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Greece gives green light to three tourism investment schemes

FILE PHOTO: Tourists relax in a private swimming pool in the village of Oia on the Greek island of Santorini
FILE PHOTO: Tourists relax in a private swimming pool in the village of Oia on the Greek island of Santorini, Greece, July 1, 2015. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton/File Photo

February 20, 2019

ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece has given the green light for three tourism investment schemes totaling 240.5 million euros ($272.85 million)on the islands of Mykonos, Crete and Santorini.

Tourism accounts for about a quarter of economic output in Greece, which saw a record of about 33 million visitors last year.

The Greek government on Tuesday approved the three separate schemes for the construction of hotels on Mykonos, a tourist resort on Crete and a marina on Santorini.

It also cleared a shopping and recreation mall on the outskirts of Athens budgeted at 93.4 million euros.

All four projects are expected to create about 1,200 jobs of full and seasonal employment, the government said in statement. Greece has an unemployment rate of 18.5 percent, the highest in the euro zone.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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Death toll in New Zealand mosque massacre upped to 50

The death toll in the massacres at two New Zealand mosques rose to 50 as it turned Sunday in that country, after police found another victim while removing bodies from the crime scenes.

NZ VICTIM'S SHOOTING VICTIM'S LAST WORDS GO VIRAL

Meanwhile, authorities announced they do not believe three people who had been arrested were involved in the shootings allegedly carried out by a young white supremacist.

Police Commissioner Mike Bush also said that 36 people are still hospitalized and that two of them are in critical condition.

New Zealand's stricken residents have been reaching out to Muslims in their neighborhoods and around the country, with a fierce determination to show kindness to a community in pain.

The shootings suspect appeared in court Saturday amid strict security, shackled and wearing all-white prison garb, and showed no emotion when the judge read him one murder charge.

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The judge said "it was reasonable to assume" more such charges would follow.

Source: Fox News World

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Retail investors, mid-caps stand out in China’s stock rally

FILE PHOTO: An investor looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai
FILE PHOTO: An investor looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo/File Photo

March 15, 2019

By Luoyan Liu and Andrew Galbraith

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Heartened by signs of an end to a long-running trade war with the United States and monetary easing at home, China’s stock indices have vaulted by a fifth since the beginning of this year and recovered a big chunk of 2018’s losses.

The Shanghai stock index scaled the 3,000 mark for the first time since June this month. The rally has been characterized by heavy retail participation, rising foreign flows into the country and soaring turnover.

Here are some of the salient features of this rally:

China has outperformed its Asian peers and most other global stock markets this year.

Beijing’s efforts to support an economy growing at its slowest pace in 28 years, through tax cuts and government spending, are widely seen as the critical factor behind the recent run-up.

On top of that, the United States and China are possibly in the final weeks of discussions to hammer out a deal to ease their tit-for-tat tariffs dispute.

(For a graphic on ‘China equities outrun other Asian markets’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2CjoVsn)

(For a graphic on ‘Chinese stocks rise amid yuan appreciation’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2OayIG5)

The rally has been dominated by mid-cap firms. Shares in Eastern Communications have seen a jaw-dropping 752 percent gain since late November amid speculation the company would be a beneficiary from China’s 5G tech push, even as the firm repeatedly clarified it has no revenue whatsoever from 5G business.

(For a graphic on ‘China bulls charging to record highs’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2CmEP5d)

Trading volumes have jumped while investor confidence has been picking up. The number of Chinese stock investors had climbed to 147.5 million in January 2019, while market turnover soared to 2015 highs. Retail investors accounted for 99.6 percent of total investors.

(For a graphic on ‘Investor confidence picked up’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2UBVadB)

(For a graphic on ‘China’s A-share market daily turnover soared’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2Uze0BV)

Private equity funds have become one of the driving forces behind the rally. Their average equity exposure stood at 72 percent in March 2019, its highest since at least late 2017, showed data from Simuwang.com, an industry website.

(For a graphic on ‘Chinese private equity funds hiked their equity exposure levels’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2UyNGYH)

Mutual funds are joining the party too, looking for better returns in stocks. According to the data from China Securities Regulatory Commission, the number of equity mutual funds in China had been steadily increasing in the four quarters of 2018, while their fund shares and net asset value were also on a rising trend.

(For a graphic on ‘Shares of equity mutual funds climbed through Q4 2018’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2FbaGb4)

The cheapness of China’s shares, despite the rally, is part of the appeal. The SSEC currently trades at 12.6 times earnings, compared with an earning multiple of roughly 18 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

(For a graphic on ‘China stocks low valuations appeal to investors’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2FatCqd)

Foreign investors have splurged hundreds of billions of yuan snapping up A-shares, particularly after China promised more access for them by combining two inbound investment schemes.

