Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Russia’s Inter RAO says seeks gas turbines deal with GE by October

Inter RAO CEO Kovalchuk looks on before meeting of Russian President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan with Russian and Turkish entrepreneurs in St. Petersburg
FILE PHOTO: Boris Kovalchuk, chief executive and chairman of the management board of state electricity holding firm Inter RAO, looks on before a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan with Russian and Turkish entrepreneurs at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, August 9, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

March 30, 2019

KRASNOYARSK, Russia (Reuters) – The chief executive of Russia’s Inter RAO said on Saturday the energy holding hoped to reach a deal with General Electric Co by October to produce powerful gas turbines in Russia, either as a joint venture or by buying a license from GE.

Russia, which does not currently produce mid- or high-power gas-fired power turbines, recently launched a 1.9 trillion rouble ($29 billion) program to modernize a quarter of its power generation, or 41 gigawatt of coal- and gas-based plants.

It is seen as a rare opportunity for Western producers amid falling global demand for gas turbines in recent years, but Moscow has said investors must only use fully localised — domestically produced — equipment as part of a local content push.

Inter RAO CEO Boris Kovalchuk said the modernization program would open a large market for GE for 10 years.

“We hope to reach all the agreements with them within half a year,” Kovalchuk told reporters during a conference in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

A plant jointly owned by Inter RAO, GE and Russian state conglomerate Rostec produces 77-megawatt turbines in Russia’s central region of Yaroslavl.

The ongoing talks between GE and Inter RAO are for the local production of 185-195 megawatt turbines. Inter RAO may purchase Rostec’s stake in the plant as part of the deal with GE, Kovalchuk added.

A joint venture between Siemens and Russian firm Power Machines is already producing turbines in Russia. Siemens, which owns a 65-percent stake in the venture, has pledged to raise the level of localization in the production process.

Russian state-controlled firms — Rostec, Rosnano and Inter RAO — have been trying to create their own gas turbine production but their prototype project failed testing, sources, familiar with the matter, told Reuters a year ago.

Kovalchuk said on Saturday that the project was continuing, and that Inter RAO had passed the second turbine to the project’s operator for improvement.

(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; Writing by Polina Devitt; Editing by Helen Popper)

Source: OANN

0 0

Powerful political leader warns against squandering peace

A prominent Afghan political leader who once had the support of some officials to lead Afghanistan's negotiating team with the Taliban, warned the president Wednesday against squandering the best opportunity at peace in more than 17 years of war.

In an interview with The Associated Press, former Cabinet minister Ismail Khan said "the Taliban are ready to find a solution that is good for every Afghan," but they steadfastly refuse to talk with the Afghan government alone, saying the government is a U.S. "puppet."

Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's office in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar, said the Taliban negotiation team will hold its next round of talks with Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad on Monday. The Taliban have been negotiating with the U.S. to end America's longest war, which has cost it more than $1 trillion.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who has been demanding his government lead all peace talks with the Taliban, rejected a meeting between the Taliban and a large gathering of prominent Afghan figures, including former President Hamid Karzai and Khan, in Moscow earlier this month.

"Afghan mujahedeen, Afghan intellectuals, elders and politicians, including the Afghan government should start talks with the Taliban," to find a negotiated end to the war that would allow the U.S. to withdraw its forces, said Khan, who spoke to the AP from Afghanistan's western city of Herat.

Khan, who served in Karzai's government, was a jihadi leader during the 1980s U.S.-backed war against the former Soviet Union. He was among those mujahedeen leaders who became politicians after the Taliban took control of the country.

Meanwhile, Ghani's peace envoy Omer Daudzai on Wednesday sought to reassure a gathering of women and human rights activists in the Afghan capital Kabul with a promise to hold a Loya Jirga, or gathering of political and tribal leaders, in mid-March to lay out lines in the sand the Afghan government won't cross when it eventually enters talks with the Taliban.

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan under a harsh form of Islamic law from 1996 until the U.S.-led invasion following the Sept. 11 attacks. Many fear that a peace agreement with the Taliban will erode the faltering progress made since their ouster.

One contentious red line for President Ghani has been the holding of presidential elections in July. Daudzai said July presidential polls were non-negotiable. Yet even Khalilzad has expressed reservations about elections as all sides seek to find a way toward peace.

Khan outright rejected elections, saying polls held as peace talks are underway will undermine negotiations ensuring it would be impossible for the Taliban to participate.

