Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

UK marketing spending rises despite Brexit, uncertainty clouds forecast: survey

FILE PHOTO: The Canary Wharf financial district is seen at dusk in London
FILE PHOTO: The Canary Wharf financial district is seen at dusk in London, Britain, March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Marika Kochiashvili/File Photo

April 16, 2019

(Reuters) – British companies spent more on marketing in the opening quarter of 2019 despite uncertainty around Brexit, but their budgets for the rest of the year could be the most subdued since after the financial crisis, a survey showed.

The IPA Bellwether survey, conducted by IHS Markit, showed on Wednesday that 21.6 percent of marketing executives raised their budgets during the quarter, while just under 12.8 percent of executives who took part in the survey cut their marketing budgets.

“This sharp increase following Q4 2018’s flatlining signals that UK marketing budgets have received a much-needed kiss of life in an economy gripped by Brexit uncertainty,” IPA Director General Paul Bainsfair said.

Bainsfair, however, added that the forecast for the year ahead was uncertain given the seemingly endless negotiations around Britain’s exit from the European Union.

The report showed that cautious undertones were still apparent in budget plans for the current financial year, with panelists providing only modest growth expectations in available marketing spend.

Brexit was postponed by a late-night agreement in Brussels last week that gave Prime Minister Theresa May until Oct. 31 to persuade parliament to approve the terms of the country’s departure.

“A return to growth in marketing budgets during the opening quarter of 2019 may come as a surprise given that the uncertainty that shrouds the UK political and economic climate has only built further,” said Joe Hayes, economist at IHS Markit.

A six-year run of marketing spending growth at British companies ended in the final quarter of 2018 as uncertainty over Brexit led companies to clamp down on costs.

While Brexit uncertainty continued to prompt belt tightening and a delay in decision-making, some companies pushed resources into their brands in the first quarter, the report showed.

The survey found that the best performing category was internet with its net balance seen at a growth of 17.2 percent in the quarter.

The rise in marketing spend was supported by demand for big ticket advertising campaigns such as those on TV and radio. The survey also flagged that marketing executives expect further growth in traditional media advertising through the year.

Around 300 UK marketing professionals, primarily from Britain’s top 1,000 companies and across all key business sectors, were interviewed for the survey.

(Reporting by Samantha Machado and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

0 0

Rep. John Garamendi: Trump can tackle immigration crisis by providing funding in Central America

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., has called on President Trump to provide more funding in key areas to help solve the illegal immigration problem at the southern border.

During an appearance on "America's Newsroom" on Wednesday, Garamendi argued that there are a number of solutions that can be undertaken to lessen the strain of illegal immigrants on America's resources, but the president has resisted implementing them.

Many Democrats, including Garamendi, believe one way to tackle the issue is to establish facilities in Central American countries where large numbers of immigrants are fleeing from, in order to process immigration and asylum claims before individuals reach the United States border, crossing illegally or facing months in detention while awaiting asylum trials.

"Legal ports of entry are understaffed - they don't have the facilities to handle the people. Everybody knows we need more judges so these cases don't linger for years and years. We know we need to have facilities to handle the people that are arrested," Garamendi said Wednesday.

REP. PETER KING: KEEPING ASYLUM-SEEKERS IN CUSTODY UNTIL HEARINGS IS WHAT 'HAS TO BE DONE'

DEPORTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WHOSE SPOUSE IS A FALLEN US SOLDIER ALLOWED REENTRY INTO US

"There was a proposal that we enhance and build in those countries facilities to pre-judge or to pre-appoint people who want to leave those countries. The president, I think, has made a mistake by withholding funding in the triangle countries of Central America. Those programs can over time diminish the reason why people leave those countries," he continued.

In response to an earlier Tuesday appearance by Rep, Peter King, R-N.Y., who said Democrats have repeatedly shut down attempts to reach common ground, Garamendi argued the claim is simply untrue.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"Last year, the Democrats proposed a major amount of money for border fencing and increasing the various ports of entry, providing new judges, all of those - ultimately the president rejected and we wound up with the shutdown," he said.

