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Hamas shifts tactics in bitcoin fundraising, highlighting crypto risks: research

FILE PHOTO: A collection of Bitcoin (virtual currency) tokens are displayed in this picture illustration
FILE PHOTO: A collection of Bitcoin (virtual currency) tokens are displayed in this picture illustration taken December 8, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Illustration/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Wilson and Dan Williams

LONDON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The armed wing of Hamas is using increasingly complex methods of raising funds via bitcoin, researchers say, highlighting the difficulties regulators face in tracking cryptocurrency financing of outfits designated by some as terrorist groups.

The Gaza-based Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, which is proscribed by the United States and the European Union, has been calling on its supporters to donate using the digital currency in a fundraising campaign announced online in late January.

Originally, it asked donors to send bitcoin to a single digital address, or wallet.

However, according to research shared with Reuters by leading blockchain analysis firm Elliptic, in recent weeks it has changed the mechanism, with its website generating a new digital wallet with every transaction.

This makes it harder for companies around the world to keep tabs on the group’s cryptocurrency financing, the researchers said. A single digital wallet can be red-flagged to cryptocurrency exchanges, in theory allowing them to prevent funds moving through their systems to that destination.

But a different wallet for each donation makes this so-called tagging far more complicated, Elliptic said.

Between March 26 and April 16, 0.6 bitcoin – worth around $3,300 – was sent to the website-created wallets, Elliptic’s research found. All told, the four-month fundraising campaign has raised around $7,400, the firm said.

A spokesman for Hamas, which has ruled the Palestinian territory of Gaza since 2007, declined to comment on Elliptic’s research.

Such funds are a fraction of the tens of millions of dollars in annual funding that Israel and the United States says Hamas receives from Iran. Yet the campaign gives insight into how a proscribed group has gone about bitcoin fundraising.

“They are still in experimentation stage – trying it out, seeing how much they can raise, and whether it works,” said Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson.

Iran has not publicly detailed its funding of Hamas, though it has not denied its support for the group. Hamas has said Tehran is the biggest backer of the al-Qassam Brigades.

London-based Elliptic and U.S. rival Chainalysis are the most prominent blockchain analysis firms, and have gained traction as watchdogs, cryptocurrency companies and firms such as hedge funds seek tools to track digital coins.

Backed by investors including Banco Santander’s venture capital arm, Elliptic’s clients include financial firms, regulators and law enforcement agencies in Europe and the United States.

Since 2016 it has won contracts with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service and Drug Enforcement Administration, according to USAspending.gov https://www.usaspending.gov/#/search/83bba7bc5a719c1da25ff95d41c4349e, a database of U.S. government contracts.

Examples of cryptocurrency funding campaigns by proscribed groups are rare. But the research underscores headaches for companies in the emerging sector in identifying and stamping out exposure to potentially tainted digital coins, even as tools for tracking and tracing cryptocurrencies grow more sophisticated.

Dealing with illegal usage is seen as vital if cryptocurrencies are to grow from niche, speculative tokens to assets embraced by the mainstream. Most big financial firms have steered clear of bitcoin and its kin, with money laundering chief among concerns.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. Others, including Britain, have proscribed only the al-Qassam Brigades.

Such a designation means that, in the United States for instance, it is illegal to provide money or training, with financial firms in control of related funds obliged to report them to the authorities.

A two-minute video on the al-Qassam Brigades website lays out step-by-step instructions in Arabic on how supporters can avoid the traditional financial system and donate cryptocurrency.

“How to support the Palestinian resistance via Bitcoin?” it asks.

With polished graphics and English subtitles, it explains how to send bitcoin directly, through a money-exchange office, or via a cryptocurrency exchange. “Use a public device so that the wallet is not linked to your IP address,” it says.

Elliptic uses a database of information linking digital coin addresses to exchanges, darkweb marketplaces, and proscribed groups to track cryptocurrencies.

It pinpointed wallets created by the website by tracking patterns in their unique addresses. The firm monitored these addresses, later identifying multiple transactions that sent funds from the addresses to a major Asia-based cryptocurrency exchange.

