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Germany tops Japan with world’s largest current account surplus in 2018: Ifo

The moon is seen during a lunar eclipse next to the German national flag on top of the Reichstag building in Berlin
The moon is seen during a lunar eclipse next to the German national flag on top of the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, July 27, 2018. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

February 19, 2019

By Rene Wagner and Michael Nienaber

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s current account surplus shrank but remained by far the world’s largest last year due to strong exports, according to data from the Ifo institute on Tuesday that is likely to renew criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s fiscal policies.

The International Monetary Fund and the European Commission have urged Germany for years to do more to lift domestic demand as a way to boost imports, stimulate growth elsewhere and reduce global economic imbalances. Since he took office, U.S. President Donald Trump has also criticized Germany’s export strength.

Germany’s current account surplus, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments, was the world’s largest for the third year running in 2018 at $294 billion, followed by Japan with $173 billion, the Ifo figures showed. Russia came in third with a surplus of $116 billion.

When measured in relation to economic output, Germany’s current account surplus shrank for the third year in a row, however, falling to 7.4 percent in 2018 from 7.9 percent the previous year, according to the Ifo figures.

Since 2011, Germany’s current account balance has been consistently above the European Commission’s indicative threshold of 6 percent of gross domestic product and the surplus reached a record high of 8.9 percent in 2015.

The European Commission formally identified a macro-economic imbalance in Germany for the first time in 2014 and has confirmed this criticism every year since.

In its recommendations, the Commission says Germany should make use of its budget surplus to boost public investment and create favorable conditions for stronger real wage growth. The IMF has made similar recommendations.

German government officials have repeatedly said that Berlin’s fiscal and economic policies are not primarily designed to influence the current account balance.

They say the trade surplus is a result of market-based supply and demand decisions by companies and consumers around the world and that it is also shaped by other factors such as oil prices and exchange rates that are hard to influence.

Nonetheless, the government has decided to spend a large part of its budget surplus in the coming three years to increase childcare benefits, lower taxes and reduce contributions to the public health system, measures that are expected to support household spending.

(Writing by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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Biden, Sanders hold major lead atop latest 2020 primary polls

He’s not even a declared candidate, but former Vice President Joe Biden remains on the top of the polls in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, including a new national survey released Monday from Monmouth University.

And right behind him in public opinion surveys is Sen. Bernie Sanders, who last month launched his second straight bid for the White House.

BIDEN TEAM COLLECTING RESUMES AHEAD OF LIKELY BID BY FORMER V.P.

It's no surprise that the 76-year-old Biden and 77-year-old Sanders are ahead of the rest of the ever-expanding field of Democratic White House hopefuls, which right now stands at 14. It illustrates that polling in the 2020 race – at this very early point in the cycle – is being dominated by name recognition. Biden and Sanders have national profiles that overshadow the other contenders, including high-profile Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey.

The latest evidence is the Monmouth poll, which puts Biden at 28 percent, followed by Sanders at 25 percent.

Both are far ahead of Harris at 10 percent and Warren at 8 percent. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas – who’s leaning toward a presidential run – registered at 6 percent. Five percent of those polled were supporting Booker, with 3 percent backing Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

All of the other declared or potential contenders stood at 1 percent or lower.

It was a similar story in a poll of likely Democratic Iowa caucus-goers released this weekend. Iowa votes first in the presidential caucus and primary calendar.

Biden topped the survey at 27 percent, with Sanders 2 percentage points back. Warren stood at 9 percent and Harris at 7 percent in the poll, which was conducted by the Des Moines Register, CNN and Mediacom. O'Rourke registered at 5 percent, with Booker and Klobuchar at 3 percent. Everyone else stood at 1 percent or less.

FOX NEWS POLL: MAJORITY THINK DEMS HAVE CHANCE TO UNSEAT TRUMP

The poll indicated that Biden had a 15-point lead over Sanders among voters 45 and older, with Sanders holding a 9-point advantage among younger voters.