He and Rep. King have at least one opinion on immigration in common - both sides of the aisle need to work together to find compromises to solve the problem.

"What we need to do is work together - and we can," he concluded.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Bomb scare at British nuclear shipyard causes evacuations, search

A shipyard in Northern England that builds nuclear submarines has reportedly been evacuated after an anonymous tipster told officials a bomb had been placed on one of the vessels.

The port, located in Barrow-in-Furness, is used by BAE Systems, an international defense, security and aerospace company. An employee told The Mail all staff had been evacuated.

A spokesperson for BAE systems confirmed an incident took place and that one of the oldest docks at the shipyard, the Devonshire Dock Complex, had been closed.

BRUSSELS ARE CLOSE TO EU CLEARED AFTER BOMB ALERT

“We can confirm there is an ongoing incident at our Barrow site and we are liaising with Cumbria Police who are carrying out an investigation," the spokesperson said. “As a precaution, the Devonshire Dock complex has been closed. Staff, contractors and local residents are being kept informed.”

 CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Ambulances have reportedly been on site for several hours, but a spokesperson told The Guardian that there were no injuries.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

President Trump: 'Complete and Total Exoneration'

Celebrating "no collusion and no obstruction" as reported by Attorney General William Barr's summary of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, President Donald Trump claimed "complete and total exoneration."

"Collusion, the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," President Trump told the media before boarding Air Force One, leaving Florida's Mar-a-Lago during a weekend away from the White House. "No collusion and no obstruction.

"Complete and total exoneration." 

President Trump called the witch hunt of his administration and campaign "an illegal takedown that failed."

"It's a shame our country has had to go through this," he said. "It is a shame your president had to go through this."

President Trump also expressed hope "the other side of this" will be investigated, suggesting potential investigative abuses of FISA warrants and investigating the political opposition.

"The president was totally vindicated," Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani told Fox News after Trump's statement to the media. "And investigation by people who hate him."

Source: NewsMax Politics

0 0

Report Cheers Celebrities Discussing Faith in God

A new report highlights a growing trend in Hollywood: talking about faith in God.

Pepperdine University adjunct professor and author Chris Carter wrote a column for Fox News that celebrated celebrities opening up about their religion, talking about it on social media, attending church, and even writing songs about it.

"At a time where it seems like your career could be at stake if you publicly mention your religious affiliation, seeing celebrities come out of their biblical closet on social media is a breath of fresh air," Carter said. "This trend is not only surpassing Page Six, but it's getting the interest of mainstream Hollywood producers, legendary rappers and visionary tech entrepreneurs."

Carter referenced actor Chris Pratt's speech at last summer's MTV Music Awards in which he went into detail about his belief in God.

Carter discussed his own Catholic faith in his column, and noted it is refreshing to see celebrities — including Justin Bieber and even Snoop Dogg — coming out with messages about their faith.

"Snoop Dog may be one of the greatest rappers of our generation," Carter wrote. "What he's not known for is Gospel music. Well, that was until March of 2018 when his 'Snoop Dog Presents: Bible of Love' hit No. 1 on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums Chart. Not to be outdone, Kanye West is rumored to be producing a Gospel album of his own."

A recent study, meanwhile, found religious people are happier than non-religious people.

Source: NewsMax America

0 0

China’s Slowdown is Exposing the Cracks in the Global Economy

The latest numbers released by China’s statistics bureau fueled widespread concerns about the outlook of the global economy, as the Asian superpower reported its slowest growth rate since 1990.

The figures showed a 6.6% growth for 2018, confirming the view that the growth engine of the world economy is running out of steam.
Deep-Seated Vulnerabilities, Far Beyond the Trade War

China’s weakening growth has been widely attributed to the country’s trade frictions with the United States. To some extent this accurate, as the dispute has burdened both countries with billions of dollars from tariffs and retaliatory counter-tariffs. The 3-month ceasefire that was agreed during the last G20 conference in Buenos Aires is set to end in March and if an agreement is not reached by then, hostilities are bound to resume. Donald Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on $200 billion in Chinese imports, a step that will pile on considerable pressure to the already vulnerable Chinese economy and darken its prospects.