Thirteen of the donations were made from a separate exchange, also from Asia, said Elliptic, which declined to give further details of the exchanges. It was not clear whether the bitcoin had since been converted to traditional currencies, the firm said.

PATCHY REGULATION

Hamas’s finances are suffering. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi in 2013 closed hundreds of tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, preventing the smuggling of weapons and goods from cows to cars, depriving Hamas of tax income.

Funding from Iran has also declined following Hamas’s condemnation of the killing of Sunni Muslims in Syria’s civil war, analysts say.

Bitcoin could provide respite in that cash squeeze.

“It makes it difficult for such funds to be tracked by financial authorities,” said Lotem Finkelshtein, head of threat intelligence at Check Point Technologies, a cybersecurity firm in Tel Aviv.

“It’s not so simple to link wallets to organizations.”

Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, defense ministry and military declined to comment.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who is also a member of the national security cabinet, told the website Ynet TV this month he was unaware of the fundraising.

Regulators and law enforcement agencies have long worried about the potential of digital money – relatively anonymous and easily available online – to finance terrorism.

Cryptocurrency regulations vary from country to country. The global watchdog for money laundering, aware of gaps in rules, is due to bring in the first international standards on cryptocurrency oversight by June.

But with regulation still patchy, the risk of exposure to tainted coins has kept most big investors away.

Even indirect exposure to tainted cryptocurrencies would present problems for financial firms, said Kyle Phillips, a lawyer at Fieldfisher law firm.

“There are real issues with establishing the beneficial owners,” he said.

(Reporting by Tom Wilson in London and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Editing by Pravin Char)

Source: OANN

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NFL notebook: Kraft charged with soliciting prostitute

FILE PHOTO: 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/File Photo

February 26, 2019

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged with first-degree solicitation of a prostitute in Florida on Monday. Kraft has a court date scheduled for April 24. He doesn’t need to appear, and a lawyer can represent him instead.

Kraft, 77, is facing two counts of misdemeanor solicitation connected to a sting at a massage parlor in Jupiter, Fla. If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, Kraft would face a maximum of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine as a first-time offender.

According to court documents, one of Kraft’s visit to Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter was on Jan. 20, hours before the Patriots played the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game in Missouri. Kraft allegedly visited the spa on two occasions, according to law enforcement.

Earlier Monday, the NFL released an updated statement on Kraft, saying that the league’s “personal conduct policy applies to everyone in the NFL. … We will take appropriate action as warranted based on the facts,” read the NFL statement.

–The Baltimore Ravens released veteran wide receiver Michael Crabtree after he spent one year with the team.

The team owed Crabtree a $2.5 million roster bonus next month and $7.5 million for the 2019 season, according to ESPN. His release will give Baltimore $4.67 million in additional salary cap space. Crabtree, 31, signed a three-year, $21 million contract last March.

Last season, Crabtree started 16 games and caught 54 passes — his fewest in a full season since 2010 — for 607 yards and three scores. He caught 19 passes in just five games in 2013, when he missed time due to a torn Achilles tendon.

–Looking to get younger and faster in the secondary, the Carolina Panthers cut cornerback Captain Munnerlyn and told safety Mike Adams that he won’t be re-signed.

Munnerlyn, a 10-year veteran who turns 31 in April, had two years remaining on a four-year contract he signed before the 2017 season. He played all 16 games with five starts in 2018.

Adams, a 15-year NFL veteran who turns 38 next month, signed a two-year deal in 2017 and was set to become a free agent in March. He started all 16 games last season.

–Former Florida offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor, a projected first-round draft pick, won’t take part in various drills at the NFL Scouting Combine this week under the advice of renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted a copy of the letter Andrews sent to NFL teams earlier this month to inform them of Taylor’s mild distal hamstring strain, saying Taylor “should be able to return to normal activity in the near future.”

In three seasons at Florida, Taylor, listed at 6-foot-5, 328-pounds, played in 37 games, starting 35 of them, and worked at both the left and right tackle spots.

–Running back Elijah Hood has signed a one-year contract with the Carolina Panthers, the team announced. Contract terms were not announced.