There's one exception so far to the Biden-Sanders pecking order. In New Hampshire – which traditionally holds the first presidential primary – the independent senator from Vermont actually holds a slight edge over Biden in the two most recent polls.

The Iowa survey indicates strong support for GOP President Trump among Iowa Republicans, with 81 approving of the job Trump’s doing in the White House.

But as the president runs for re-election, the poll shows that 40 percent of likely Iowa Republicans say they hope Trump faces a challenger for the GOP nomination. A recent University of New Hampshire survey found similar results among those likely to vote in the Granite State’s Republican primary.

The Monmouth University Poll was conducted March 1-4 among 746 total registered voters. The sampling error was 3.6 percentage points. Results based on 310 registered Democrats and leaning Democratic voters had a sampling error of 5.6 percentage points.

The CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll was conducted March 3-6 by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, Iowa, with 400 March 3 through 6 among a random sample of 400 registered Republicans and 401 likely Democratic caucus goers questioned by live phone operator. The survey’s sampling error for caucus questions was 4.9 percentage points.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Ex-Maryland Gov. Harry R. Hughes dies at 92; served 2 terms

Former Maryland Gov. Harry R. Hughes, who prided himself on restoring public faith in the political process, died Wednesday. He was 92.

His daughter, Elizabeth Hughes, said Hughes' had been in hospice.

"I was holding his hand," she said. "He was a wonderful dad. He was a kind generous man, and he had a great sense of humor."

In a statement on Hughes' passing, Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday that flags will be flown at half-staff until sunset of the day of interment. Hogan described Hughes as "a longtime friend and Maryland legend whom I deeply admired."

The two-term Democratic governor, who served from 1979 to 1987, also spent 16 years in the General Assembly and seven as Maryland's first transportation secretary.

Hughes came to the governor's mansion at a time when Maryland had become a national symbol for corruption. Gov. Marvin Mandel had been sentenced to jail on political corruption charges and former Gov. Spiro T. Agnew had pleaded no contest to income tax evasion.

Hughes said in a January 1987 interview with The Associated Press that he was most proud of restoring integrity to state government.

"It's an intangible, but very important," Hughes said at the time.

He left political life after a failed bid for the U.S. Senate, saddled by the public with much of the blame for the 1985 savings and loan debacle.

"Looking back, I wouldn't have done anything differently," he said of the one blot on his record. "I think we handled it well."

Hughes and the legislature moved quickly to create a state agency that took over from the private agency that insured the thrifts. Most depositors got all their money back.

Born in Easton on Nov. 13, 1926, Hughes enlisted in the Navy at age 17 and served a year and a half with the Navy Air Corps in World War II. He graduated in 1949 from the University of Maryland and flirted with a baseball career, spending a summer with the New York Yankees' Class D farm team in Easton, before going on to George Washington University School of Law.

He opened a law practice in his hometown of Denton in 1952.

In 1954, he was elected to represent Caroline County in the House of Delegates and in 1958 was elected to the state Senate, where he served until 1970.

He was appointed to head the newly created state Department of Transportation in 1971, but resigned in May 1977 to protest the award of a large construction management contract.

Hughes' campaign for his party's nomination for governor was beset by financial problems and he was dismissed by political observers early on as "a lost ball in high grass."

His friends often lamented Hughes was too shy to promote himself, too restrained to ask for campaign contributions.

But he shocked the pundits with a Democratic primary upset of Acting Gov. Blair Lee, who moved up from lieutenant governor when Mandel went to prison.

Hughes was elected Maryland's 57th governor in 1978 by a landslide, 71 percent of the vote, the largest margin of victory for a Maryland governor at that time. He was re-elected in 1982 with 62 percent.

During his two terms, he launched an aggressive economic development program, a large tax relief program, an overhaul of the corrections system and the biggest prison construction program in state history.

In 1983, he signed an agreement with the governors of Virginia and Pennsylvania and the mayor of the District of Columbia to work to restore the polluted Chesapeake Bay.

