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Israel could face austerity under next government

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon attend a ceremony for the signing of a housing agreement in Sderot
FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon attend a ceremony for the signing of a housing agreement in Sderot, Israel April 9, 2018. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

April 3, 2019

By Steven Scheer and Tova Cohen

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s economy has barely featured in the run-up to next week’s general election, yet the central bank and many economists warn the new government will need to cut spending and raise taxes to rein in a growing budget deficit.

The pre-election debate has been dominated by security issues and the possible indictments facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in corruption cases. Opinion polls ahead of the April 9 vote suggest a close race between the premier’s right-wing Likud party and the centrist Blue and White party.

Netanyahu, who has been in office for a decade, has long touted the economic successes of Israel. Indeed growth is robust, unemployment is low, the Israeli high-tech sector is second only to Silicon Valley globally and foreign investment is strong.

However he and his finance minister, Moshe Kahlon, have cut taxes while spending generously on policies like pay rises for police and subsidies for kindergartens in recent years, leading to a widening budget deficit.

Now the Bank of Israel and many economists warn that the economy is set to slow as a result of weaker global growth, which would hit Israeli exports. The central bank, which has started a gradual process of raising interest rates, said the next government would have to cut spending in coming months as well as raise some taxes.

Analysts expect the spending reductions and tax hikes to reach 10-12 billion shekels ($2.8-$3.3 billion) to narrow this year’s budget gap.

“The government that will be chosen will have to make fiscal adjustments,” said Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron. He added these steps should be taken when the economy was in good shape as they would be tougher to implement if conditions worsened.

“The grey clouds on the horizon should not be ignored,” he said on Sunday, referring to reductions in global growth forecasts.

A higher budget deficit and public debt reduce the ability of a country to withstand economic shocks, like another financial crisis, and can also threaten its credit rating and borrowing costs.

Ratings agencies Fitch and S&P said Israel was not at risk of a downgrade in the near term, but also stressed the next government would have to take steps to rein in the deficit.

The country’s budget deficit is projected by analysts to rise to close to 4 percent of gross domestic product this year – above a target of 2.9 percent. The deficit was 2.9 percent of GDP in 2018, widening to 3.5 percent in the 12 months to February this year.

The central bank believes the state must stick to a deficit target of 2.5 percent of GDP. At 3 percent, the public debt burden would rise from a current level of 61 percent to 65 percent of GDP by 2025, or as much as 75 percent should the economy worsen, Yaron warned.

The finance ministry, which expects a budget deficit of at least 3.5 percent this year, says the situation is being blown out of proportion, noting Israel is one of the only Western countries to have reduced its debt ratio over the past decade.

“There is a gap of 6 billion shekels that we need to close in a budget of 400 billion shekels … It’s not a big problem and certainly not a catastrophe,” Shai Babad, the ministry’s director general, told Reuters. “We are monitoring it. When you have 37.8 Celsius fever you don’t go to surgery.”

By comparison, the U.S. deficit is expected to be 5 percent of GDP in 2019, France’s deficit 2.8 percent, Spain’s 2.3 percent, Britain’s 1.7 percent and Germany’s 1.5 percent, according to International Monetary Fund estimates.

‘PUT BRAKES ON’

The next Israeli government is likely to be in place by late May.

Leader Capital Markets Chief Economist Jonathan Katz said the new administration could implement so-called fiscal consolidation measures in two stages – in the middle of this year and then in early 2020.

“I don’t think they will necessarily have to cut immediately the budget by 12 billion shekels and raise taxes, to put the brakes on right away and sharply. I think they have the leeway to do it in two stages,” he said.

“The budget should have been balanced by 2017 when you are at full employment, and this would allow you fiscal tools to expand spending during a slowdown.”

Finance ministry chief Babad said updated forecasts for state income and expenses would be available in June, when the ministry would determine if action was needed. The 2020 state budget is expected to be ready for a cabinet vote by early August, he added.

He said if there was an issue with Israel’s fiscal policies, global rating agencies would be more concerned.

Last week, Fitch affirmed its sovereign debt rating of ‘A+’ with a ‘stable’ outlook, but believes the new government must take steps to narrow the budget deficit.

Similarly, Standard & Poor’s last year raised its rating to ‘AA-‘ from ‘A+’, also with a stable outlook. It affirmed the rating in February.

“If the fiscal slippage or relaxation of fiscal performance were to be repeated or happen consistently, we might conclude that there is a shift in the government’s fiscal stance,” said Karen Vartapetov, a sovereign ratings director at S&P.

“The next government, whatever it might be, will have to take some difficult decisions including potential tax hikes or cost controls. This is for sure.”