Instead, Khan supported an interim set up, which the religious movement has also reportedly supported in talks with Khalilzad. Khan said an interim government could govern for six months to one year while the country prepares for polls.

Meanwhile, Daudzai said the Americans and the Taliban had agreed in principle on the withdrawal of U.S. troops, but only after a peace deal is reached with popular support.

However, President Donald Trump has expressed his frustration with America's continued participation and there have been reports that the United States is making plans to withdraw half of its troops by the summer.

The wrangling between the government and its opposition, including Khan, highlights the difficulty of finding a peace agreement.

Almost five months after Khalilzad's appointment as Washington's peace envoy, bickering political forces in Kabul have been unable to cobble together a negotiating team. Khalilzad in November urged Ghani to put together a strong team that could ensure that fragile rights, including for women, are enshrined in any agreement with the Taliban.

Talks between the Taliban and Khalilzad have focused on U.S. troop withdrawal and guaranteeing Afghanistan is not used again as a staging ground for terrorists to attack the United States.

Khan, however, warned that a withdrawal of troops without an agreement that recognizes Afghanistan's stakeholders risks disintegrating into violence. He also urged the United Nations to step up as guarantors of any agreement.

_____

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

Drew Peterson, convicted wife-killer, says he’s ‘living the dream’ in federal prison, maintains his innocence

Former cop and convicted wife-killer Drew Peterson said in a new interview his current federal digs are an upgrade from his previous prison confines and shared his regrets about getting married -- though, quite a few people probably wish Peterson had remained single.

Peterson, speaking exclusively to FOX32 in a phone interview from federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, joked that life inside the maximum security prison is like "living the dream."

“It was dirty," Peterson said of the Illinois state prison he was previously in. "The mattresses I had, the pillow I had, you wouldn't put your dog on it. It was terrible. Urine and defecation spread on the walls."

The 65-year-old called that facility a "horrible, horrible place."

Former police sergeant Drew Peterson is pictured in this booking photo, released by the Will County Sheriff's Office in Illinois, United States on May 8, 2009.

Former police sergeant Drew Peterson is pictured in this booking photo, released by the Will County Sheriff's Office in Illinois, United States on May 8, 2009. (REUTERS/Will County Sheriff's Office)

"Then I come to the federal place and it's comparatively like a day care center,” he told FOX32.

DREW PETERSON'S MURDER CONVICTION UPHELD BY ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT

The former police sergeant from the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook is serving a 38-year sentence in the 2004 death of ex-wife Kathleen Savio. He'll follow that with 40 additional years after a conviction in 2016 on allegations that he plotted to kill the prosecutor who put him behind bars.

Officials said Peterson was moved from an Illinois state prison to the federal facility after the threat to kill Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow suggested he was a threat to prison security.

I would have stayed a bachelor for sure. It's just like every time I fell in love with somebody and tried to make a life with them, things didn't work out.

— Drew Peterson

He first came to national attention in 2007 after his fourth wife, Stacy, vanished from the couple's home in Bolingbrook, Ill. She has never been found and no one has been charged in connection with the case. However, Peterson was recorded telling fellow inmate Antonio Smith he was worried that Glasgow would eventually charge him in the case.

Kathleen Savio was found dead in her bathtub in 2004. Her death was initially ruled an accident, but Glasgow ordered the case re-opened following Stacy Peterson's disappearance.

During FOX32’s two separate 15-minute interviews, it was apparent that, since he was originally arrested in May 2009, Peterson has not wavered regarding his innocence.

“I didn't murder Kathy and I didn't murder Stacy,” Peterson told FOX 32.

DREW PETERSON REPORTEDLY ATTACKED IN PRISON

Peterson, who claims that Stacy ran off with another man, told FOX32 there's still a chance she'll still show up.

In this May 8, 2009 file photo, former Bolingbrook, Ill., police officer Drew Peterson arrives for court in Joliet, Ill. AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

In this May 8, 2009 file photo, former Bolingbrook, Ill., police officer Drew Peterson arrives for court in Joliet, Ill. AP Photo/M. Spencer Green (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

“Well, there's been all kinds of cases of a woman coming back years after, as much as 10 or 12 years afterward," he said.

He added that he's had no prison romances with women inside or outside the penitentiary, and revealed one thing he wished he may have done differently over the years.

“I would have stayed a bachelor for sure," he told FOX32. "It's just like every time I fell in love with somebody and tried to make a life with them, things didn't work out."

