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Woman who shoved friend off bridge gets jail, work crew

A woman who pleaded guilty to pushing her 16-year-old friend from a bridge at a popular swimming area near Vancouver has been sentenced to two days in jail and 38 days on a county work crew.

The Columbian reports Clark County District Court Judge Darvin Zimmerman sentenced 19-year-old Tay'lor Smith Wednesday.

Prosecutors had recommended a sentence with no jail time. Smith pleaded guilty earlier this month to misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

Smith pushed Jordan Holgerson off the bridge Aug. 7 at Moulton Falls northeast of Vancouver.

Video posted on YouTube that went viral shows Holgerson being pushed.

Holgerson broke ribs and punctured her lungs in a fall of over 50 feet (15 meters). Holgerson says she's dealt with anxiety and panic attacks since the incident.

In an interview on "Good Morning America" Smith said she didn't consider the repercussions.

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Information from: The Columbian, http://www.columbian.com

Source: Fox News National

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One person dies as police clash with protesters at Indian aluminum plant

FILE PHOTO: A view of Vedanta Limited alumina refinery is seen in Lanjigarh
FILE PHOTO: A view of Vedanta Limited alumina refinery is seen in Lanjigarh in the eastern state of Odisha, India, June 5, 2018. REUTERS/Krishna N. Das/File Photo

March 18, 2019

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – At least one person died in clashes between police and protesters outside Vedanta Ltd’s aluminum plant in the eastern state of Odisha, the company said on Monday.

The incident comes less than a year after police opened fire on demonstrators protesting against the operation of another Vedanta plant, its copper smelter in Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu state, killing 13 people.

Vedanta said in a statement to Reuters that one person had died and more people had been injured in the clashes outside its Lanjigarh plant.

“As per the update from the hospital, one of the injured protesters lost his life,” Vedanta said in a statement to Reuters.

“The local Odisha Industrial Security Force personnel (OISF), who intervened were attacked by the protesters during which some protesters and OISF personnel got injured,” the company said, referring to a state security force that is under police command.

Vedanta did not comment on what the demands of the protesters were. Media in Odisha reported that they had been agitating for jobs for local people.

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Martin Howell & Simon Cameron-Moore)

Source: OANN

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Iowa cops catch 3 children leaping from burning apartment

A video shows four senior police officers in Des Moines, Iowa, rescuing three children from an apartment fire early Tuesday.

KCCI said the officers, Cole Johnson, Craig Vasquez, Tyler Kelley and Casey Sanders, caught the children as they dropped down to safety from a third-floor window.

Firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire, which they were able to contain to two apartments on the third floor, the news outlet reported.

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All residents got out safely.

“Please join us in thanking these officers, and those who serve with them, for leaving their homes every day to help make Des Moines the safe and secure city that it is!” the police department wrote on Facebook.

Frank Miles is a reporter and editor covering geopolitics, military, crime, technology and sports for FoxNews.com. His email is Frank.Miles@foxnews.com.

Source: Fox News National

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The Latest: Some children shackled by couple to be in court

The Latest on the sentencing of a California couple who starved and abused a dozen of their children for years (all times local):

9:50 a.m.

Some of the children of a California couple convicted of torturing them for years are expected to be in court for their parents' sentencing.

It's the first time the children will have been seen publicly since the arrest of their parents, David and Louise Turpin. They have the right to address the court to say how they've been impacted by the abuse.

Judge Bernard Schwartz says they're not allowed to be filmed or photographed by assembled members of the media.

The Turpins are expected to be sentenced to at least 25 years in prison Friday. They pleaded guilty in February to torture and other abuse that was uncovered when their 17-year-old daughter jumped out a window and called 911.

Most of the Turpins' 13 children were severely underweight and hadn't bathed for months. They ranged in age from 2 to 29.

___

12:01 a.m.

A California couple who starved a dozen of their children and shackled some to beds face sentencing for years of abuse.

David and Louise Turpin are due Friday in Riverside County Superior Court for a proceeding that is largely a formality.

The couple pleaded guilty in February to torture and other abuse and agreed to serve at least 25 years in prison.

The abuse was uncovered last year when one of the couple's 13 children jumped out a window and called 911. The 17-year-old girl had lived such an isolated life that she didn't know her address and didn't know what medication meant.

Most of the children ranging in age from 2 to 29 were severely underweight and hadn't bathed for months. The house reeked of human waste.

Source: Fox News National

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Poland holds meetings on improving education after strike

A nationwide teachers' strike is spurring Poland's government to hold meetings with educators, parents and experts to discuss ways to improve the country's public schools.

Teachers' unions refused to participate in Friday's talks to protest the government's refusal to grant pay increases, the unmet demand behind the nearly three-week strike that closed a majority of schools.

The unions have suspended the strike until September to allow for end-of-high-school exams and to give the government time to propose ways to satisfy teachers.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said improvements to the education system are urgently need to allow for better salaries and higher quality teaching.

Teachers want a 30% raise to their monthly earnings, which range from 1,800 zlotys to 3,000 zlotys ($470 to $780.)