However, the trade war is only one among many problems that the country is struggling with. Even if a trade deal is finally struck with the US, relief will most likely only be temporary. The reasons behind the growth slowdown run much deeper and paint a truly worrying picture of the future. And while the cracks are just beginning to show now, their origins actually lie all the way back in 2008.

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, China appeared to be one of the precious few to make it out unscathed. While its Western peers plunged into chaos and despair, its own economy continued to hum along, almost as if nothing had really changed. However, this escape came at an extremely high cost. China has amassed an unprecedented amount of debt. Already by mid-2018, total debt-to-GDP had exploded to over 250%, a dramatic surge from 140% only a decade earlier. Today, according to Goldman Sachs numbers, it stands at over 300%, making the government’s efforts to engineer a “soft landing” look like wishful thinking.

As the Chinese government tried to deleverage and to rein in some of its past excesses, the extent of the damage began to come to light. The country is riddled with loss-making factories, with excess production capacity, insolvent “zombie” companies, all parts of a wasteful economy created by debt, corruption and extreme centralization of power in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. After years of corporate spending sprees and acquisitions with borrowed money, in 2018, the rate of corporate debt defaults set new records.

Its banking sector is crippled as well, with nonperforming loans reaching their highest level in a decade at the end of last year. As official figures out of China are largely unreliable, independent analysis and estimates conducted by Autonomous Research put the actual losses Chinese banks are set to suffer through bad loans at $8.5 trillion. That’s 24% of total credit, bringing the estimated loans on which debtors have failed to keep up with scheduled installments or interest payments five times higher than the official projections.

Capital outflows also present a serious challenge. Despite the country’s strict measures and extensive efforts to prevent it, capital flight is rampant. Chinese investors have been accused of driving up real estate prices in many western capitals, a notion not entirely unfounded, as in 2018 they remained the top foreign residential real estate buyers in the US for six years in a row, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Finally, China’s long-term outlook appears equally grim. Demographic trends place a heavy burden on the country and its ability to sustain economic growth. Despite the government’s efforts in recent years to encourage its citizens to have more children, the latest figures show its birth rate hitting lows unseen since 1949, as the number of babies born in China in 2018 dropped by 2 million. Although the country finally relaxed its one-child policy in 2016, birth rates failed to pick up, while long-term, severe damage had already been inflicted to its social and economic development. Apart from the blatant repression and human rights violations that defined the policy which is estimated to have prevented about 400 million births, it also resulted in a diminished workforce, gender imbalances and the acceleration of its aging population. According to a study by the China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the country’s population, now at 1.4 billion, is projected to reach a peak of 1.44 billion by 2029. After that, it is expected to enter an extended period of “unstoppable” decline, with the workforce population dropping by as much as 200 million by 2050, while the proportion of retirees is set to steadily increase until 2060.

Global Impact

The Chinese economy accounts for almost a third of global growth, while the country is the world’s largest trader, driving global commerce. That means an economic slowdown is not just China’s problem. To the contrary, it very much affects many countries that face varying degrees of exposure to the Asian superpower, as well as the global growth prospects at large. In late January, the IMF cut its estimate for global growth this year to 3.5%, a noticeable drop from the 3.7% rate recorded in 2018 and a reversal of the growth rate increases of the previous years. This pessimism is far from exclusive to the IMF. Forecasts by the World Bank and the OECD have also been recently downgraded. Among the common reasons for the projected growth slowdown given by analysts is the concern surrounding China. As Citigroup warned in a mid-January note, a slump in China can “blow the global economy off course.”

A slowdown would be particularly painful for Asia and many emerging markets, as for the better part of the last decade, they have grown dependent on China and its robust demand for commodities and materials. However, it’s not only Asia that will feel the impact of shrinking demand. Germany, the US and Australia are also heavily exposed to this risk. This is especially worrying in the case of Germany. As outlined in a recent article, Germany plays a decisive role in the economic future, or lack thereof, of the Eurozone. As it is already weakened and facing strong headwinds of its own, additional pressures from China could not have come at a worse time.

