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Euro zone sentiment dips to new two-year low in February

Containers and cars are loaded on freight trains at the railroad shunting yard in Maschen near Hamburg
Containers and cars are loaded on freight trains at the railroad shunting yard in Maschen near Hamburg September 23, 2012. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo

February 27, 2019

By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone economic sentiment dipped for an eighth consecutive month to a new two-year low in February as managers in industry became more downbeat about inventories, order books and production expectations.

Euro zone economic sentiment slipped to 106.1 points in February from an upwardly revised 106.3 in January, the European Commission said on Wednesday, marking the lowest level since November 2016.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a slightly sharper decline to 106.0.

The survey adds to evidence that economic prospects of the 19-member euro zone for the start of 2019 are muted after only modest growth of 0.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third and fourth quarters of 2018.

Sentiment in industry fell for a third consecutive month to -0.4 points in February from 0.6 points in January, well below market expectations of 0.1.

By contrast, sentiment in services, a sector which produces two thirds of the euro zone GDP, picked up to 12.1 from 11.0 in January, against expectations that it would be unchanged, although the chief cause for the improvement was the past business situation.

The mood of consumers also picked in February up to -7.4 after January’s -7.9, while sentiment in retail trade was less gloomy at -1.6 points in February from -2.1 in January.

Among the major countries, overall economic sentiment improved in the Netherlands, but was lower in France and Italy and very slightly in Germany and unchanged in Spain.

A separate business climate indicator, which helps point to the phase of the business cycle, was unchanged in February at 0.69, above the 0.60 average forecast in the Reuters poll. For January and February, this was the lowest reading since January 2017.

(Brussels newsroom)

Source: OANN

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Chris Christie: Ilhan Omar is ‘off her rocker’, AOC is a ‘joke’, should apologize for 9/11 comments

Rep. Ilhan Omar is "off her rocker" and her fellow member of Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is a "joke" who will be seen "ultimately as an asterisk" in history, according to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Omar, D-Minn. is facing fierce backlash after a speech at a Muslim rights group's event in which she described the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks as "some people did something."

Speaking on the Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio, Christie, who initially thought his wife was in the Twin Towers on the day of the attacks, said: "As somebody who had my wife two blocks away from the World Trade Center that day, my brother on the floor of the New York Stock exchange, and a number of people in our local parish here who passed away, a murder occurred.

AOC, RASHIDA TLAIB LEAP TO DEFENSE OF ILHAN OMAR AFTER HER 'SOME PEOPLE DID SOMETHING' 9/11 REMARKS

"Multiple murders occurred, 2,900 murders occurred on that day by radical Islamic terrorists and that’s the way it should always be spoken about to honor those victims and this woman is completely – let’s put aside her religion for the moment - as a public servant, she’s off her rocker to be describing it that way and it’s a disgrace, it’s a disgrace to anyone in her congressional district who voted for her."

On fellow freshman Democrat Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who leapt to Omar's defense, Christie dismissed her as nothing more than a flash in the pan.

“This is the problem with people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They like to talk a lot, but they don’t want to be held responsible for anything they say, and the fact is that to diminish the attacks on 9/11, the greatest attack ever perpetrated on this country, on our soil from a terrorist organization, is to demean the lives that were lost that day, both among those who were in those buildings and on those planes, and those who lost their lives trying to save them.

ILHAN OMAR, IN BIZARRE CLIP, JOKES ABOUT PEOPLE SAYING 'AL QAEDA' IN MENACING TONE

"What she should do is apologize, and be done with it, because there’s no justifying it, and listen, part of it too Brian, is I’m so tired of hearing 'AOC' as she’s called, being given airtime in this country. She’s a joke.

"She got elected because a member of Congress [Joe Crowley] went to sleep and never went back to his district and was too busy running for speaker rather than running to keep his congressional seat and I think she will be seen ultimately as an asterisk in history because I can’t imagine she will stay all that long.

Omar told a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) fundraiser earlier this week: “CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something, and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties."

CAIR was actually founded in 1994.

Her comments have drawn ire from the likes of Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, and the New York Post, which published a dramatic front page Thursday with an infamous photo of New York City’s Twin Towers on fire on the day of the attacks.

ROD ROSENSTEIN SAYS IT'S 'COMPLETELY BIZARRE' TO SAY WILLIAM BARR IS 'TRYING TO MISLEAD PEOPLE' ON MUELLER REPORT

The page read: “Here’s your something: 2,977 people dead by terrorism.”

Christie also offered his thoughts about Julian Assange, calling him a "villain"

“In the end, I think Assange is a criminal and I think that’s what’s going to be proven when he’s brought to an American courtroom," he told Brian Kilmeade.

And on Bill Barr's testimony earlier this week, and James Comey's subsequent comments attempting to dismiss it, he said: "Jim has completely taken leave of his senses and to try to defend the indefensible, which goes all the way back to his conduct and what he said about Hillary Clinton in the summer of 2016, the letter he wrote in the fall of 2016, Jim is still trying to defend the indefensible.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

"How is electronic surveillance not spying? You’re in a covert way, gathering information from someone who doesn’t know you’re doing it. Sounds like spying to me. Now it may be legal, and may have been justified and AG may look at this and say, you know what, under all the circumstances I think opening the counter-intelligence investigation was legally justified."

Source: Fox News Politics

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Euro zone retail sales stronger than expected in February

Vintage cameras are on decorative display in the shop window of a photo studio in Altenburg
Vintage cameras are on decorative display in the shop window of a photo studio in Altenburg, September 10, 2014. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo

April 3, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone retail sales, an indication of domestic demand, were stronger than expected in February, led by a jump in sales of non-food products, data showed on Wednesday.

The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said retail sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.4 percent month-on-month for a 2.8 percent year-on-year gain.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.2 percent monthly increase and a 2.3 percent annual rise.