He also cited his programs dealing with child and spousal abuse, drunken driving, increases in school aid and transportation projects that included an interstate from Baltimore to Annapolis.

After eight years as governor, he launched a bid for the U.S. Senate, but was dogged on every step by depositors angered by the savings and loan crisis and he lost the primary.

Hughes left government to become a partner in the Baltimore office of the Washington law firm of Patton, Boggs and Blow, which represents mostly corporate clients before government agencies.

Source: Fox News National

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Libya offensive stalls, but Haftar digs in given foreign sympathies

FILE PHOTO: A Libyan man carries a picture of Khalifa Haftar during a demonstration to support Libyan National Army offensive against Tripoli
FILE PHOTO: A Libyan man carries a picture of Khalifa Haftar during a demonstration to support Libyan National Army offensive against Tripoli, in Benghazi, Libya April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

April 15, 2019

By Ulf Laessing and John Irish

TRIPOLI/PARIS (Reuters) – Military strongman Khalifa Haftar’s intended lightning seizure of Libya’s capital has stalled, but he is unlikely to face real pressure from abroad to pull back as the arrival of hardline opponents bolsters his war cry against “terrorism”.

Haftar’s eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) advanced to the outskirts of Tripoli almost two weeks ago, predicting defections, victory within two days and joyful women ululating in the streets.

However, the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj has managed to bog them down in southern suburbs, thanks largely to armed groups who have rushed to aid them from various western Libyan factions.

And instead of ululating, many women in fact joined a rally on Friday in Tripoli against the offensive.

Haftar, a 75-year-old former general in former dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s army, has been building up troop numbers and intensifying air strikes in a campaign he is selling as necessary to restore order and eradicate jihadists.

That, however, is uniting Haftar’s enemies behind Serraj, who lacks regular forces and needs help, but may find them difficult to control the longer the war drags on, analysts say.

Renewed conflict has scuppered for now a U.N. peace plan for Libya, with a national reconciliation conference planned for this week postponed. It also threatens to disrupt oil supplies from the OPEC member and cause new migration across the sea to Europe.

Diplomats believe Haftar for now will face no pressure from backers including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and France, who still see him as the best bet to end the chaos and divisions since the ousting of Gaddafi in 2011.

ISLAMISTS IN TRIPOLI

Their case, which undermines calls by former colonial ruler Italy and others for a political solution, is aided by the arrival of militants in recent days to help Serraj’s forces.

One of them is Salah Badi, a commander from nearby Misrata port who has Islamist ties and possible ambitions himself to take Tripoli. In videos from the front line, Badi has been seen directing men as well as a U.N.-sanctioned people trafficker.

Some hardcore Islamists, previously affiliated to Ansar Sharia, have also popped up in the fighting, according to the videos. That group was blamed by Washington for the 2012 storming of a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.France, which has oil assets in Libya though less than Italy, has called for a ceasefire – albeit more reluctantly than Rome – while also echoing Haftar’s narrative that some extremists were among the Tripoli defenders.

“There is an oversimplification. It is not just Haftar the baddy against the goodies in Tripoli and Misrata. There are groups that are at the end of the day allied to al Qaeda on the other side,” said a French diplomatic source.

“Perhaps if those opposed to Haftar had done a deal with him in 2017, the balance of power would not have shifted against them,” the source said, referring to when France brought Haftar and Serraj together for face-to-face talks in Paris.

Serraj’s government has sought to downplay the presence of hardliners. “On both sides there are members accused of being violators,” Mohamed Siyala, his foreign minister, told reporters.

Haftar’s own troops are swelled by an estimated hundreds of Salafist Islamists, and one of his commanders is wanted by the International Criminal Court over the alleged summary execution of dozens of people in the eastern city of Benghazi.

It was there that Haftar in 2014 launched his “Operation Dignity” campaign, naming his forces an “army” to try and distinguish from “militias” elsewhere.

He won the Benghazi battle against mainly Islamists in 2017 with covert support from the UAE, Egypt and France, but some of his defeated foes are now in Tripoli seeking revenge.