Far from it being a problem for the distant future, the impact of China’s economic woes is already being felt by companies internationally. Car sales in the country have dropped to a 7-year low, impacting automakers like Volkswagen and Toyota, while a significant decline in iPhone sales delivered a severe blow to Apple’s stock price.

Overall, the problems faced by China were largely predictable. A nation buried under such mountains of debt would eventually have to confront the elephant in the room. Growth based on and fueled by credit is only an illusion and cannot be sustained. As reality comes knocking, China’s gloomy outlook should serve as a warning to investors in the West, where governments also attempted to use the very same methods to prop up their economies.

At this point, the damage is irreversible and the imminent global economic slowdown will expose the deep cracks in our system. For investors, as the storm begins to set in, the time is now to take proactive steps and to protect one’s wealth through a solid precious metals portfolio.

Finally, the fact that China has dramatically accelerated its gold purchases during the past decades and added vast amounts to its reserves is particularly telling. Although the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) still only ranks at the fifth place of the world’s top gold-hoarding nations, with approximately 1,900 tons of physical gold, the estimates of total gold holdings among individuals, corporations and gold miners in China are closer to 20,000 tons. This only goes to show that the people have long understood that if you want to be independent and sovereign, you need to secure your wealth and your savings in a real asset which can’t be created out of thin air, spontaneously devalued and manipulated.



The Democratic party has lurched further left than ever before in American history, leading to a civil war within the leadership.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Tennis: Nishikori stunned, Shapovalov raps at Indian Wells

Tennis: BNP Paribas Open-Day 9
Mar 12, 2019; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Hubert Hurkacz (POL) during his third round match against Kei Nishikori (not pictured) in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

March 12, 2019

By Rory Carroll

(Reuters) – Pole Hubert Hurkacz fired 10 aces en route to a 4-6 6-4 6-3 upset win over world number seven Kei Nishikori of Japan to reach the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday.

The 67th-ranked Hurkacz needed just over two hours to complete the comeback win over the 2014 U.S. Open finalist in the Southern California desert city of Indian Wells.

The 22-year-old will next face Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov, who continued his run of dominant serving without being broken on his way to an impressive 6-4 6-2 win over 10th seeded Croat Marin Cilic.

After the match Shapovalov expressed his appreciation for his fans by rapping a song from the sun-soaked court three.

“Take care and good night, know this the good life, hot tubs and court time, Thursday we back alright!” he rapped at the end of the song, which got a roar of approval from the audience.

In another upset during the day session Russian 14th seed Daniil Medvedev was upset 6-3 6-2 by Serbia’s world number 113 Filip Krajinovic.

Krajinovic will be a big underdog when he faces Spain’s world number two Rafa Nadal, who crushed Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-3 6-1 on the showcase court to reach the last 16.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Ken Ferris)

Source: OANN

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain's far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain’s far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By John Stonestreet and Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Vox party, aligned to a broader far-right movement emerging across Europe, has become the focus of speculation about last minute shifts in voting intentions since official polling for Sunday’s national election ended four days ago.

No single party is anywhere near securing a majority, and chances of a deadlocked parliament and a second election are high.

Leaders of the five parties vying for a role in government get final chances to pitch for power at rallies on Friday evening, before a campaign characterized by appeals to voters’ hearts rather than wallets ends at midnight.

By tradition, the final day before a Spanish election is politics-free.

Two main prizes are still up for grabs in the home straight. One concerns which of the two rival left and right multi-party blocs gets more votes.

The other is whether Vox could challenge the mainstream conservative PP for leadership of the latter bloc, which media outlets with access to unofficial soundings taken since Monday suggest could be starting to happen.

The right’s loose three-party alliance is led by the PP, the traditional conservative party that has alternated in office with outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists since Spain’s return to democracy in the 1970s.

The PP stands at around 20 percent, with center-right Ciudadanos near 14 percent and Vox around 11 percent, according to a final poll of polls in daily El Pais published on Monday.

Since then, however, interest in Vox – which will become the first far-right party to sit in parliament since 1982 – has snowballed.

It was founded in 2013, part of a broader anti-establishment, far-right movement that has also spread across – among others – Italy, France and Germany.

