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Anheuser-Busch InBev adds Citi, BAML to banks working on $5 billion Asian IPO: sources

FILE PHOTO: The logo of AB InBev is pictured outside the brewer's headquarters in Leuven
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Anheuser-Busch InBev is pictured outside the brewer's headquarters in Leuven, Belgium February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

April 15, 2019

By Julie Zhu and Julia Fioretti

HONG KONG (Reuters) – The world’s biggest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, has added Citigroup and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to the team of banks working on the sale of its Asia-Pacific business, three people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The two join Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, both of which are the sponsors, or leads, for the planned Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) which could raise up to $5 billion for the heavily indebted brewer, the people said, declining to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

With main markets China and Australia, the region last year made up 18 percent of group volume and 14 percent of underlying operating profit, which in turn rose 13 percent to $3.1 billion. It was not clear how much of the business was up for sale.

AB InBev and BAML did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Citi declined to comment.

The Leuven, Belgium-based maker of Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois brands aims to spin-off its Asia-Pacific business to reduce leverage, the people said.

AB InBev’s net debt stood at $102.5 billion at the end of December, a figure inflated by its late 2016 purchase of nearest rival SABMiller for around $100 billion. AB InBev wants to bring its net debt/EBITDA ratio to around two times from a multiple of 4.6 at the end of last year. With that goal, it has halved its proposed dividend and said payouts will only grow slowly.

While AB InBev’s shares have risen 19 percent since reporting forecast-beating earnings in February, the brewer is battling to reverse a longer share price decline. Over the past two years, its shares have fallen 24 percent, in contrast to rivals Heineken and Carlsberg, which have gained 15 and 28 percent respectively.

The IPO would not be the first time AB InBev has sold Asia-Pacific assets to reduce debt. After InBev bought Anheuser-Busch in 2008, AB InBev sold South Korean unit Oriental Brewery to private equity firm KKR – only to buy it back in 2014.

The IPO is slated for the second half of the year and the brewer expects to file with the Hong Kong stock exchange in the first half, the people said. One of the people said the filing would happen either later this month or early May.

At $5 billion, the IPO could be the largest in Hong Kong this year, where the flood of companies looking to go public has slowed to a trickle.

Companies have raised $2.9 billion through Hong Kong listings so far this year, lagging the $6.4 billion raised on New York’s Nasdaq, showed Refinitiv data as of Friday.

Hong Kong topped all other exchanges globally last year with stock market listings raising $36.3 billion. This year, however, is widely expected to be slower due to thinning numbers of Chinese companies looking to go public, particularly in tech.

(Reporting by Julie Zhu and Julia Fioretti; Additional reporting by Kane Wu in HONG KONG and Philip Blenkinsop in BRUSSELS; Editing by Jennifer Hughes and Christopher Cushing)

Source: OANN

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Trump: I Can’t Be Impeached

President Donald Trump on Monday tweeted he can't be impeached, denying claims he obstructed justice concerning special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

"Only high crimes and misdemeanors can lead to impeachment," Trump tweeted. "There were no crimes by me (No Collusion, No Obstruction), so you can't impeach. It was the Democrats that committed the crimes, not your Republican President! Tables are finally turning on the Witch Hunt!"

Several Democrats have called for impeachment following the release of Mueller's report, which details at least 10 times Trump might have obstructed justice, though the special counsel did not conclude the president committed a crime.

Mueller wrote "the president's efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the president declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is scheduled to host a conference call Monday with House Democrats to formulate a strategy following the report's release.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., told NBC News on Sunday  he has not ruled out impeachment, but said Congress will "have to hear from" Mueller and Attorney General William Barr before they can proceed, if they choose to impeach.

"Some of this would be impeachable," Nadler said, referring to the allegations in the report. "Obstruction of justice, if proven, would be impeachable."

Source: NewsMax America

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George Washington's Farewell Address to be read on Senate floor in annual tradition

Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., will follow an annual tradition when the Senate meets again next week.

The Senate returns to session next Monday afternoon. The first order of business is for Fischer to read George Washington’s Farewell Address aloud on the floor.

The annual oration stands as one of the Senate’s most enduring customs.

A senator has read the address every year since 1896.