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

The one-time Bolingbrook "Police Officer of the Year" said he's still in good health and makes $20 working in the prison laundry. When he's not watching sitcoms and movies, he told FOX32 he keeps in touch with his 6 kids, two of whom have recently graduated from "well-known" colleges.

Peterson, who is eligible for parole in 2081, is still appealing his murder-for-hire conviction in the state courts. He told FOX32 he blames his defense attorneys for bungling his defenses and plans to challenge the Illinois Supreme Court's decision to uphold his murder conviction in federal courts.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Mafia killing is first New York mob boss hit ever recorded on video: report

This week’s killing of Francesco “Frankie Boy” Cali in Staten Island is reportedly the first New York mob boss hit ever recorded on video.

Cali, 53, was whacked Wednesday in front of his home, fueling speculation the slaying took place as part of a war between rival mob families or a battle for control of the Gambino crime family after the release from prison of Gene Gotti, the 73-year-old brother of former Gambino boss John “Dapper Don” Gotti.

A police spokesman told the Staten Island Advance Friday that no one has been arrested in the shooting.

No one could recall the head of a New York Mafia family ever being shot in front of their home before this week.

LEGENDARY NYC MAFIA BOSS CARMINE PERSICO DIES BEHIND BARS AT 85

"Doing it at their home with family, that breaks a rule," federal Mafia prosecutor Joe Peters told "Fox and Friends” Friday. "But they’re used to breaking rules because they’re not supposed to be involved in drugs, and heroin is one of their biggest businesses."

Police work near the scene where an alleged leader of the Gambino crime family was shot and killed in the Staten Island borough of New York, Thursday, March 14, 2019. Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali, 53, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his body at his home Wednesday night. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Police work near the scene where an alleged leader of the Gambino crime family was shot and killed in the Staten Island borough of New York, Thursday, March 14, 2019. Francesco "Franky Boy" Cali, 53, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his body at his home Wednesday night. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The Daily Beast offered a blow-by-blow of the contents of the video showing Cali’s murder, citing as a source a law enforcement official who had viewed the tape provided a description.

The video at first shows Cali emerging from his house to confront a man in a hooded top and baseball cap who had just rammed Cali’s parked SUV with a pickup, the news outlet reported.

The video then shows the man bending down, picking up a license plate and handing it to Cali who takes it and walks around to the rear of his SUV, according to the news outlet.

MOB POWER-STRUGGLE COULD BE BREWING, WILL BE 'ALL-OUT WAR': REPORTS

Next, the footage shows the man producing a gun and shooting Cali from behind and then firing more shots as Cali falls, the Daily Beast reported. Those gunshots may have been fired to make sure Cali was dead.

The video concludes with the hitman calmly walking back to his pickup and then driving away, according to the news outlet.

Police said the killer fired 12 bullets and struck Cali six times. They also said the accident may have been staged to lure Cali outside.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The police seized the video -- taken by Cali’s home security system -- after going to court and obtaining a search warrant, the Daily News reported.

A search warrant was needed because Cali’s family reportedly refused to turn it over voluntarily.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

FBI must hand over docs used to keep Comey memos secret, judge rules

Over the objections of the FBI, a federal judge on Thursday sided with CNN in an ongoing lawsuit seeking to make public what the bureau said in two secretive court declarations in October 2017, as part of its aggressive efforts to keep memos documenting former FBI director James Comey's meetings with President Trump hidden.

Comey's memos, whose existence was ultimately leaked with Comey's knowledge and which were later obtained by Congress in redacted form, became a catalyst for the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller in May 2017. CNN filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that same month, and later filed a lawsuit seeking access to the memos.

In their original complaint, CNN noted that FBI Section Chief David Hardy and FBI Deputy Assistant Director in the Counterintelligence Division David Archey, as well as an attorney in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office, promptly submitted ex parte declarations to the federal district court in Washington, D.C., as part of their argument that publicly releasing the memos would compromise an ongoing probe.

WHY DID COMEY KEEP TRUMP MEMOS HIDDEN FROM DOJ LEADERSHIP?

Those declarations were sealed. But whatever Hardy, Archey and the special counsel lawyer said, the court indicated that it found their private explanations compelling.

Nevertheless, on April 19, 2018, the FBI turned over redacted versions of the memo to Congress, which then provided them to the media -- raising questions, CNN argued, as to what the FBI had told the court the previous year, and what had suddenly changed.