“TINY MINORITY”

Neighboring Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi met Haftar at the weekend in Cairo and in a statement “confirmed Egypt’s support for efforts to combat terrorism.”

Wolfram Lacher, a researcher at German think tank SWP, said there was exaggeration of the presence of militants in Tripoli for propaganda purposes.

“These elements are a tiny minority of the forces that are fighting against Haftar right now, but this could become a self-fulfilling prophecy the longer this goes on,” he said.

“So anybody who has an interest in preventing jihadist mobilization in Libya should have an interest in stopping this war now.”

In the past, the UAE and Egypt have supported Haftar with air strikes in eastern Libya, but it is unclear whether they would do so in the current campaign, diplomats and analysts say.

For Paris, Haftar, or a perceived stable army in Tripoli, is key to its wider policy against militants in the Sahel.

France has some 4,500 troops in the deserts to the south and west of Libya, and wants to ensure the porous borders are locked as tightly as possible. Its support of Haftar will depend on whether it thinks he can win or how much civilian casualties can be contained.

Should those escalate and refugee numbers swell, then it may be forced to be more proactive in pressuring Haftar.

It will also depend on how UAE support evolves.

France has listened increasingly closely to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed’s views on Libya since President Emmanuel Macron came to power. An internal policy battle in France between the foreign and defense ministries prior to his arrival had until then blurred Paris’ lines.

“While France is keen to project its Libya policy as a home-grown policy, in reality France merely follows the UAE — more or less,” said Jalel Harchaoui, research fellow at the Clingendael Institute think-tank in The Hague.

“What this means today is: Unless MBZ decides that Haftar has blown his chance and failed irretrievably, Emmanuel Macron is unlikely to alter or subdue his pro-Haftar policy in Libya.”

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

Source: OANN

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ECB can delay rate hike again if needed: Draghi

FILE PHOTO: 28th Frankfurt European Banking Congress (EBC) takes place in Frankfurt
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi speaks at the 28th Frankfurt European Banking Congress (EBC) at the Old Opera house in Frankfurt, Germany November 16, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo

March 27, 2019

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank is willing to further delay a planned interest rate hike if necessary and may look at measures to mitigate any side effects of negative interest rates, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.

Reversing course earlier this month amid an unexpected slowdown, the ECB has put plans to ‘normalize’ policy on hold, providing banks with even more liquidity and delaying a rate hike from record lows until next year.

“Just as we did at our March meeting, we would ensure that monetary policy continues to accompany the economy by adjusting our rate forward guidance to reflect the new inflation outlook,” Draghi told a conference in Frankfurt.

Draghi added that conditions for its new bank loan facility, called targeted longer-term refinancing operations or TLTRO, will also be calibrated to reflect evolving economic conditions.

Although Draghi said the economic soft patch does not necessarily foreshadow a serious slump, the euro area was now experiencing a more persistent deterioration of external demand, which seems to be dragging down investment.

Addressing complaints from banks that negative rates are hurting bank lending, Draghi said the ECB would look at whether mitigating measures are needed but said that negative weak profits are not an automatic result of low rates.

“If necessary, we need to reflect on possible measures that can preserve the favorable implications of negative rates for the economy, while mitigating the side effects, if any,” Draghi said. “That said, low bank profitability is not an inevitable consequence of negative rates.”

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa)

Source: OANN

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Julian Assange used the embassy as ‘center for spying,’ Ecuadorian president says

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange reportedly violated his asylum conditions when he used the Ecuadorian embassy in London as a “center for spying,” the country’s president said in a new interview.

Lenin Moreno told the Guardian newspaper that Ecuador’s government had provided facilities within the embassy that allowed Assange to “interfere” with other states.

“Any attempt to destabilize is a reprehensible act for Ecuador because we are a sovereign nation and respectful of the politics of each country,” he said in his first English-language interview since Assange’s arrest last week. “We cannot allow our house, the house that opened its doors, to become a center for spying.”