In recent years, the spectacle comes around Presidents’ Day.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., had the honor last year. The list of readers includes the late Sens. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., John McCain, R-Ariz., Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz.,  Hubert Humphrey, D.-Minn., and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

But this year, Washington’s 32-page valedictory screed bears more weight than in years past. Washington was retiring to Mount Vernon when he wrote the speech to “friends and fellow-citizens.” He used the manifest to warn Americans of the dangers of partisanship and politics if they were to maintain values in the fledgling United States.

“It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another,” wrote Washington. “The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism.”

One wonders how many people will tune in to C-SPAN2 or digest Fischer’s recitation of Washington’s counsel next week.

Most senators will be jetting back to the Beltway after the Presidents’ Day recess, not yet on the ground to hear Fischer’s presentation. That’s ironic considering the debate which now simmers over whether President Trump overstepped presidential authority to redistribute money for his border wall. This is especially prescient considering how lawmakers guard Congressional prerogatives. Ceding power of the purse to the executive establishes a new precedent in American government. This is precisely the concern Washington raised when he spoke of “encroachment” and limiting power within “constitutional spheres.”

TRUMP NEEDS A TRANSFER, MAY HAVE TO ROB PETER TO PAY PAUL

Policymakers always have exercised a healthy tension between the legislative branch and the executive branch. But none other than Alexander Hamilton called for what he characterized as “energy” in the executive when writing Federalist #70, the precursor set of documents which helped form the Constitution.

Hamilton demanded an active executive to curb legislative overreaches and to pose as a bulwark against Congress. In this instance, Trump asserts there’s an emergency at the border. So he needs the wall. Maybe. Maybe not. But this is why the founders formed a system of checks and balances. There’s a question about just how much latitude the president has when it comes to repurposing funds Congress designated for something else. The Constitution grants Congress the exclusive power of the purse. All presidents can do is either sign or veto bills after lawmakers decide to spend money. Trump’s plan to rejigger billions of dollars of already appropriated spending by Congress could be a problem.

Presidents long have tested the parameters of executive authority. President Woodrow Wilson declared a “national emergency” in 1917 because of an “insufficiency of maritime tonnage” to carry U.S. agricultural and manufacturing commodities. Congress approved the National Emergencies Act of 1976, granting presidents the ability to act on any number of priorities they may deem an emergency. Presidents have declared 58 national emergencies since 1976. Thirty-one are renewed each year.

From a parliamentary perspective, Fox News is told that the National Emergencies Act is a legislative mess. It lacks focus, specificity and is inherently vague.

“It is not the gold standard for writing legislation,” confided one source.

That said, Congress can terminate declarations of national emergencies with the adoption of a joint resolution by both bodies of Congress. It needs a simple majority and must earn a presidential signature. If the president vetoes a House/Senate joint resolution, those bodies can move to override the veto with a two-thirds vote.

The House likely would seek action to revoke the national emergency as it pertains to the wall. But this process is far thornier in the Senate. The statute contains imprecise verbiage as to how the Senate may consider the legislation and whether certain, special procedural motions fly in the face of debating the statute. For instance, the law requires the Senate to vote on overturning the national emergency after “three days.” But what constitutes “three days?” Three full days of debate? A motion to adjourn is one of the most-privileged motions in the Senate. What happens if the Senate were to adjourn without first finishing work to repeal the national emergency?

CAPITOL GRAPPLES WITH COMPLICATED HISTORY ON RACE

As one source said to Fox News, “If (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell doesn’t want the resolution to come up, it won’t.”

When rushing to the Senate floor to announce that Trump would sign the spending package last week, McConnell also declared he was on board with the national emergency. A few weeks ago, McConnell’s position on Congressional action to rebuke a national emergency was hazier. But McConnell’s position grew definitive when asked by Fox News about Trump using executive authority to mine appropriations bills for wall funding.

“He ought to feel free to use whatever tools he wants to use to secure the border. I would not be troubled by that,” replied McConnell, R-Ky.

Democrats are apoplectic that Trump would go to such lengths to bypass Congress. Many Republicans are, too. That’s why a Senate vote to reverse the national emergency could prove so interesting. Some Senate Republicans also have shown a willingness to buck Trump when it comes to foreign policy. Some Republicans have broken with the administration over an early withdrawal from Syria, relaxing of U.S. sanctions on Russia and how the president dealt with Saudi Arabia following the death of Jamal Khashoggi.