While it is careful to distance itself from the ideology of late dictator Francisco Franco, Vox’s signature policies include repealing laws banning Franco-era symbols and on gender-based violence, and shifting power away from Spain’s regional governments.

TRENDING

According to a Google trends graphic, Vox has generated more than three times more search inquiries than any other Spanish political party in the past week.

Reasons could include a groundswell of vocal activist support at Vox rallies in Madrid and Valencia, and its exclusion from two televised debates between the main party leaders, on the grounds of it having no deputies yet in parliament.

Conservative daily La Vanguardia called its enforced absence from Monday’s and Tuesday’s debates “a gift from heaven”, while left-wing Eldiario.es suggested the PP was haemorrhaging votes to Vox in rural areas.

Ignacio Jurado, politics lecturer at the University of York, agreed the main source of additional Vox votes would be disaffected PP supporters, and called the debate ban – whose impact he said was unclear – wrong.

“This is a party polling over 10 percent and there are people interested in what it says. So we lose more than we win in not having them (in the debates),” he said

For Jose Fernandez-Albertos, political scientist at Spanish National Research Council CSIC, Vox is enjoying the novelty effect that propelled then new, left-wing arrival Podemos to 20 percent of the vote in 2015.

“While it’s unclear how to interpret the (Google) data, what we do know is that it’s better to be popular and to be a newcomer, and that Vox will benefit in some form,” he said.

For now, the chances of Vox taking a major role in government remain slim, however.

The El Pais survey put the Socialists on around 30 percent, making them the frontrunners and likely to form a leftist bloc with Podemos, back down at around 14 percent.

The unofficial soundings suggest little change in the two parties’ combined vote, or the total vote of the rightist bloc.

That makes it unlikely that either bloc will win a majority on Sunday, triggering horse-trading with smaller parties favoring Catalan independence – the single most polarizing issues during campaigning – that could easily collapse into fresh elections.

(Election graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2ENugtw)

(Reporting by John Stonestreet and Belen Carreno, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the OPEC is seen at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy near Lyon
Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy in Meyzieu near Lyon, France, April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot

April 26, 2019

By Julien Pretot

MEYZIEU, France (Reuters) – Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas was wringing out his women’s team shirts in the locker room on a rainy London day eight years ago when he decided it was time to take gender equality more seriously.

It was halftime in their Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal at Meadow Park with 507 fans watching and Aulas realized that his players did not have a another kit for the second half.

“Next time, there will be a second set just like for the men, that’s how it’s going to work from now on,” he said.

Lyon have since won five Champions League titles to become the most successful women’s team in Europe and recently claimed a 13th consecutive domestic crown.

They visit Chelsea on Sunday in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, with a fourth straight title in their sights.

At the heart of their achievements is a pervasive ethos that promotes gender equality throughout the club, starting in the youth academy.

In 2013, Aulas appointed former Lyon and France player Sonia Bompastor as head of the Women’s Academy — the female equivalent of one of France’s top youth set-ups that has produced players such as Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette and Hatem Ben Arfa.

At the Youth Academy, girls and boys share the same facilities.

“Pitches, physiotherapy rooms are the same for all,” the 38-year-old Bompastor told Reuters.

As the girls train under the watch of former Lyon and France international Camille Abily, the screams of the boys practicing can be heard nearby.

The boys and girls also benefit from the same psychological support that includes hypnosis sessions and yoga.

“We have a ‘mental ability’ cell and the hypnotist acts on the girls’ subconscious, on their deeply held beliefs after observing them on and off the pitch,” Bompastor added.

SAME TREATMENT

One message the Academy staff are trying to convey is that girls are as good as boys.

“Women’s nature is such that we have low self-esteem. So self-esteem is a big topic for our girls,” said Bompastor.

This is not the case with the boys, she added.

“Some 14, 15-year-old boys still think they would beat our professional players, we tell them this would not be happening. We still need to work on those beliefs,” she said.

Female players also have to face questions that their male counterparts do not, Bompastor explained.

“In France there is a problem with the way women are considered, there are high aesthetic expectations. So we get heavy questions on femininity, intimate questions that men don’t get,” she said.