He added: “This activity violates asylum conditions. Our decision is not arbitrary but is based on international law.”

JULIAN ASSANGE'S ARREST DRAWS FIERCE INTERNATIONAL REACTION

Assange was arrested by British authorities and dragged out of the embassy last Thursday after his seven-year asylum was revoked – paving the way for possible extradition to the United States, where he faces conspiracy to commit computer intrusion for aiding Chelsea Manning's leak of classified government documents.

His relationship with his hosts collapsed after Ecuador accusing him of leaking information about Moreno’s personal life. But Moreno denied to the Guardian that he acted as a reprisal.

“He was a guest who was offered a dignified treatment, but he did not have the basic principle of reciprocity for the country that knew how to welcome him, or the willingness to accept protocols [from] the country that welcomed him,” he added. “The withdrawal of his asylum occurred in strict adherence to international law. It is a sovereign decision. We do not make decisions based on external pressures from any country.”

Ecuador has claimed that Assange mistreated embassy staff, put excrement on walls, left soiled laundry in the bathroom and improperly looked after his cat, among other things.

'SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE' MOCKS LORI LOUGHLIN, JULIAN ASSANGE, MICHAEL AVENATTI AND MSNBC MUELLER REPORT COVERAGE

A lawyer representing Assange accused Ecuador’s government on Sunday of spreading lies about his behavior inside in London.

Jennifer Robinson told Sky News the Ecuadorian government is spreading alleged falsehoods to divert attention from its decision to revoke his asylum and allow his arrest at its British embassy. Assange has had "a very difficult time" since Moreno took office in Ecuador in 2017, Robinson said.

"I think the first thing to say is Ecuador has been making some pretty outrageous allegations over the past few days to justify what was an unlawful and extraordinary act in allowing British police to come inside an embassy," Robinson said.

Assange, who appeared much older when he emerged from the embassy than when before he sought refuge there in August 2012 -- perhaps owing partly to the presence of a lengthy, white beard -- is in custody at Belmarsh Prison in southeast London awaiting sentencing in Britain for skipping bail to avoid being sent to Sweden as part of an investigation of a rape allegation. Sweden is considering reviving the investigation.

HILLARY CLINTON UNLOADS ON ASSANGE, CALLS HIM 'ONLY FOREIGNER THAT THIS ADMINISTRATION WOULD WELCOME TO THE US'

On Monday, two left-wing German lawmakers Heike Hansel and Sevim Dagdelen, and Spanish MEP, Ana Miranda, held a press conference outside Belmarsh calling on European states to offer him asylum and prevent his extradition to the U.S.

Dagdelen, who is a member of The Left party, said the EU should "take action" to protect the "persecuted political publisher and journalist", the BBC reported.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Assange's next court appearance is scheduled for May 2. In the meantime, he is expected to seek prison medical care for severe shoulder pain and dental problems, WikiLeaks has said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Brazil’s congress receives indigenous leaders amid protests

Over 150 indigenous leaders met with lawmakers to discuss land rights and the role of their communities in the protection of the environment Thursday amid protests against the policies of Brazil's new far-right president.

The discussions in the Chamber of Deputies came on the second day of the Free Land Encampment, an annual three-day protest by indigenous groups held in Brazil's capital.

Indigenous leaders from several regions attended the congressional hearing, many of them with traditional feathered headdresses and faces painted red or black. Marina Silva, a former environmental minister and presidential candidate, also attended the meeting.

More than 1,000 indigenous people set up tents on the lawn of the congressional building Wednesday and began demonstrating against President Jair Bolsonaro's vow to encourage the expansion of mining and industrial farming in protected indigenous areas.

"What is being disputed is the land," said Sonia Guajajara, an indigenous leader and former vice presidential candidate.

Bolsonaro "wants to give the indigenous territories to the United States, to foreigners, to explore our natural resources. We fight not only for our rights, our constitutional rights, but for our right to exist," Guajajara told The Associated Press on Wednesday night.