The wall of money rushing in even forced global index provider MSCI to take off a stock from its index. MSCI said it would remove Han’s Laser Technology from its China indexes and slash the weighting of Midea Group Co, citing issues triggered by foreign ownership ceilings.

The ownership limit could become a bigger headache for overseas investors buying Chinese stocks, especially small- and mid-caps.

(For a graphic on ‘Industry leaders with heavy foreign ownership’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2UuwT97)

Even pigs are “flying”.

Alongside the speculative frenzy that has seen many small cap stocks hitting fresh highs, shares in China’s leading pig producers have soared to record levels despite the industry facing one of its worst disease outbreaks in years, as investors bet on tightening pork supplies and strong government support for leading producers.

As of Tuesday, Wens Foodstuff Group, the biggest start-up firm and mainland China’s top hog farmer, had surged more than 60 percent since the end of the Lunar New Year holiday.

(For a graphic on ‘PIGS FLY: China’s hog producers soared amid African swine fever’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2FaKwoM)

Retail borrowing to speculate in stocks is also back with a vengeance as regulators shift their focus back to growth after a lengthy clampdown on riskier types of financing.

Some investors have even turned to the gray market for financing as they tried to maximize their gains in the rally, although China’s securities watchdog is gradually tightening its scrutiny over this form of shadow lending.

(For a graphic on ‘China investors borrow more to buy shares’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2UBbT0u)

(Editing by Vidya Ranganathan & Shri Navaratnam)

Source: OANN

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Citi in talks to buy Canary Wharf office building: source

FILE PHOTO: Office blocks of Citi, Barclays, and HSBC banks are seen at dusk in the Canary Wharf financial district in London,
FILE PHOTO: Office blocks of Citi, Barclays, and HSBC banks are seen at dusk in the Canary Wharf financial district in London, Britain November 16, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville

February 18, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Citigroup is in talks to buy the tower housing its European headquarters in London’s Canary Wharf district, which is on the market with a price tag of around 1.2 billion pounds ($1.55 billion), a source familiar with the matter said.

The tower at 25 Canada Square, which already houses many of the bank’s 6,000 London-based staff, was put up for sale in October by AGC Equity Partners. The source said a deal had yet to be agreed, with Citi unlikely to offer the full asking price.

Should Citi agree the purchase, with a decision likely in the next couple of months, the bank would look to move staff currently based in a second building in the area, 33 Canada Square, to the larger tower, the source said.

News of the talks was earlier reported by the Financial Times.

Such a move would be in line with Citi’s strategy of buying buildings in locations where it has and intends to retain a presence, and follows a deal in 2016 to buy the group’s New York office, the source said.

The deal would be a boost for London’s commercial property market ahead of Brexit. Around 60 percent of Citi’s Europe-based staff already work outside of Britain, which has meant very few – around 60 – were expected to be moved as part of preparations for Britain’s exit from the European Union, the source said.

(Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Source: OANN

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SPLC President Richard Cohen Resigns From Embattled Left-Wing Nonprofit

Southern Poverty Law Center president Richard Cohen resigned Friday, in the latest blow to the embattled left-wing nonprofit.

Cohen’s resignation came nine days after the SPLC fired co-founder Morris Dees on March 13, citing unspecified conduct issues.

Cohen announced his resignation in a staff-wide email Friday evening, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Whatever problems exist at the SPLC happened on my watch, so I take responsibility for them,” Cohen’s email read, according to the Times.

Current and former SPLC employees have accused the organization of turning a blind eye to sexual harassment and racial discrimination within its own ranks. (RELATED: ‘Highly Profitable Scam’: Former SPLC Staffers Come Clean)

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Richard Cohen, President of the Southern Poverty Law Center, speaks during a press conference November 29, 2016 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

(Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Discovery Communications)

Founder, Southern Poverty Law Center, Morris Dees of “Hate in America” speaks onstage during the Discovery Communications TCA Winter 2016 at The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa on January 7, 2016 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images for Discovery Communications)

Cohen took responsibility for unspecified “problems” at the SPLC in a statement released to the Montgomery Advertiser.

Cohen asked the SPLC’s board “to immediately launch a search for an interim president in order to give the organization the best chance to heal,” according to the Advertiser.

SPLC employees were long aware of racial issues and sexual harassment within the organization, former SPLC staffer Bob Moser recounted in a scathing essay published in The New Yorker on Thursday.