OL’s Academy has been held up as a shining example for others to follow, even in the U.S., where women’s soccer has a wider audience than in Europe.

“About one third of the (senior women’s) squad comes from the Academy, we have a good balance,” said Bompastor.

“I’m getting tons of requests from American universities and foreign clubs, who want to come and visit our facilities.”

‘ONE CLUB’

The salaries of the senior players is one area where there remains a large discrepancy between Lyon’s men’s and women’s teams.

While the three best-paid women players in the world are at Lyon with Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg earning 400,000 euros ($445,520) a year, this figure is dwarfed by the around 4 million euros earned annually by men’s player Memphis Depay.

There is, however, a level of interaction between the men’s and women’s players that is not present at many other clubs.

“When you talk about OL you talk about women and men, you talk about one club and you feel it when you are here or outside in the city,” Germany defender Carolin Simon told Reuters.

“We see it when we play in the big stadium. It’s not ‘normal’ for women’s football,” the 26-year-old, who joined the club last year, added.

Lyon’s female players also enjoy respect from their male counterparts, Simon said.

“It’s very cool, it’s a big honor to feel that it doesn’t matter if you are a professional man or woman. We talk with the men, there are handshakes, it’s a good atmosphere and it’s also why we are successful,” said Simon.

“The men respect us and it’s not just for the cameras.”

Her team mate, England’s Lucy Bronze, sees the men’s respect as key to improving women’s football.

“We might not be paid the same but they are just normal with us, they see us as footballers the same as they are,” Bronze told Reuters.

“Being at Lyon has really opened my eyes. To improve women’s football, it starts with having the respect of your male counterparts. It’s the biggest thing because they can influence so many people.”

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo

April 26, 2019

GENEVA (Reuters) – Yemeni authorities have rounded up about 3,000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopians, in the south of the country, “creating an acute humanitarian situation,” the U.N. migration agency said on Friday.

“IOM is deeply concerned about the conditions in which the migrants are being held and is engaging with the authorities to ensure access to the detained migrants,” the International Organization for Migration said.

The migrants are held in open-air football stadiums and in a military camp, it said in a statement.

The detentions began on Sunday in the city of Aden and the neighboring province of Lahj, which are under the control of the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran-aligned Houthi rebels control Sanaa, the capital, and other major urban centers.

Both sides are under international diplomatic pressure to implement a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire deal agreed last year in Sweden and to prepare for a wider political dialogue that would end the four-year-old war.

Thousands of migrants arrive in Yemen every year, mostly from the Horn of Africa, driven by drought and unemployment at home and lured by the wages available in the Gulf.

(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
U.S. dollar notes are seen in this picture illustration
U.S. dollar notes are seen in this November 7, 2016 picture illustration. Picture taken November 7. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them.

1/DOLLAR JUGGERNAUT

The dollar has zipped to near two-year highs, leaving many scratching their heads. To many, it’s down to signs the U.S. economy is chugging ahead while the rest of the world loses steam. After all, Wall Street is busily scaling new peaks day after day.

Never mind the cause, the effect is stark. The euro has tumbled to 22-month lows against the dollar and investors are preparing for more, buying options to shield against further downside. Emerging-market currencies are also in pain, with Turkish lira and Argentine peso both sharply weaker.

Now U.S. data need to keep surprising on the upside or even just meet expectations. The International Monetary Fund sees U.S. growth at 2.3 percent this year. For Germany, the forecast is 0.8 percent. The U.S. economy’s rude health has given rise to speculation the Fed might resume raising interest rates. Unlikely. But as other countries — Canada, Sweden and Australia are the latest — hint at more policy easing, there seems to be one way the dollar can go. Up.

(GRAPHIC: Dollar outperforms G10 FX – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dz17S5)

2/FED: UP OR DOWN?

Wall Street is near record highs and recession worries are receding, so as we mentioned above, investors might wonder if the Federal Reserve will start raising rates again.

