Charles Kushner, the father of President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, argued in a rare opinion piece his family real estate business is healthy and took several steps to prevent a conflict of interest when Jared Kushner joined the Trump administration more than two years ago.
Writing for The Washington Post, Charles Kushner made the case his son helped steer Kushner Companies down the path to massive success as CEO from 2008-2017. He focused on the company's 2007 purchase of 666 Fifth Ave. in New York City for most of his piece.
"Critics of our 666 Fifth Ave. purchase often focus their attacks on my son Jared Kushner, who became chief executive in 2008. That criticism is also baseless," the elder Kushner wrote. "You wouldn't know it from the way his nine-year stewardship of the company has been portrayed, but before he resigned to join the Trump administration in 2017, Jared led major property acquisitions worth more than $5 billion, and the company grew from about 50 employees to more than 700.
"We now have more than $7 billion of assets under management."
Kushner then outlined some of the steps the company took as his son was preparing to work in the White House.
"When he left the company, Jared took several steps to preclude conflicts of interest. At the recommendation of his legal counsel, in consultation with the Office of Government Ethics, he divested from more than 80 partnerships, including 666 Fifth Ave., at a substantial financial sacrifice," Kushner wrote.
"We walled off Jared from receiving information on the company, and he resigned as the controlling partner in more than 100 entities. This was all done out of an abundance of caution."
The executive order would speed up recovery efforts, including expediting forest thinning programs. It would also sidestep some environmental regulations and has garnered criticism from some conservation groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, The Sacramento Bee said.
“We share Governor Newsom’s desire for urgent action on wildfires, but for decades now, harmful logging-based strategies have failed to keep Californians safe,” the director for the center, Shaye Wolf, said in a statement.
The Camp Fire, which burned 153,336 acres in Northern California last November, killing 85 people and destroying 18,804 structures, was California’s deadliest wildfire ever, according to Cal Fire.
Newsom said “extreme peril” to the life and property necessitates the emergency declaration. “The increasing wildfire risks we face as a state mean we simply can’t wait until a fire starts in order to start deploying emergency resources. California needs sustained focus and immediate action in order to better protect our communities,” he added in a statement.
The order will prioritize 467 acres of forest thinning as well as nearly 7,000 acres of fuel reduction projects in the middle part of the state with a total of 94,000 acres of forestry work across the state, according to a Cal Fire report cited by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Newsom is expected to sign the executive order Friday in Lake County, near the location of 2018's Mendocino Complex Fire that burned 48,920 acres and killed one firefighter, according to Cal Fire.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina – Bosnian police say they have detained three people at two separate locations on suspicion of attempting to smuggle 19 migrants through the Balkan country.
A statement on Tuesday says two suspected people smugglers were detained in area of Tuzla, in central Bosnia, with twelve migrants from Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.
In a separate action, police say they detained one person Monday and prevented the illegal transfer of seven Turkish citizens from Bosnia to neighboring European Union member state Croatia.
Police say they used thermal cameras to locate the migrants who were hiding in ditches in the area of Corkovaca, near the Bosnia-Croatia border.
Thousands of migrants have been stuck in Bosnia as they seek to move on toward Western Europe. Migrants mostly travel illegally with the help of people smugglers.
Veteran broadcaster Lou Dobbs noted Tuesday that the decision to dismiss any notion that the Notre Dame fire could have been a deliberate act was based on politics, rather than any investigation of the facts.
“One thing authorities are ruling out, however, within just a matter of hours, arson,” Dobbs stated.
“That was a decision made within hours. It sounds like a different kind of decision,”Dobbs added.
“Perhaps a political decision rather than one based on careful investigation of the facts.” he further told viewers.
Dobbs cited the enormous amount of attacks on Catholic churches in France last year alone as a reason why it is entirely valid for anyone to wonder if the Notre Dame fire was set deliberately.
“Perhaps overlooked since yesterday is 875 Catholic churches in France were vandalized in 2018 — 875! In a single week last month, 12 churches were vandalized, including a fire deliberately set at a church also located in Paris.” Dobbs urged.
“This is context, this is not speculation, this is the situation right now in France and the recent history of what has happened to Catholic churches throughout the nation.” he added.
“Ignored too often by some covering the tragedy, some who have ruled out ‘speculation’ about the cause of the Notre Dame fire as they speculate — taking it as gospel that arson was not the cause.” Dobbs noted.
While many actually celebrated the fire, news networks declared it was a made up conspiracy theory that anyone was happy Notre Dame was burning.
Networks, including Fox News, actively shut down anyone who dared even suggest that arson should be looked into.
FILE - This combination of file photos provided on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017, by the Bucks County District Attorney shows Sara Packer, left, and Jacob Sullivan. Sullivan pleaded guilty Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019, to first-degree murder in the 2016 death of 14-year-old Grace Packer. Sullivan pleaded guilty to all charges in the 2016 death of Grace Packer. The penalty phase of his trial opens Friday, March 15, 2019 outside Philadelphia. A jury will hear testimony about Sullivan’s crimes before deciding on a sentence of either life in prison or death. (Bucks County District Attorney via AP, File)
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – A Pennsylvania jury will decide on life or death for a Pennsylvania man who pleaded guilty in the 2016 rape, murder and dismemberment of his girlfriend's teenage daughter.
Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to all charges last month in a case that raised questions about the child welfare system's failure to protect 14-year-old Grace Packer, who spent years in an abusive home before she was sexually violated, drugged and then, finally, strangled in the attic of a suburban Philadelphia home.
Prosecutors have said that Grace's adoptive mother, Sara Packer, watched Sullivan act out a rape-murder fantasy they shared. Sara Packer, a former foster parent and county adoptions supervisor, has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence and could be called to testify at the penalty phase of Sullivan's trial, which opens Friday outside Philadelphia.
Sullivan's attorneys plan to argue that Sara Packer masterminded the plot against Grace , and that Sullivan should be sentenced to life.
Packer and her husband at the time, David Packer, adopted Grace and her brother in 2007. The couple cared for dozens of foster children before David Packer was arrested in 2010 and sent to prison for sexually assaulting Grace and a 15-year-old foster daughter at their home in Allentown, about an hour north of Philadelphia. Sara Packer lost her job as a Northampton County adoptions supervisor in 2010 and was barred from taking in any more foster children.
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services launched an investigation after Grace Packer's murder but its findings have not been made public.
Sullivan beat and raped Grace, and she was tied up, drugged and left to die in a sweltering attic, authorities have said. Returning the next day and finding Grace was still alive, Sullivan strangled her, court documents said. The couple stored her body in cat litter for months, then hacked it up and dumped it in a remote area where hunters found it in October 2016, police have said.
Sullivan entered his guilty plea as jury selection was about to get underway. The jury that will decide his sentence must be unanimous in order to impose the death penalty; otherwise Sullivan will get life without parole.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf declared a moratorium on capital punishment shortly after taking office in 2015. Pennsylvania last carried out an execution in 1999.
An IRS analyst has been charged with leaking Michael Cohen's banking information to attorney Michael Avenatti.
According to CNN, John C. Fry — an investigative analyst within the law enforcement unit at the IRS — passed along suspicious activity reports regarding Cohen's banking habits. Cohen, who previously worked as President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, has since pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud.
Fry is charged with leaking the confidential documents to Avenatti, who has chased Trump and Cohen over hush payments made to his client and porn star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors said Fry also confirmed the existence of the activity reports to a New Yorker reporter, likely Ronan Farrow.
Fry was released on $50,000 bail Thursday.
Prosecutors said Fry, who works in the San Francisco IRS office, downloaded five suspicious activity reports in May 2018 that flagged unusual activity on an account belonging to Cohen. He is reported to have called a number associated with Avenatti minutes after he accused the documents. He is alleged to have called Avenatti and Farrow days later as well.
Fry's case has been under seal for months and he has yet to enter a plea. CNN reported he could be indicted Feb. 28, with more charges being added.
Three of Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen’s four children were among the nearly 300 people killed on Easter Sunday when Islamic suicide bombers attacked hotels and churches in Sri Lanka, a spokesperson for Povlsen's company confirmed.
Holch Povlsen, his wife Anne Holch Povlsen and the couple's four children were in Colombo during the Easter holiday when the suicide bombing occurred. They were staying at the Shangri-La hotel, which was targeted by two suicide bombers Sunday, Forbes reported.
"Unfortunately, we can confirm the reports," Bestseller spokesperson Jesper Stubkier told Forbes. "We ask you to respect the privacy of the family and we, therefore, have no further comments."
Anders Holch Povlsen and his wife Anne Holch Povlsen's three children were among the hundreds killed in the Sri Lanka attacks. (Getty Images)
The spokesman did not provide further information on where the Holch Povlsen family was when the attacks occurred. The identities of the children were not released.
An Instagram account identified as belonging to one of Holch Povlsen’s children featured a post from several days ago showing her and two of her siblings. The Instagram post has since been flooded with condolences for the family, though it's unclear if those pictured were the children who died.
The 46-year-old business tycoon is the richest person in Denmark with a net worth of $7.9 billion. He is the biggest shareholder of British online retailer Asos and the largest landowner in Scotland. Holch Povlsen also holds significant stakes in Zalando and Klarna.
Bestseller CEO Anders Holch Povlsen's three of four children were killed. (Getty Images)
Sunday’s coordinated bombings, which ripped through churches and luxury hotels, were carried out by seven suicide bombers from a militant group believed to be National Thowfeek Jamaath, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said.
Senaratne said the international intelligence agencies warned of attacks several times since the start of April, but Sri Lankan officials still failed to stop the deadly bombings.
A Sri Lankan Police officer inspects a blast spot at the Shangri-la hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (AP)
Among those killed was Dieter Kowalski, a 40-year-old man from Denver, Colo., who landed in the country on Sunday, his employer confirmed to FOX31.
“We mourn Dieter deeply today. We pray for his soul, and for his family and friends,” the email from Pearson’s CEO John Fallon said. “We pray, too, for our colleagues in Sri Lanka, and Denver, and Boston, and in Pearson offices around the world.”
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)
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)
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.
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.
(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)
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)
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)
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