Moser described the SPLC as a “highly-profitable scam” that “never lived up to the values it espoused,” despite its portrayal to gullible donors.

“We were part of the con, and we knew it,” Moser wrote.

The SPLC is known to label pedestrian conservative organizations as “hate groups,” and is a key resource for Amazon, Google and other tech companies in policing “hate speech.”

The non-profit recently reported more than half a billion dollars in assets, including $121 million in off-shore funds.

Follow Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson

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Source: The Daily Caller

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Biden Distances Himself From ‘Socialist’ Left That’s Changing ‘The Definition of a Progressive’

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Source: InfoWars

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Utility cancels $130 million in worker performance bonuses

Northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric said it won't award $130 million in employee bonuses because of its recent bankruptcy filing, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Interim chief executive John Simon cited California's deadly wildfires and the company's precarious financial state in an internal email message to workers on Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Senior leaders and the company's board of directors supported the decision, he said.

"The more I stepped back and thought about the impacts the wildfires have had on so many people outside our company, regardless of fault, the more I came to believe paying (performance bonuses) in 2018 was not the right thing to do," Simon said in the email.

PG&E has previously said it would not award executive bonuses this year.

The employee bonuses were for 2018 performance and were set to be announced next month. Some 14,000 employees were eligible.

"We're very upset," said John Mader, president of the Engineers and Scientists of California union. I just don't see how it's constructive to confiscate employee compensation, especially the people ... who try and prevent these kind of tragedies."

Mader, whose union represents 3,700 engineers and scientists, said it's unfair to punish workers who had nothing to do with the company's financials nor were at fault for the wildfires.

Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court supported the decision but said it should have been announced earlier.

"I think this is just crisis management," he said. "Clearly, it's the right decision, but it should have been done in the first place, not after a public shaming."

PG&E filed for bankruptcy last month saying it faced $30 billion in wildfire liability.

___

Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com

Source: Fox News National

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

April 26, 2019

By Rupam Jain and Hameed Farzad

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani encouraged newly-elected lawmakers to participate in the peace process with the Taliban as he opened on Friday the first session of parliament since a controversial election.

Ghani has invited thousands of politicians, religious scholars and rights activists to an assembly known as a loya jirga next week to discuss ways to end the 17-year war.

Several opposition leaders have said they will boycott the four-day assembly in Kabul, saying it was pulled together without their input and is being used by Ghani as he seeks a second term in a September presidential election.

“We have presented the peace plan on a regular basis and we are committed to it,” Ghani said in the first session since parliamentary elections marred by technical problems, militant attacks and accusations of voting fraud last year.

“Based on this plan, there will be no peace deal and negotiation that does not have the green card of the parliament,” he added.

Officials from the United States and the Taliban have held several rounds of talks to end the Afghan war.

U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, has reported some progress toward an accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal and on how the Taliban would prevent extremists from using Afghanistan to launch attacks as al Qaeda did on Sept. 11, 2001.

The insurgents have so far rejected U.S. demands for a ceasefire and talks on the country’s political future that would include Afghan government officials.

The loya jirga, a centuries-old institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups, is an attempt by Ghani to influence the peace talks and cement his position for a second term, Afghan politicians and Western diplomats say.

Amid growing political divisions in Kabul, opposition politicians have demanded that Ghani step down when his mandate ends next month, and give way to an interim government to oversee peace talks with the Taliban. Ghani has ruled that out.

The country’s top court said last week Ghani can stay in office until the presidential election in September.

(Reporting by Hameed Farzad, Rupam Jain, Editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Thursday defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation while slamming former President Barack Obama’s administration for being slow to take action on Russian interference in U.S. elections and ex-FBI Director James Comey for telling Congress the agency was investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“Our nation is safer, elections are more secure, and citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence schemes,” Rosenstein said in a speech to the Armenian Bar Association, marking his first public remarks after the Mueller report was released, reports CBS News.

He also pointed out that the investigation revealed a pattern of computer hacking and the use of social media to undermine elections as “only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration also made “critical decisions,” including choosing not to publicize the full story about Russian hackers and social media trolling, “and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” said Rosenstein.

He noted that the Mueller probe began after Comey disclosed during a hearing before Congress that President Donald Trump “pressured him to close the investigation and the president denied that the conversation occurred.”

Rosenstein said two years ago, when he was confirmed, he was told by a Republican senator that he would be in charge of the probe and that he’d report the results to the American people.

However, he said he didn’t promise to do that, because it is “not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei’s factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain must get to the bottom of the leak of confidential discussions during a top-level security meeting about the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains, British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

News that Britain’s National Security Council, attended by senior ministers and spy chiefs, had agreed on Tuesday to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core elements was leaked to a national newspaper.