The Panthers claimed Hood, a Charlotte native, off waivers last May, but he tore an ACL in the final preseason game and spent the season on injured reserve. He was a seventh-round draft pick by Oakland in 2017.

“Obviously it’s a blessing. I’m excited. I thank God that I’ll get the opportunity to keep playing here,” Hood, who turns 23 in April, said per the team’s website.

–The Cleveland Browns re-signed offensive tackle Greg Robinson, the team announced.

Terms of the deal weren’t announced but spotrac.com lists the contract as a one-year deal.

Robinson, 26, the No. 2 overall pick in 2014 by the then-St. Louis Rams, wasn’t affiliated with any NFL organization when the Browns signed him last June.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Norwegian Air aims to fly stranded plane out of Iran in next few days

FILE PHOTO: Aircraft belonging to budget carrier Norwegian at Stockholm Arlanda Airport
FILE PHOTO: A view of parked aircraft belonging to budget carrier Norwegian at Stockholm Arlanda Airport in this March 5, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency/Files

February 20, 2019

OSLO (Reuters) – Budget carrier Norwegian Air expects to fly a plane out of Iran in the next few days after it made an emergency landing there in December and became stranded, partly due to U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

The plane took off from Dubai on Dec. 14 bound for Oslo but had to land in Shiraz in Iran because of problems with one of its engines.

The 186 passengers and six crew were able to fly out of Shiraz the next day. But the plane was left behind as it needed spare parts from its manufacturer, U.S. manufacturer Boeing.

The Trump administration has reinstated U.S. sanctions on the Middle Eastern country which forbid civilian aircraft sales – including servicing and parts.

Any product that contains more than 10 percent of U.S.-origin goods or technology require a U.S. license in order to be sent to Iran.

“We are in the process of having a new engine flown to Iran for our Boeing 737 MAX within the next few days,” said a company spokesman.

“It is too early to say exactly when the aircraft will be airborne, but our goal is to fly the aircraft back to Scandinavia within the next week,” he added.

Norwegian Air has previously said that the paperwork needed to service the plane had taken longer than usual, partly because the company had to familiarize itself with regulations in Iran, where the firm does not operate.

Officials at Shiraz Airport and the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; Additional reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London; Editing by Alister Doyle and Hugh Lawson)

Source: OANN

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Candace Owens’ Destruction Of The Democratic Racist Fantasy

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Source: InfoWars

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Hiring rebounds as US employers add a solid 196,000 jobs

Hiring rebounded in March as U.S. employers added a solid 196,000 jobs, up sharply from February's scant gain and evidence that many businesses still want to hire despite signs that the economy is slowing.

The unemployment rate remained at 3.8%, near the lowest level in almost 50 years, the Labor Department reported Friday. Wage growth slowed a bit in March, with average hourly pay increasing 3.2% from a year earlier. That was down from February's year-over-year gain of 3.4%, which was the best in a decade.

The figures reported Friday suggest that February's anemic job growth — revised to 33,000, from an initial 20,000 — was merely a temporary blip and that businesses are confident the economy remains on a firm footing. Even with the current expansion nearly 10 years old, the U.S. economy is showing resilience.

At the same time, the economy is facing several challenges, from cautious consumers to slower growth in business investment to a U.S.-China trade war that is contributing to a weakening global economy.

So far this year, job gains have averaged 180,000 a month, easily enough to lower the unemployment rate over time, though down from a 223,000 average last year.

In March, job growth was strongest in the service sector. Health care added 61,000 jobs, restaurants and bars 27,000 and professional and business services, which includes high-paying fields such as engineering and accounting, added 37,000.

Manufacturers cut 6,000 jobs, while construction added 16,000.

The overall economy is sending mixed signals. Most indicators suggest slower growth this year compared with 2018. That would mean that hiring might also weaken from last year's strong pace.

In February, employers added a surprisingly low 20,000 jobs, the fewest in nearly a year and a half, though that pullback likely reflected extreme weather and other temporary factors. Another weak jobs report Friday, though, would fuel concerns about a downshift in growth.

Consumers have shown caution so far this year. Retail sales fell in February, and a broader measure of consumer spending slipped in January, potentially reflecting a waning effect of the Trump administration's tax cuts. Businesses have also reined in their spending on industrial machinery and other equipment and on factories and other buildings.