(Reporting by Steven Scheer and Tova Cohen; Additional reporting by Jason Lange in Washington; Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: OANN

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Rivals in Ukraine’s presidential runoff debate at stadium

A comedian who is the front-runner in Ukraine's presidential race and the incumbent fighting to retain his job traded accusations in a debate at a sports stadium Friday, just two days before the election.

President Petro Poroshenko, who is trailing in opinion polls ahead of Sunday's presidential runoff, accused his rival, 41-year-old comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, of lacking the political experience needed to keep Ukraine on its pro-Western course and resist Russia's attempts to draw the country back into its orbit.

While Poroshenko charged that his rival lacks a clear program, Zelenskiy shot back, calling the president "a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Zelenskiy, who is widely popular for playing a Ukrainian president fighting corruption in a popular TV sitcom, held the Ukrainian leader responsible for the nation's economic woes and endemic corruption. He insisted that he would continue pushing Ukraine to further integrate into the West.

The debate was watched by some 60,000 people who packed the nation's largest sports arena in Kiev, backing their candidates with enthusiastic chants or booing their opponents.

Zelenskiy tried to put Poroshenko on the defensive, showering the billionaire candy tycoon-turned-president with questions about his business assets and associates of his who have been accused of corruption.

The actor said he voted for Poroshenko five years ago but later realized that "I made a mistake, we made a mistake."

"Could we imagine back then that a new way of life would in fact be a fight for survival?" Zelenskiy said, referring to the country's sharp plunge in living standards since the 2014 vote.

"I'm not a politician, I'm a simple man who has come to break that system," he said, echoing his sitcom character, a schoolteacher suddenly thrust into the presidential seat. "I'm the result of your promises and your mistakes."

Poroshenko shot back, arguing that the actor has failed to spell out his program and pointing at his business ties with self-exiled billionaire tycoon Ihor Kolomoyskyi, the president's archrival.

Poroshenko charged that Zelenskiy's victory would benefit Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and has backed separatist rebels in Ukraine's east ever since in fighting that has left 13,000 people dead.

"He would be a weak head of state unable to stand up to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," Poroshenko said. "An actor can't wage a war against Russia."

Zelenskiy sought to turn the tables on Poroshenko, accusing him of maintaining backdoor channels with the Kremlin and continuing to market his candy in Russia despite the bitter tug-of-war between the two neighbors.

"I will uphold Ukraine's European choice," he insisted.

At some point, both candidates came down to their knees to ask for forgiveness of those who lost their relatives in the five years of fighting in the east.

Prior to the debate, Poroshenko rallied thousands of his supporters at the capital's Independence Square, which was the heart of Ukraine's 2014 opposition protests that ousted the nation's former Russia-friendly president.

Lyudmila Soloveyko, a 56-year-old schoolteacher who went to the rally, said she's grateful to Poroshenko for "opening the door to Europe for Ukrainians," referring to the EU decision to scrap visas for traveling Ukrainians, which Poroshenko had lobbied for.

Zelenskiy has avoided a traditional political campaign, touring the country with his comedy show instead. In his rare interviews, he has pledged to continue the push for close ties with the EU and NATO but also spoke out for more active efforts to reintegrate the rebels in the east back into Ukraine's fold.

Zelenskiy's supporters scoffed at the president's claim that the actor would be easy prey for the Kremlin and pointed at the economic woes and corruption during Poroshenko's time at the helm.

"We have got tired of the old politicians who are good at nothing but talk," said 54-year-old sales clerk Yevgenia Ostroshitskaya. "Life only has been getting worse. Let Zelenskiy give it a try, he has done it well in the movies."

Zelenskiy won 30% of the vote in the March 31 first round vote while Poroshenko got 16%, and the gap has widened as Sunday's runoff has approached.

A poll released Thursday by the Rating agency suggested Zelenskiy has 58% support, while Poroshenko has just 22%. The poll of 3,000 people had a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points.

Source: Fox News World

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Sanders tops Biden in New Hampshire poll, as Buttigieg surges

A new poll in the state that holds the first primary in the race for the White House shows Sen. Bernie Sanders of neighboring Vermont leading in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The University of New Hampshire Granite State Poll also shows former Vice President Joe Biden a distant second, with South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg surging to third. And the survey, released Monday, puts Republican President Trump far ahead of his declared or potential primary rivals in New Hampshire’s GOP presidential primary, which will be held next February.

BIDEN EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE ON WEDNESDAY

According to the poll, 30 percent of likely Democratic primary voters in the Granite State say they’d back Sanders, the independent from Vermont who’s making his second straight run for the White House. Sanders crushed eventual nominee Hillary Clinton in the state’s 2016 Democratic primary. Biden, who’s expected to launch his White House bid this week, is at 18 percent, with Buttigieg at 15 percent.