Source: Fox News World

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Creator of YouTube channel abused 7 adopted children who starred in videos watched by millions, police say

An Arizona woman's seven adopted children were a hit performing on her YouTube channel “Fantastic Adventures” -- which had nearly 800,000 followers -- but behind the camera, the 48-year-old woman beat the kids, doused them with pepper spray and locked them in a closet for days without food, water or bathroom access, according to court documents.

Machelle Hackney was arrested last Friday at her home in Maricopa — where the alleged abuse of her adopted children occurred — on charges of child molestation, child abuse, unlawful punishment and child neglect. Hackney’s two sons, Logan and Ryan Hackney, were also arrested for failing to report the abuse of a minor, FOX10 Phoenix reported.

Authorities began investigating the Hackneys on March 13 when they received a report regarding child abuse in the household. A person contacted police saying her adoptive sister was being pepper sprayed, locked in the closet — dubbed the green screen room — for days without food, water or access to a bathroom, court documents stated. The individual said her six other siblings were also allegedly being abused in the same way.

HUSBAND OF MURDERED NORTH CAROLINA WOMAN DIANA KEEL ARRESTED 34 MILES FROM ARIZONA-MEXICO BORDER

Police conducted a welfare check at Hackney’s home and found a child wearing only a pull-up diaper inside a closet with a locking mechanism. The six other children in the house appeared to be malnourished.

Hackney’s two son, Logan and Ryan Hackney, were also arrested for failing to report the abuse of a minor.

Hackney’s two son, Logan and Ryan Hackney, were also arrested for failing to report the abuse of a minor. (Pinal County Sheriff's Office)

The children, who were removed from the home, later detailed to investigators the alleged torture they endured in the house, including being drenched in pepper spray from head-to-toe, spanked and forced to take ice baths, FOX10 reported. Hackney would allegedly dunk the children’s head underwater when they disobeyed, and forced them to stand in the corner with their arms raised above their head for several hours.

“I either get beat with a hanger or belt, or a brush, or get pepper-sprayed from head to toe,” one of the children told police, according to court documents.

Two of the children told authorities Hackney sometimes grabbed and injured their private parts. One girl recalled being in pain for four to five days, documents stated.

NURSE ACCUSED OF IMPREGNATING INCAPACITATED WOMAN AT ARIZONA FACILITY FIGHTING STD TESTS

Authorities said the adopted children haven’t been in school for years because Hackney needed them for her popular YouTube videos, which had more than 250 million views by Wednesday. The children said Hackney would discipline them if they didn’t remember their lines or perform the way she wanted.

On the “Fantastic Adventures” YouTube channel that began in 2012, the children were painted in a vastly different light while acting out elaborate 10-to 15-minute skits. They’re spotted sometimes eating, talking about homework, playing games in a fantasy world concocted by Hackney. The show’s Instagram page also showed pictures of the children smiling, and in a February post, spoke about a girl’s journey from foster care to Hackney’s house.

Logan Hackney admitted his mother had abused the children and locked them in the closet for a long period of time. Hackney had denied the abuse allegations and said she only punished the children by making them stand in corners, spanking and grounding them, FOX10 reported.

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YouTube said in a statement to the Arizona Republic that Hackney’s channel was demonetized following her arrest. The channel will be taken down if she is convicted or pleads guilty to the felony charges.

"We take safety on YouTube very seriously," the statement read. "We work closely with leading child safety organizations and others in our industry to protect young people. When we’re made aware of serious allegations of this nature we take action, which may include suspending monetization, or, upon conclusion of an investigation, terminating channels."

Source: Fox News National

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Japan plans tighter oversight of regional banks’ profits

FILE PHOTO : Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a news conference at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO : Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a news conference at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo, Japan October 31, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

April 3, 2019

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s financial watchdog on Wednesday proposed rules to expand its oversight of regional banks, including broad stress tests, with more focus on lenders’ future profitability.

The move comes in the wake of growing concern among policymakers over the plight of regional banks, which have seen profits hit by years of ultra-low interest rates and an exodus of borrowers moving to bigger cities as the population shrinks.

Under current regulations aimed at pre-empting regional bank failures, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) has focused on whether commercial banks meet minimum capital adequacy ratios and past data in determining whether they are deemed financially viable.

The new rules would include the FSA verifying banks’ core net income and capital adequacy under certain stress conditions for up to five years into the future, and doing this each fiscal year.

The regulator will conduct stress tests to identify which banks could fail to meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio of 4 percent if a big shock, such as a spike in interest rates or credit costs, hits.

If banks fail the stress tests, they could be slapped with business improvement orders.

To help lenders struggling to stay profitable amid low rates and a declining population, a government panel on Wednesday also discussed a plan to ease antitrust rules that will enable some regional banks to merge on a limited basis.

Many Japanese regional banks are grappling with diminishing returns from their traditional lending business, hit by a low-interest rate environment amid the Bank of Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has said the central bank will be more mindful of the rising demerits of prolonged easing. But he has also stressed the central bank’s priority is to achieve its 2 percent inflation target, signaling that money policy will remain ultra-loose for some time.

(Reporting by Takahiko Wada; Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By John Stonestreet and Belén Carreño

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TRENDING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of the OPEC is seen at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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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)

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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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