And in Europe and Asia, weaker economies have reduced demand for U.S. exports. Europe is on the brink of recession, with its factories shrinking in March at the fastest pace in six years, according to a private survey.

The U.S. trade war with China has weighed on the Chinese economy, which has hurt Southeast Asian nations that ship electronic components and other goods that are assembled into consumer products in China's factories.

Economists now forecast that the U.S. economy will expand roughly 2% to 2.5% this year, down from 2.9% last year. Still, most economists have forecast a bounce-back in hiring in March to about 170,000 added jobs, according to data provider FactSet. The unemployment rate is expected to remain near a half-century low of 3.8%.

Some positive signs for the economy have emerged in recent weeks: Sales of both new and existing homes rose in February after declining last year. More Americans are applying for mortgages now that rates have fallen.

And some of the weakness in spending earlier this year likely reflected delays in issuing tax refunds because of the government shutdown. Refunds largely caught up with their pace in previous years in March, economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said, suggesting that spending may as well.

The low unemployment rate and steady hiring have also raised Americans' paychecks. Average wages grew 3.4% in February compared with a year ago, the fastest such pace since the recession.

If wage growth continues to accelerate, it should fuel more spending and lift the economy in the coming months.

Source: Fox News National

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Catholic priest accused of groping woman during last rites

A Roman Catholic priest has been arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge after he was accused of groping a woman in home hospice care while giving her last rites.

The Rev. Gerold Langsch, of Austin, was arrested Thursday and charged with assault by contact stemming from the October encounter. The 75-year-old priest is free on $15,000 bond. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a year in jail and fined up to $4,000.

Police contend in the arrest affidavit that the woman was in hospice care for complications from diabetes when Lansch went to her home to administer the sacrament of anointing the sick, a sacrament of absolution. The woman, who is still alive, reported that he fondled her breast and tried to grope her inside her adult diaper but failed.

Source: Fox News National

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House Dems to challenge Trump emergency declaration on Friday

House Democrats are planning to file a resolution Friday to block President Trump's emergency declaration to secure more funding for a southern border wall, although the resolution faces questionable odds in the GOP-led Senate and the virtually certain prospect of a White House veto that would be nearly impossible for Congress to overcome.

The full House is expected to vote on the measure by mid-March, if not sooner. Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told ABC News this weekend that he believes there are enough GOP votes in Congress to prevent the two-thirds supermajorities required to overcome a veto in both the House and the  Senate.

"I think there are plenty of votes in the House to make sure that there's no override of the president's veto," he said. "So it's going to be settled in court, we'll have to wait and see."

The brewing legislative fight comes as the attorneys general of California, New York and 14 other states on Monday filed a lawsuit in the liberal Ninth Circuit against the White House's emergency declaration, claiming Trump has "veered the country toward a constitutional crisis of his own making."

Trump mockingly predicted the lawsuit at the White House last week, saying the Ninth Circuit would predictably issue an injunction in a "bad ruling," only for the Supreme Court to hand him a "win" after a "fair hearing." That path, the president said, that has become all too familiar in the wake of similar reversals on his travel ban and other initiatives.

In this Feb. 13, 2018, photo, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., joins supporters of President Donald Trump and family members of Americans killed by undocumented immigrants as they gather to to promote their support for a border wall with Mexico, at the Capitol in Washington. When you want results in a polarized Washington, sometimes it pays to simply leave the professionals alone to do their jobs. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

In this Feb. 13, 2018, photo, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., joins supporters of President Donald Trump and family members of Americans killed by undocumented immigrants as they gather to to promote their support for a border wall with Mexico, at the Capitol in Washington. When you want results in a polarized Washington, sometimes it pays to simply leave the professionals alone to do their jobs. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The White House has also fired back at the lawsuit on the merits, saying the National Emergencies Act includes provisions for Congress to file resolutions disputing the president's reallocation of funds previously appropriated for general military purposes by Congress.