Sanders held at 26-22 percent edge over Biden in UNH’s previous poll, which was conducted in February. Buttigieg stood at just one percent in that survey.

SOME SANDERS BACKERS UPSET WITH BUTTIGIEG

“While Biden continues to garner the second most support among likely Democratic Primary voters, his share of support has fallen considerably since early 2018, while support for Sanders has remained largely steady as he has lead the field over the past year,” explained UNH pollster Andrew Smith.

The UNH survey differs from a Saint Anselm College Survey Center poll released two weeks ago. That survey indicated Biden on top, at 23 percent, with Sanders at 16 percent and Buttigieg in third at 11 percent.

THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2020 POLL

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of neighboring Massachusetts stood at 5 percent in the new UNH survey.

“Warren, while still among the top five Democratic candidates, continues to experience far less support than she enjoyed in 2017 and 2018,” Smith pointed out.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California registered at 4 percent, with Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas at 3 percent, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, and New York entrepreneur Andrew Yang at 2 percent.

Sen. Kirsten Gillbrand of New York, Reps. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and Eric Swalwell of California, and Miramar, Florida Mayor Wayne Messam registered at 1 percent, with everyone else in the large field of Democratic presidential contenders at less than 1 percent.

Biden and Sanders have topped nearly every single national and early primary and caucus state poll in recent months. Name recognition is a likely contributing factor, as early polling in an election cycle is often heavily influenced by name ID.

Fifty-one percent of likely Democratic primary voters said they would like to see Biden run, with 36 percent saying they hoped the former vice president wouldn’t launch a presidential bid.

Thirty percent said Sanders is the Democratic candidate with the best chance to defeat the president in the 2020 general election, with 25 percent indicating Biden had the best shot of topping Trump.

In the GOP primary race, the poll indicates Trump enjoys 76 percent support among likely Republican primary voters, with former Ohio Gov. John Kasich at 10 percent. Kasich, a vocal critic of the president who came in second to Trump in the 2016 New Hampshire primary, is mulling a 2020 bid.

TRUMP CHALLENGER WELD ENVISIONS MCCAIN-STYLE PATH TO PRIMARY VICTORY

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who last week launched his primary challenge run against the president and immediately came to New Hampshire to campaign, stands at 5 percent support. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who’s mulling a primary challenge, stands at 1 percent. Hogan comes to New Hampshire on Tuesday to headline ‘Politics and Eggs,’ a must stop for White House hopefuls.

The Granite State Poll was conducted April 10-18 by the University of New Hampshire, with 549 randomly selected Granite State adults interviewed by live telephone operators. The survey’s sampling error for the 241 likely Democratic primary voters was plus or minus 6.3 percentage points.

Source: Fox News Politics

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7-phased voting for India's national election in April, May

India's Election Commission has announced that the upcoming national election will be held in seven phases in April and May as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party seeks a second term.

Chief election commissioner Sunil Arora said Sunday the election will be held April 11, 18 and 23, and May 6, 12 and 19.

About 900 million people are eligible to vote in a staggered process allowing the government to deploy tens of thousands of troops to prevent violence and the capture of voting stations by party activists.

The votes will be counted May 23.

Modi's Bhartiya Janata Party hopes the government's recent tough stand against Pakistan will help it retain popularity despite suffering a setback in December when it lost three key state elections to the Congress party.

Source: Fox News World

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Dem lawmakers who voted against Starr report release now pushing for Mueller report

Reps. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and 14 other Democrats currently in the House voted in 1998 against releasing the Starr Report about President Bill Clinton.

But 21 years later, many of those Democratic lawmakers are some of the most ardent voices in Congress pushing for the full release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler, Oversight Committee Chairman Cummings, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Waters are part of a group of lawmakers in the lower chamber putting pressure on Attorney General William Barr to release the so-called Mueller Report. But back in 1998, these lawmakers were among the 63 then serving in the House to vote against release of Independent Counsel Ken Starr’s report on his investigation into President Bill Clinton.

HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE DEMOCRATS AUTHORIZE SUBPOENAS FOR MUELLER REPORT

The Starr Report began in 1994 under Independent Counsel Robert Fiske as a probe into “Whitewater,” a land deal involving President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas. But it eventually morphed into questions of obstruction of justice involving Clinton over his relations with Monica Lewinsky.

The House voted 363-63 to release the Starr Report on September 11, 1998, with all 63 no votes coming from Democrats.

On Wednesday, current members of the House Judiciary Committee voted 24-17 to give Nadler permission to issue subpoenas to the Justice Department for the final report, its exhibits and any underlying evidence or materials prepared for Mueller's investigation. Nadler has not yet said if he'll send the subpoenas, which would be the first step in a potentially long fight with the Justice Department over the materials.