Such a pivot is unlikely after the Fed killed off rate-rise expectations at its March meeting. And the latest Reuters poll all but puts to bed any risk of rates will go up this economic cycle, given inflation remains below the Fed’s alarm threshold and unemployment is the lowest in generations.

Before the March rate-pause announcement, a preponderance of economists penciled in one or more increases this year. But that has flipped. A majority of those surveyed April 22-24 see no further tightening through December and more are leaning toward a cut by the end of next year.

Indeed, interest rate futures imply Fed Funds will be below the current 2.25-2.50 percent target range by this December.

Recent positive consumer spending and exports data have eased market concerns of a sharp economic slowdown. But inflation probably needs to run hot for a long period to panic policymakers off their wait-and-see course.     

(GRAPHIC: Federal funds and the economy – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DzjTZz)

3/HEISEI TO REIWA

Next week ends three decades of Japan’s Heisei era. Heisei, or Achieving Peace, began in 1989 near the peak of a massive stock market bubble and closes with the country trapped in low growth, no inflation, and negative interest rates.

The new era that dawns on May 1 is called Reiwa, meaning Beautiful Harmony. It begins when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne. But do investors really want harmony? What they want to see is a bit of economic growth and inflation to shake up the status quo.

The Bank of Japan’s stimulus toolkit to revive a long-suffering economy is anything but harmonious and yet it’s set to stay. The central bank confirmed recently rates will stay near zero for a long time. But the coming days may not be harmonious or peaceful for currency markets. A 10-day Golden Week holiday kicks off on April 29 and investors are fretting over the risk of a “flash crash” – a violent currency spasm that can occur in times of thin trading turnover.

The year has already seen two yen spikes and many, including Japan’s housewife-trader brigade – so-called Mrs Watanabes – appear to have bought yen as the holiday approaches. Their short dollar/long yen positions recently reached record highs, stock exchange data showed.

(GRAPHIC: Japan stocks: from Hensei to Reiwa – https://tmsnrt.rs/2W6a7Fe)

4/EARNING TURNING

Quarterly earnings were supposed to be the worst in Europe in almost three years, but with a third of results in, things are looking a little rosier.

Two-thirds of companies’ results have beat expectations, and they point to earnings growth of 4.5 percent year-on-year. Financials have delivered the biggest surprises, according to analysis by Barclays.

That might just show how low expectations were. In fact, analysts are still taking a red pen to their estimates.

The latest I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv shows analysts on average expect first-quarter earnings-per-share for STOXX 600-listed companies to fall 4.2 percent. That would be their worst quarter since 2016 and down sharply from an estimated 3.4 percent just a week earlier.

Those estimates may end up being a little too bearish as earnings season goes on, quelling worries that Europe is heading toward a corporate recession.

GSK and Reckitt Benckiser will give the market a glimpse of the health of the consumer products market and spending on everything from toothpaste, washing powder and paracetamol.

(GRAPHIC: Earnings forecasts – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DuO2ZF)

5/WAITING FOR THE OLD LADY

Sterling has gone into the doldrums amid the Brexit delay and unproductive talks between the UK government and the opposition Labour party on a EU withdrawal deal. The resurgent dollar, meanwhile, has taken 2 percent off the pound in April. It is unlikely the Bank of England will be able to rouse it at its May 2 meeting.

Despite robust retail and jobs data of late, the economic picture is gloomy – 2019 growth is likely to be around 1.2 percent, the weakest since 2009, investment is down and Governor Mark Carney says business uncertainty is “through the roof”.

Indeed, expectations for an interest rate increase have been whittled down; Reuters polls forecast rates will not move until early 2020, a calendar quarter later than was forecast a month ago. The hunt for a new governor to replace Carney in October adds more uncertainty to the mix.

The recent run of UK data has fueled hopes of economic rebound. That’s put net hedge fund positions in the pound into positive territory for the first time in nearly a year. The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street might temper some of that optimism.

(GRAPHIC: Sterling positions – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XJwUXX)

(Reporting by Alden Bentley in New York, Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore; Karin Strohecker, Josephine Mason and Saikat Chatterjee in London; compiled by Sujata Rao; edited by Larry King)

Source: OANN

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

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

Title

Artist