"Where indigenous lands are demarcated, registered and controlled by the peoples, these territories are preserved and cared for," said Cleber Cesar Buzatto, secretary general of the Indigenous Missionary Council, a rights group linked to the Roman Catholic Church. "In some regions, in some states like Rondonia, Mato Grosso, Maranhao, these lands are like true oases in the middle of farming commodities fields, and of a lot of environmental destruction."

Soon after being sworn in Jan. 1, Bolsonaro transferred the authority for designating indigenous land and granting environmental licenses for businesses on indigenous reserves from the government's indigenous affairs agency to the Agriculture Ministry. He also shifted the indigenous affairs agency, FUNAI, from the Justice Ministry to a new ministry for family, women and human rights that is being led by an ultraconservative evangelical pastor.

During an earlier meeting with Chamber of Deputies Speaker Rodrigo Maia on Wednesday, Ivan Valente, a lawmaker who is part of an indigenous lobbying group, said the president's changes were "leaving the fox taking over the chicken coop."

Maia responded by saying that he would push to undo the changes when the proposals come up for debate.

Putting FUNAI back under the Justice Ministry "seems to me the most reasonable, the most rational (decision) that guarantees more security for each one of you," Maia said.

Guajajara told a cheering crowd that indigenous leaders will continue to oppose Bolsonaro's plans.

"We are in Brasilia to show that our resistance is strong and that our compromise with our peoples is bigger than any imposition. We are not going to accept these attacks with our arms crossed," Guajajara said.

At a gathering in 2017, police shot tear gas at indigenous protesters who fired back with bows and arrows.

On Thursday, while the lower house commission was discussing the future role of indigenous communities in the protection of the environment, the Senate held a special session to honor the indigenous peoples of Brazil.

This year's protest is to end with a group march Friday.

___

Associated Press video journalist Renato Domingues reported this story in Brasilia and AP writer Diane Jeantet reported from Rio de Janeiro. AP video journalist Mia Alberti in Brasilia contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Traders work on the floor at the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

April 26, 2019

By Sruthi Shankar and Amy Caren Daniel

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were flat on Friday, as investors paused ahead of GDP data, which is expected to show the world’s largest economy maintained a moderate pace of growth in the first quarter.

Gross domestic product probably increased at a 2% annualized rate in the quarter as a burst in exports, strong inventory stockpiling and government investment in public construction projects offset a slowdown in consumer and business spending, according to a Reuters survey of economists.

The Commerce Department report will be published at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The GDP data comes as investors look for fresh catalysts to push the markets higher. The S&P 500 index is about 0.5% below its record high hit in late September, after surging nearly 17% this year.

First-quarter earnings have been largely upbeat, with nearly 78% of the 178 companies that have reported so far surpassing earnings estimates, according to Refinitiv data.

Wall Street now expects S&P 500 earnings to be in line with the year-ago quarter, a sharp improvement from the 2.3% fall expected at the start of April.

Amazon.com Inc rose 0.9% in premarket trading after the e-commerce giant reported quarterly profit that doubled and beat estimates on soaring demand for its cloud and ad services.

Ford Motor Co shares surged 8.5% after the automaker posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings largely due to strong pickup truck sales in its core U.S. market.

Mattel Inc jumped 8% after the toymaker beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly revenue, as a more diverse range of Barbie dolls powered sales in the United States.

At 6:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 35 points, or 0.13%. S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.5 points, or 0.05% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 10.75 points, or 0.14%.

Among decliners, Intel Corp slumped 7.7% after it cut its full-year revenue forecast and missed quarterly sales estimate for its key data center business.

Rival Advanced Micro Devices declined 0.8%.

Oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp are expected to report results later in the day.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

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General view of a destroyed building during World War II is pictured in Warsaw
General view of a destroyed building during World War II is pictured in Warsaw, Poland April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel

April 26, 2019

By Joanna Plucinska

WARSAW (Reuters) – Germany could owe Poland more than $850 billion in reparations for damages it incurred during World War Two and the brutal Nazi occupation, a senior ruling party lawmaker said.