Eurostat said sales of clothes and shoes rebounded from a 0.6 percent slump in January to a 1.9 percent month-on-month rise in February and were 2.0 percent higher than a year earlier.

In year-on-year terms, sales over the internet showed the strongest gain, up 8.8 percent in February and accelerating from a 6.8 percent increase in January.

(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

Source: OANN

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EU sees economic splits as half of member states face differing gaps

A man reads a newspaper at a coffee shop in central Athens
A man reads a newspaper at a coffee shop in central Athens, Greece, November 21, 2018. REUTERS/Costas Baltas

February 27, 2019

By Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Half of European Union countries are experiencing economic imbalances that differ widely, the EU Commission said on Wednesday, as the bloc discusses how to improve convergence among its 27 members after Britain leaves.

In a regular check-up of EU governments’ economic policies and achievements, the Commission renewed its warning that gaps that are harmful to the whole bloc not being addressed in several states, while a growing number of them face shortfalls.

As economic growth slows, “challenges vary significantly across countries and call for appropriate and determined policy action,” the Commission said in its report.

Thirteen states were rebuked for their economic imbalances, two more than in last year’s assessment.

Of them, Italy, Greece and Cyprus were found to have “excessive” shortfalls which would require swift corrective action. The Commission was mostly worried by the high ratio of bad loans in their banking sectors and their large public and private debt.

Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Croatia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Sweden also have imbalances although less acute than the three Mediterranean states, the commission said. Croatia’s imbalances are no longer considered excessive.

None of these countries have sufficiently narrowed the gaps the Commission had highlighted in a report last year, in a sign that EU’s fiscal recommendations have so far been largely ignored in national capitals.

Problems also differ among countries, with France affected by low productivity, Italy hit by high unemployment and debt and Germany lagging on investments.

CASH FOR REFORMS?

The EU monitoring was launched after the 2008-09 global financial crisis to address national economic imbalances that could weaken the EU economy.

However, major shortfalls have not been tackled by EU states. For example, Italy’s large public sector debt has not dropped and Germany has maintained an excessive trade surplus.

Structural reforms have also stalled in recent years in many countries of the bloc. “To unlock the full growth potential of our economies, we need structural reforms,” the Commission’s vice-president in charge of financial stability Valdis Dombrovskis said in a statement.

In a bid to address these shortfalls and lower economic divergences among EU states, the Commission last year proposed to set up a 25-billion-euro ($28.4 billion) EU fund to help countries that embark on structural reforms, such as of their pensions systems or labor markets.

Germany and France, the two largest countries of the bloc, supported the cash-for-reform plan in a blueprint agreed last week, but a fund will only be set up if there is backing from all EU states. Not all countries support the plan.

If agreed, the fund could begin financing reforms from 2021 when the new long-term EU budget will start.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)

Source: OANN

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Democrats Stand With Bernie, Support Voting Rights for Terrorists and Rapists

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Source: InfoWars

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Paralympics: IPC lays down strict criteria for Russia reinstatement

Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Paralympics
FILE PHOTO: Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Paralympics - Closing Ceremony - Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium - Pyeongchang, South Korea - March 18, 2018 - President of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons speaks during the closing ceremony. REUTERS/Carl Recine

March 15, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has set down a long list of conditions Russia must meet for the next four years to avoid having a doping-related suspension reinstated.

Russia’s Paralympic Committee (RPC) was officially welcomed back into the fold on Friday after a 30-month suspension imposed over allegations of state-sponsored doping was lifted.

But it was left in no doubt that the lifting of the suspension would be revoked should the RPC be found in breach of anti-doping rules until December, 2022.

“We are looking forward to welcoming the RPC back as an IPC member,” IPC President Andrew Parsons said in a statement.

“The organization should be under no illusions, however, that should it at any stage not meet the post-reinstatement criteria, the IPC Governing Board can reconsider its membership status. This could include the IPC revoking the conditional reinstatement.”

Conditions the RPC must satisfy include remaining compliant with all the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Program (including, in particular, the World Anti-Doping Code) and the IPC Anti-Doping Code.

Russia’s Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) must also avoid being declared “non-compliant” while Russian para athletes will only be allowed to compete in selected events if they have met minimum testing requirements for the prior six months.

In reinstating the RPC, the IPC said it had met 69 of the 70 criteria outlined in 2016 after it was suspended.

“It is now a much-improved organization from the time when it was suspended,” Parsons said.

The RPC has been barred from international competitions since August, 2016, following a two-part WADA-commissioned report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren in 2016 found evidence of a state-sponsored doping schemes across several sports and at the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi.

It meant Russian athletes were absent from the Rio Olympics in 2016 and last year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

The lifting of the ban clears the way for the Russian paralympic team to compete at next year’s Tokyo Games.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: OANN

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UK to block Huawei from core parts of 5G network: source

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Huawei Technologies is pictured in front of the German headquarters of the Chinese telecommunications giant in Duesseldorf
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Huawei Technologies is pictured in front of the German headquarters of the Chinese telecommunications giant in Duesseldorf, Germany, February 18, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo

April 24, 2019

Source: OANN

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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

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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

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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

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U.S. President Trump departs for travel to Indianapolis from the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said trade talks with China are going very well, as the world’s two largest economies seek to end talks with a trade agreement to defuse tensions.

Trump said on Thursday he would soon host China’s President Xi Jinping at the White House.

Earlier this week, the White House said that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would travel to Beijing for more talks on a trade dispute marked by tit-for-tat tariffs between the two countries.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments on North Korea this week following the Russian leader’s summit with Pyongyang’s Kim Jong Un.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump also said China was helping with efforts aimed at the denuclearization of North Korea.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Makini Brice; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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