The other problem staring at the Trump administration is the “Youngstown Steel Case.” The 1952 Supreme Court case Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer is thought to be the most consequential rebuff of presidential powers in history. In fact during his confirmation hearing, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh cited the case as one of the most important rulings ever handed down by the High Court. It’s possible Trump could face a dim view on his expansion of appropriation powers at the Supreme Court. Moreover, it will be interesting to see how Kavanaugh interprets the president’s maneuver, considering his testimony about “Youngstown Steel” last year.

The question on the table is why Congress should exist if the president is able to trample on legislative spending authority.

The late Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., long worried about what would happen to Congress if it forked over powers to the executive branch. Byrd cited the decline of the Roman Senate once the executive seized the power of the purse.

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“The United States Senate would have set its foot on the same road to decline, subservience, impotence and feebleness that the Roman Senate followed in its own descent into ignominy, cowardice and oblivion,” warned Byrd.

But you don’t have to study the Romans. Consider the warnings Washington issued in his 1796 Farewell Address. Fischer will lay those all out before the Senate next Monday afternoon.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Britain’s Boris Johnson criticized for failing to declare stake in property

Former British Foreign Secretary Johnson walks after leaving Cabinet Office in London
Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson walks after leaving the Cabinet Office in London, Britain March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

April 8, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Boris Johnson has been reprimanded for a second time in five months by the British parliament’s standards watchdog for failing to declare private income within the correct time limits.

The office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards found Johnson was a year late in registering a 20 percent share in a property in Somerset, in the west of England, from which he drew rental income.

It criticized what it described as Johnson’s “lack of respect” and accused him of “a pattern of behavior” after he had to apologize in December for failing to declare royalties from books he has written.

Johnson’s parliamentary office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The standards commission said Johnson displayed “an over-casual attitude toward obeying the rules”. It said Johnson was “not demonstrating the leadership” expected of a senior member of parliament.

Johnson, who led the 2016 Brexit campaign, is viewed as a possible contender to replace Prime Minister Theresa May as Conservative Party leader.

Since resigning as foreign secretary last year in opposition to May’s Brexit plans, Johnson has been writing a weekly column for Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, on a yearly salary of 275,000 pounds ($358,820).

In December, Johnson apologized for failing to declare almost 53,000 pounds earnings on time.

(Reporting By Andrew MacAskill; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

Source: OANN

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China’s crowded co-working industry turns to services amid funding crunch

A room is seen at UCommune coworking space in Shanghai
A room is seen at UCommune coworking space in Shanghai, China March 7, 2019. Picture taken March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song

March 18, 2019

By Clare Jim and Brenda Goh

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Co-working space operators in China are shifting their focus from ambitious expansion plans to services such as customizing offices for clients, as rising vacancy rates and tighter financing slow their exponential growth of the past two years.

The strategy shift marks a turn of fortunes for the Chinese co-working industry, whose rapid expansion has helped operators such as Ucommune, MyDreamPlus and Kr Space raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

The combined area of co-working space in four first-tier cities in China surged by almost 60 percent between the end of 2017 and October last year, according to industry association China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce.

However, 40 percent of the co-working centers were more than half empty as of October and 40 co-working brands had shut in the first 10 months of 2018, it added.

“There’s a shake-out in the flexible office space,” said Paul Salnikow, global CEO of The Executive Center, which entered China in 2001 and currently operates 45 premium flexible working centers in nine Chinese cities.

“Since November, we’ve seen operators in China walking away from centers, trying to give it back to the landlord. We’ve been offered furniture from some of these people, saying they’re trying to raise money.”

A common solution for firms appears to be diversification into services that require less capital investment, such as office design and management.

“Our focus this year is ‘management output’,” Mao Daqing, founder of Ucommune, one of the largest co-working space operators in China, told Reuters.

The company expected to partner with enterprise clients and open another 30 flexible working centers for them this year, providing design and management services, from 15 currently, he said. Ucommune’s own branded centers would add five to 10 more to the over 200 already in place.

U.S.-based WeWork started providing such services in China last year and also plans to grow the business.

One industry executive who declined to be identified told Reuters the asset-light model helped to shift rental costs to clients, boosting income.

LANDLORDS AT RISK

A survey of Chinese flexible working space operators by real estate consultancy CBRE in January found that around 68 percent planned to slow or halt expansion this year.