Some six million Poles, including three million Polish Jews, were killed during the war and Warsaw was razed to the ground following a 1944 uprising in which about 200,000 civilians died.

Germany, one of Poland’s biggest trade partners and a fellow member of the European Union and NATO, says all financial claims linked to World War Two have been settled.

The right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) has revived calls for compensation since it took power in 2015 and has made the promotion of Poland’s wartime victimhood a central plank of its appeal to nationalism.

PiS has yet to make an official demand for reparations but its combative stance towards Germany has strained relations.

“Poland lost not only millions of its citizens but it was also destroyed in an unusually brutal way,” Arkadiusz Mularczyk, who heads the Polish parliamentary committee on reparations, told Reuters in an interview.

“Many (victims) are still alive and feel deeply wronged.”

His comments come a month before European Parliament elections in which populist and nationalist parties are expected to do well. Poland will also hold national elections later this year, with PiS still well ahead of its rivals in opinion polls.

EU LARGESSE

Mularczyk said the reparations figure could amount to more than 10 times the estimated 100 billion euros ($111 billion) that Poland has received so far in European Union funds since it joined the bloc in 2004.

Germany is the biggest net donor to the EU budget and some Germans regard its contributions as generous compensation to recipient countries like Poland which suffered under Nazi rule.

In 1953 Poland’s then-communist rulers relinquished all claims to war reparations under pressure from the Soviet Union, which wanted to free East Germany, also a Soviet satellite, from any liabilities. PiS says that agreement is invalid because Poland was unable to negotiate fair compensation.

Mularczyk said his committee hoped to complete its report on the reparations issue by Sept. 1, the 80th anniversary of Hitler’s invasion.

Accusing Berlin of playing “diplomatic games” over the issue, he said: “The matter is being swept under the rug (by Germany) … until it’ll be wiped from the memory, from people’s awareness.”

His comments come after the Greek parliament voted this month to seek billions of euros in German reparations for the Nazi occupation of their country.

(Additional reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Editing by Justyna Pawlak and Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO - Otto Frederick Warmbier is taken to North Korea's top court in Pyongyang North Korea
FILE PHOTO – Otto Frederick Warmbier (C), a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea since early January, is taken to North Korea’s top court in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo March 16, 2016. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States did not pay any money to North Korea as it sought the release of comatose American student Otto Warmbier.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump had approved payment of a $2 million bill from North Korea to cover its care of the college student, who died shortly after he was returned to the United States after 17 months in a North Korean prison.

(Reporting by Makini Brice and Susan Heavey)

Source: OANN

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Al-Qaida in Yemen is vowing to avenge beheadings carried out by Saudi Arabia this week — an indication that some of the 37 Saudis executed on terrorism-related charges were members of the Sunni militant group.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the branch is called, posted a statement on militant-linked websites on Friday, accusing the kingdom of offering the blood of the “noble children of the nation just to appease America.”

The statement says al-Qaida will “never forget about their blood and we will avenge them.”

U.S. ally Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed 37 suspects convicted on terrorism-related charges. Most were believed to be Shiites but at least one was believed to be a Sunni militant.

His body was pinned to a pole in public as a warning to others.

Source: Fox News World

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For two friends with checkered pasts it was the luck of a lifetime: a 4 million-pound ($5.2 million) lottery win.

But Mark Goodram and Jon-Ross Watson may see their celebrations cut short.

The Sun newspaper reports that Britain’s National Lottery is withholding the payout as it investigates whether the men, who have a string of criminal convictions, used illicit means to buy the winning ticket.

The Sun said neither man has a bank account, leading lottery organizers to investigate how they obtained the bank-issued debit card that paid for the 10 pound ($13) scratch card.

Camelot, which runs the lottery, said Friday it couldn’t confirm details of the story because of winner-anonymity rules. The firm said it holds a “thorough investigation” if there is any doubt about a claim.

Source: Fox News World

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