The Judiciary panel also voted Wednesday to authorize subpoenas related to five of President Donald Trump's former top advisers, stepping up a separate, wide-ranging investigation into Trump and his personal and political dealings.

On the Mueller report, House Democrats had given Barr until Tuesday to provide an unredacted verson to Congress, along with underlying materials. The Justice Department ignored that deadline, with Barr telling committee chairmen in a letter last week that he was in the process of redacting portions of the almost 400-page report and it would be released by mid-April, "if not sooner."

The vote further escalates the Democrats' battle with the Justice Department over how much of the report they will be able to see, a fight that could eventually head to court if the two sides can't settle their differences through negotiation. Democrats have said they will not accept redactions and want to see the evidence unfiltered by Barr.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In the letter last week, Barr said he is going over the report to avoid disclosing any grand jury information or classified material, in addition to portions of the report that pertain to ongoing investigations or that "would unduly infringe on the personal privacy and reputational interests of peripheral third parties."

Democrats say they want access to all of that information, even if some of it can't be disclosed to the public. Nadler said he will give Barr time to change his mind on redactions, but if they cannot reach an agreement,  the subpoenas will be issued "in very short order." He also said he is prepared to go to court to get the grand jury information.

"This committee requires the full report and the underlying materials because it is our job, not the attorney general's, to determine whether or not President Trump has abused his office," Nadler said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Power outage hits N Carolina Army base Fort Bragg

Fort Bragg Army base in North Carolina is suffering a widespread power outage.

News outlets report the base first mentioned the blackout late Wednesday and said no one knew when the power would return. A statement released early Thursday said the base is still open though many facilities are closed.

The outage also affected restaurants and commissaries on the base, which hosts about 52,000 soldiers.

The on-base Womack Army Medical Center says it's operating under reduced capacity and certain appointments at all on-base clinics will need to be rescheduled.

The base says visitors should call 911 to report suspicious activity and service members should contact their chain of command to learn when to report for duty.

Source: Fox News National

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Georgia standoff ends after nearly 20 hours; 3 dead inside house, including gunman: report

A hostage situation in Georgia that lasted nearly 20 hours reportedly ended early Friday with three deaths and two wounded police officers.

The alleged gunman, a teenager and a pregnant woman were found dead inside a house in Henry County after an exhausting standoff with police that began early Thursday, Atlanta station WSB-TV reported.

2 GEORGIA POLICE OFFICERS SHOT, SUSPECT BARRICADED WITH 16-YEAR-OLD HOSTAGE, OFFICIALS SAY

Police confirmed to a WSB reporter that the alleged gunman killed himself. It wasn’t clear when the pregnant woman, whom family members said was the gunman’s girlfriend, and her 16-year-old son were killed, according to the reporter.

On Thursday morning, two police officers were wounded in a shooting as the suspect remained barricaded inside the home with at least one hostage, the Henry County Police Department said in a news release.

The officers were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital “in serious condition,” police said in the release. Smith later said they were “stable” and were expected to survive.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Police had said they “do not want to make a dynamic entry into the home," hoping to “wait as long as we can” as negotiations with the alleged gunman continued through Thursday.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether police had tried to force entry into the home or if negotiations with the alleged gunman broke down overnight.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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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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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes
FILE PHOTO: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s lawyers on Friday are set to ask a Florida judge to toss out hidden-camera videos that prosecutors say show the 77-year-old billionaire receiving sexual favors for money inside a Florida massage parlor.

The owner of the reigning Super Bowl champions plans wants the video to not be used as evidence against him as he contests two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Spa in Jupiter, Florida, along with some two dozen other men.

His legal team is fresh off a win on Tuesday, when they successfully persuaded Palm Beach County Judge Leonard Hanser to block prosecutors from releasing the hidden-camera footage to media outlets, which had requested copies under the state’s robust open records law.

Kraft, who has owned the franchise since 1994, pleaded not guilty, but has issued a public apology for his actions.

His attorneys have argued in court papers that the surreptitious videotaping of customers, including Kraft, inside a massage parlor was governmental overreach and the result of an illegally obtained search warrant.

The warrant, Kraft’s lawyers claim, was secured under false pretenses because police officers cited human trafficking as a potential crime in their application. Prosecutors have since acknowledged that the investigation yielded no evidence of trafficking.

Palm Beach County prosecutors in a court filing on Wednesday said Kraft’s motion should be rejected because he could not have had any expectation of privacy while visiting a commercial establishment to engage in criminal activity.

That prompted an indignant response from Kraft’s attorneys, who said the prosecution’s position on privacy was “unhinged.”

“It should go without saying that Mr. Kraft and everyone else in the United States have a reasonable expectation that the government will not secretly spy on them while they undress behind closed doors,” they wrote.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by G Crosse)

Source: OANN

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