But the rise in vacancy rates and operators dropping out of the business could also spell trouble for Chinese office landlords, especially in major cities like Shanghai where co-working is more common than the rest of Asia-Pacific.

“Co-working operators need to go further asset-light and slow one-off CAPEX investment to stay in operation,” said Virginia Huang, CBRE Greater China managing director of advisory and transaction services.

“What this means is landlords also share some risks of this industry, not only the operators.”

Terms of underwriting co-operating operators are also changing, with landlords bearing more costs and risks.

Stanley Ching, Citic Capital’s head of property, said operators were increasingly seeking fit-out subsidies and leasing on profit-sharing models with landlords, as they become more reluctant to pay high rents to secure space.

LaSalle Investment Management, which rents space to co-working operators in China, said picking the right operators and limiting exposure was crucial.

“They’re not recession-proof yet; they haven’t gone through a recession, we don’t know who’s going to survive or who’s not,” said Elysia Tse, LaSalle IM Asia Pacific head of research and strategy.

“So we’ll make sure our portfolio of co-working tenants is a small minority portion.”

One positive trend for co-working operators is the growth in demand from larger corporates amid China’s broader economic slowdown.

“As companies’ outlook on the economy turns conservative and they want to save office costs, they turn to co-working space which provides flexibility,” said Ucommune’s Mao.

“Our clients for office design service also increased for this reason.”

(Reporting by Clare Jim and Brenda Goh; Additional reporting by Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Source: OANN

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Tanzania to ban single-use plastics by July: environment minister

FILE PHOTO: Plastic straws are on display in a shop in Nice
FILE PHOTO: Plastic straws are on display in a shop in Nice, France, November 22, 2018. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo

April 8, 2019

DODOMA (Reuters) – Tanzania plans to ban the production, importation, sale and use of all single-use plastic bags by July, to help tackle pollution from non-biodegradable waste.

The East African nation is the latest country to make a formal commitment to phase out single-use non-biodegradable plastics, which have been identified by the United Nations as one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges.

    Of the 9 billion tonnes of plastic the world has produced, only 9 percent has been recycled, according to U.N. estimates.

Tanzania will join more than 60 other countries that have banned, partly banned or taxed single-use plastic bags, including China, France, Kenya, Rwanda and Italy.

In August 2017, neighboring Kenya introduced one of the world’s toughest bans on plastic bags mandating four years in prison or a fine of $40,000 for even using one.

    “The regulations are ready for publication … it is possible that July 1 will mark the end of the use of plastics in the country,” Tanzania’s Environment Minister January Makamba told Parliament on Monday. 

    Makamba said a formal announcement on the ban of single-use plastic bags in Tanzania would likely be made later this month. 

(Reporting by Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala; Editing by George Obulutsa and Hugh Lawson)

Source: OANN

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Pelosi confident Democrats will retain control of House in 2020 elections

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in an interview published Sunday she's confident the Democrats will retain control of the House of Representatives in the 2020 elections.

What’s more, Pelosi said she’ll be able to secure the Democratic majority for another term by this coming November – a full year before voters head to the polls.

“I’m going to have our races won by this November,” Pelosi told The Washington Post. The speaker also laid out a stark warning to Republicans – calling incumbents in swing districts “vulnerable” and telling GOP challengers to “think twice” about running.

WASHINGTON POST OPINION WRITER: 'NANCY PELOSI JUST BLEW IT ON IMPEACHMENT'

"It’s going to cost you millions of dollars, to win or lose. And if you win — say you win — you’re in the minority," Pelosi said.

Pelosi’s comments came just months after the Democrats took control of the House, ending eight years of GOP control. The Democrats saw a net gain of 40 seats in the House.

While House Democrats have stymied many of President Trump’s plans, the party has had mixed results with its agenda since taking control due to the White House and Senate still sitting in Republican hands.

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Trump last week also vowed that the Republican Party would regain control of the House in the 2020 election.

"We’re going to take the House back. We are,” the president said during a speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual spring dinner. “I feel totally confident.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan

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

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

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

WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?

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

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

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

HOW DOES IMPEACHMENT PLAY OUT?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CAN THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN?

No.

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

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

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

PROOF OF WRONGDOING?

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

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

PARTY BREAKDOWN IN CONGRESS?

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

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

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

WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED?

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

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

Source: OANN

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