The leak of secret discussions has sparked anger in parliament and amongst Britain’s intelligence community. Britain’s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill has launched an inquiry and written to ministers who were at the meeting.

“My understanding from London (is) that an investigation has been announced into apparent leaks from the NSC meeting earlier this week,” said Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

“To my knowledge there has never been a leak from a National Security Council meeting before and therefore I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here,” he told Reuters in a pooled interview.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation. The majority of the ministers at the NSC meeting have said they were not involved, according to media reports.

Hammond said he was unaware of any previous leak from a meeting of the NSC.

“It’s not about the substance of what was apparently leaked. It’s not earth-shattering information. But it is important that we protect the principle that nothing that goes on in national security council meetings must ever be repeated outside the room.”

Allowing Huawei a reduced role in building its 5G network puts Britain at odds with the United States which has told allies not to use its technology at all because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

There have been concerns that the NSC’s conclusion, which sources confirmed to Reuters, could upset other allies in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network – the Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, British ministers and intelligence officials have said any final decision on 5G would not put critical national infrastructure at risk. Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber center of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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President Trump on Friday said “no money” was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, after reports that the U.S. received a $2 million hospital bill from Pyongyang for the late American prisoner’s care.

“No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terroist[sic] hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!” Trump tweeted Friday.

NORTH KOREA GAVE US $2M HOSPITAL BILL OVER CARE OF AMERICAN OTTO WARMBIER, SOURCES SAY

The Washington Post first reported that North Korean authorities insisted the U.S. envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier, 21, who was a student of the University of Virginia, sign a pledge to pay the bill before allowing Warmbier’s comatose body to return to the United States. Sources confirmed the bill and the amount to Fox News on Thursday.

Sources told the post that the envoy signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions from the president, but a source told Fox News that the U.S. did not ever pay money to North Korea.

The White House declined to comment when asked on the bill, with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying in a statement that: “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration.”

Meanwhile, the president added: “’President[sic] Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.’ Cheif[sic] Hostage Negotiator, USA!”

Warmbier was on tour in North Korea when he allegedly stole a propaganda sign from a hotel. He was arrested in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March 2016. Warmbier, for unknown reasons, fell into a coma while in custody and was held in that condition for an additional 17 months.

North Korean officials did not tell American officials until June 2017 that Warmbier had been unconscious the entire time. He died less than a week after he returned to the U.S. North Korean officials, though, have repeatedly denied accusations that Warmbier was tortured, instead claiming that he had suffered from botulism and then slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

AMERICAN PRISONERS HELD IN NORTH KOREA ON THEIR WAY HOME AFTER POMPEO VISIT, TRUMP SAYS

Fred and Cindy Warmbier sued North Korea over their son’s death and in December were awarded $501 million in damages – money that the Hermit Kingdom will probably never pay.

While the Warmbiers blamed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump has said he believes Kim’s claims that he did not know about the student’s treatment.

Trump and Kim have met in two separate summits. The most recent, held in February, ended without an agreement on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told Fox News: “Otto Warmbier was mistreated by North Korea in so many ways, including his wrongful conviction and harsh sentence, and the fact that for 16 months they refused to tell his family or our country about his dire condition they caused.  No, the United States owes them nothing. They owe the Warmbier family everything.”

Last year, the Trump administration was also able to save three American prisoners held by North Korea. Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim, and Kim Hak Song were all detained in North Korea. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought the three Americans home last May, and said they were all in “good health.”

Fox News’ John Roberts, Rich Edson, Nicholas Kalman, and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon
Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon, South Korea, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 26, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – K-pop and drama star Park Yu-chun was arrested on Friday on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, a court said, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.

Suwon District Court approved the arrest warrant for Park, 32, due to concerns over possible destruction of evidence and flight risk, a court spokesman told Reuters.

Park is suspected of having bought about 1.5 grams of methamphetamine with his former girlfriend earlier this year and using the drug around five times, an official at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said.

Park has denied wrongdoing, saying he had never taken drugs, and he again denied the charges in court, Yonhap news agency said.

Park’s contract with his management agency had been canceled and he would leave the entertainment industry, Park’s management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, said on Wednesday.

Park was a member of boyband TVXQ between 2003 and 2009 before leaving the group with two other members, forming the group JYJ.

A scandal involving sex tapes, prostitutes and secret chat about rape led at least four other K-pop stars to quit the industry earlier this year.

The cases sparked a nationwide drugs bust and investigations into tax evasion and police collusion at night clubs and other nightlife spots.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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