TRUMP MOCKS CALIFORNIA OVER 'FAST TRAIN' CATASTROPHE, LAWSUIT OVER EMEGENCY DECLARATION

But Democrats were making clear they didn't want to leave the matter exclusively to the courts. Aides to Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, were circulating a letter Wednesday to other congressional offices seeking additional co-sponsors to his one-page resolution trying to block the declaration. "We are planning to introduce it on Friday morning," said the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Castro's measure, which described Trump's emergency declaration, says it "is hereby terminated." Castro chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

FILE - In this March 5, 2018, file photo, construction continues on a new, taller version of the border structure in Calexico, Calif. A federal appeals court has rejected arguments by the state of California and environmental groups who tried to block reconstruction of sections of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, that the Trump administration did not exceed its authority by waiving environmental regulations to rebuild sections of wall near San Diego and Calexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, file)

FILE - In this March 5, 2018, file photo, construction continues on a new, taller version of the border structure in Calexico, Calif. A federal appeals court has rejected arguments by the state of California and environmental groups who tried to block reconstruction of sections of the U.S.-Mexico border wall. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday, Feb. 11, 2019, that the Trump administration did not exceed its authority by waiving environmental regulations to rebuild sections of wall near San Diego and Calexico. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, file)

The plan for introducing the resolution was initially described by officials at three progressive groups who heard of them from congressional aides but were not authorized to discuss the plans privately.

Congress approved a vast spending bill last week providing nearly $1.4 billion to build 55 miles of border barriers in Texas' Rio Grande Valley while preventing a renewed government shutdown. That measure represented a rejection of Trump's demand for $5.7 billion to construct more than 200 miles.

Besides signing the bill, Trump also declared a national emergency that he says gives him access to an additional $6.6 billion that would be taken from a federal asset forfeiture fund, Defense Department anti-drug efforts and military construction projects.

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Democrats and some Republicans say there is no emergency at the border and say Trump is improperly declaring one to work around Congress' rejection of the higher amounts.

Top White House adviser Stephen Miller, however, defended the emergency declaration in an exclusive interview with "Fox News Sunday" this weekend.

Miller, asked by anchor Chris Wallace why a wall is necessary if most drugs are caught at ports of entry, said the government statistics on the matter are misleading and easily misinterpreted.

"The problem with the statement that you're 'apprehending 80 or 90 percent of drugs at ports of entry' -- that's like saying you apprehend most contraband at TSA checkpoints at airports," Miller said. "You apprehend the contraband there because that's where you have the people, the screeners. I assure you if we had screeners of that same density across every single inch and mile of the southern border, you'd have more drugs interdicted in those areas."

Miller added that the reason why four times as many illegal immigrants were stopped at the border in 2000 as compared to 2018 is that now, illegal immigrants are much harder to detain due to laxer asylum and immigration laws.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The Credit Suisse logo is pictured on a bank in Geneva
FILE PHOTO: The Credit Suisse logo is pictured on a bank in Geneva, Switzerland, October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

April 26, 2019

ZURICH (Reuters) – Shareholders approved Credit Suisse’s 2018 compensation report with an 82 percent majority on Friday, overriding frustrations expressed at its annual general meeting over jumps in executive pay during a year its share price plummeted.

Three shareholder advisers had recommended investors vote against Switzerland’s second-biggest bank’s remuneration report, while a fourth backed the report but expressed reservations about whether management pay matched performance.

The approval marked a slight increase over the 80.8 percent support garnered for the bank’s 2017 compensation report.

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; Editing by Michael Shields)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the trading floor of Barclays Bank at Canary Wharf in London
FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the trading floor of Barclays Bank at Canary Wharf in London, Britain December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Simon Jessop and Sinead Cruise

LONDON (Reuters) – Activist investor Edward Bramson is likely to fail in his attempt to get a board seat at Barclays’ annual meeting next week, even though shareholders are dissatisfied with performance of the group’s investment bank.

New York-based Bramson’s Sherborne Investors and the board of the British bank have been sparring for months over Barclays’ strategy.

Bramson wants to scale back Barclays’ investment bank to reduce risk and boost shareholder returns. Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley remains staunchly committed to growing the business out of trouble.

