on "drug trafficking on the southern border" in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

March 26, 2019

By Brendan Pierson

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Tuesday cast doubt on U.S. President Donald Trump’s ability to keep Twitter users whose political views he dislikes from responding to his own account, suggesting it might violate those users’ free speech rights.

Trump has made his @RealDonaldTrump Twitter account an integral and controversial part of his presidency, using it to promote his agenda, announce policy and attack critics.

He had blocked many critics from his account, which prevents them from directly responding to his tweets.

U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald ruled last May that this violated the users’ First Amendment rights, prompting Trump to unblock at least some of these accounts. The decision came in a lawsuit brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and several Twitter users.

A lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice, arguing for the president on Tuesday, urged three judges of the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan to overturn Buchwald’s decision.

While Trump does use his Twitter account for government business, it was not a public forum, the attorney, Jennifer Utrecht, told the judges.

When Judge Barrington Parker asked why blocking users for their political views did not violate the First Amendment, Utrecht said blocking was akin to Trump walking away from a person trying to talk to him on the street.

The judges had fewer questions for Jameel Jaffer, the lawyer for the plaintiffs.

Jaffer said that although Twitter is a private platform, Trump was effectively inviting the public to participate in an open forum by using it for government purposes.

“The whole point of Twitter is to facilitate interactions between users,” Jaffer said.

The individual plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Philip Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland; Holly Figueroa, described in the complaint as a political organizer and songwriter in Washington state, and Brandon Neely, a Texas police officer.

It is not known when the court will issue a ruling on the case.

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By Simon Jessop and Sinead Cruise

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sherborne declined to comment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Barclays has nearly 500 institutional shareholders, Refinitiv data showed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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

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

Ron Magill/Zoo Miami

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

Source: Fox News World

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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