After failing to persuade Staley to change course since he began building a 5.5 percent stake in the bank in March last year, Bramson hopes a board seat will rachet up the pressure.

Both sides have written to shareholders pitching their case and Bramson has courted investors in one-on-one meetings, although none have publicly backed him yet.

Interviews by Reuters with five institutional investors in Barclays suggest Bramson has failed to persuade them.

Sherborne declined to comment.

Mirza Baig, head of investment stewardship at top-40 shareholder Aviva Investors, said Bramson was welcome on the bank’s register but the boardroom was a step too far.

“He has created a lot of value at other businesses, but, generally, when he has come in as executive chair and taken full control. This would be a different case where he would just be one lone voice on the board,” he said.

A second Barclays shareholder said he backed Bramson’s goal of improving returns but via an “evolutionary” approach.

“If you look at banks that have tried to restructure their operations in investment banking – you look at Natwest Markets, Deutsche Bank – I struggle to think of an example where a roughshod restructuring has been accretive to shareholder value.”

A third, top-30 investor said he had been impressed by incoming Chairman Nigel Higgins’ grasp of the challenge in hand, and felt investors would give him time.

“Management know they have to execute and deliver improved returns… [Higgins] will continue to re-shape the board but obviously he didn’t feel that having someone with a diametrically opposed view on it would be helpful.”

A fourth, top-30 investor agreed: “We voted for the chairman to come in and it would be crazy to allow an activist to join the board (at this time).”

Jupiter Fund Management, the 24th largest investor, said it also planned to vote against Bramson.

Barclays has nearly 500 institutional shareholders, Refinitiv data showed.

Since Staley joined Barclays in 2015, the investment bank returns relative to capital invested have increased but are still underperforming the overall business.

Barclays’ first-quarter figures showed the investment bank posted a 6 percent drop in income from its markets business and a 17 percent fall in banking advisory fees.

Returns in the investment bank fell to 9.5 percent from 13.2 percent a year ago.

Famed for successful campaigns against smaller British companies in sectors from chemicals to advertising, Bramson’s board seat pitch has been rebuffed by shareholder advisory firms.

Institutional Shareholder Services, the world’s biggest, said Bramson’s proposal “falls short of what can reasonably be expected from a shareholder trying to address issues at a 28 billion pounds, systemically important bank”.

Glass Lewis also flagged concern about Bramson’s lack of banking experience and “questionable” shareholding structure, referring to Sherborne’s use of derivative contracts to hedge losses should its strategy fail.

Critics said the arrangement meant his interests are not truly aligned with those of other long-term shareholders.

British advisory firm Pirc, however, said it recommended that investors abstain in the vote on Bramson’s proposal as a challenge to the board to do better in the year ahead – or face a similar contest in 2020.

(Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2019/04/918/516/02_2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

After an over 15-month pregnancy, “Akuti,” a 7-year-old Greater One Horned Indian Rhinoceros, gave birth as a result of induced ovulation and artificial insemination at Zoo Miami, April 23, 2019.

Ron Magill/Zoo Miami

https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2019/04/918/516/02_2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: File photo of a Chevron gas station sign in Del Mar, California
FILE PHOTO: A Chevron gas station sign is seen in Del Mar, California, in this April 25, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – U.S. oil and natural gas producer Chevron Corp reported a 27 percent fall in quarterly earnings on Friday, hit by lower crude prices and weaker margins in its refining and chemicals businesses.

Net income attributable to the company fell to $2.65 billion, or $1.39 per share, for the first quarter ended March 31, from $3.64 billion, or $1.90 per share, a year earlier.

Earlier in the day, larger rival Exxon Mobil Corp reported earnings well below analysts’ estimates, as margins in its refining business were hurt by higher Canadian prices and heavy scheduled maintenance.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Ford logo is seen at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan
FILE PHOTO: The Ford logo is seen at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Ford Motor Co said on Friday the U.S. Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into the automaker’s emissions certification process in the United States.

The potential concern does not involve the use of defeat devices, the company said in a regulatory filing. (https://bit.ly/2VqjHpl)

Ford had voluntarily disclosed the matter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board in February.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)

Source: OANN

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