Former FBI director James Comey speaks during the Canada 2020 Conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Former FBI director James Comey speaks during the Canada 2020 Conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Washington District Court Judge James E. Boasberg -- an Obama appointee who was also tapped by Chief Justice John Roberts for a seat on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court -- issued an order Wednesday demanding the FBI hand over "clean and redacted copies of the documents in dispute here," apparently including the Comey memos and documents relating to the declarations.

Boasberg will review the materials "in camera," meaning privately, as he determines whether to make public the FBI's secretive declarations. The FBI, in its opposition filing, insisted there was no legal basis to turn over the materials.

But CNN's reply brief argued that the FBI had "failed" to establish a compelling reason to keep the documents secret, noting that there is a strong presumption in favor of access to court records -- and that, by releasing the memos to Congress, the FBI had conceded there was no legitimate law enforcement justification for denying the FOIA request in he first place.

The DOJ's inspector general, meanwhile, is reviewing whether some of the Comey memos improperly contained classified information.

Boasberg's order comes as President Trump, in a fiery interview Wednesday night on Fox News' "Hannity," vowed to "get to the bottom" of how the discredited Russia-Trump collusion narrative began.

Trump promised to "declassify and release" key FBI FISA warrant applications and related documents -- including the entirety of a FISA application to surveil a Trump aide that relied heavily on an unsubstantiated, leaked dossier created by an anti-Trump ex-British spy working for a firm hired by the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee.

The memos, which a personal Comey friend leaked to the media following Comey's termination, were more widely shared within the government than previously known, three sources familiar with the matter told Fox News last year -- although Comey later admitted to hiding the memos from some senior DOJ officials.

Last April, the DOJ gave lawmakers redacted versions of five of the memos, a congressional source told Fox News.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The fired FBI director wrote in one of his memos that Trump had told him, "I hope you can let this go," amid reports that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had lied to the FBI and senior White House officials about his contacts with Russia's government.

Flynn was ultimately charged only with making false statements to FBI officials concerning the extent of his discussions with the then-Russian ambassador on U.S. sanctions and a United Nations vote on Israel. He was fired by the Trump administration for lying to Vice President Mike Pence regarding the same topics.

Fox News' Bill Mears, Catherine Herridge and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

BBVA honorary chair Gonzalez quits for now to limit spy probe impact

FILE PHOTO: BBVA Chairman Francisco Gonzalez addresses the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in Bilbao
FILE PHOTO: BBVA Chairman Francisco Gonzalez addresses the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders at the Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao, Spain March 16, 2018. REUTERS/Vincent West/File Photo

March 14, 2019

MADRID (Reuters) – Former BBVA head Francisco Gonzalez said on Thursday he would temporarily step down as honorary chairman to avoid any harm to the Spanish bank’s reputation during an inquiry into alleged spying.

Gonzalez announced his decision in a letter to the board a day ahead of BBVA’s annual shareholders meeting. He also resigned temporarily as honorary head of the bank’s foundation.

“In order to avoid the use of my person to harm the entity, I have decided to temporarily leave my positions in the foundation and the bank while investigations are ongoing”, Gonzalez said in the letter, which was seen by Reuters.

The inquiry is related to contracts with a jailed ex-police chief, Jose Manuel Villarejo, whom news reports said the bank hired to spy on top executives of a potential buyer in 2004 when Gonzalez was BBVA’s executive chairman.

The bank has officially acknowledged that it hired Grupo Cenyt, a security firm owned by Villarejo who was arrested in 2017 as part of a separate investigation and remains in jail.

Carlos Torres, who replaced Gonzalez as executive chairman in January, has said that Cenyt provided various services to BBVA, but that the bank had found no evidence of spying.

In his letter, Gonzalez said he was very proud of what he had achieved at BBVA, adding that he had ordered the internal investigation into its relationship with Villarejo in June 2018.

(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; editing by Ingrid Melander and Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

0 0

Polish leader: LGBT rights an import that threatens nation

The chairman of Poland's conservative ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has called the LGBT rights movement a foreign import that threatens the Polish nation.

Kaczynski, Poland's most important politician, also said "everyone must accept Christianity" and that questioning the powerful Roman Catholic in Poland is unpatriotic.

The positions that Kaczynski took Wednesday in a lecture on patriotism in the central city of Wroclawek come ahead of elections next month to the European Parliament and a general election in Poland in the fall.

His Law and Justice party has made opposition to LGBT rights a campaign issue, which Kaczynski called "a direct attack on family and children."

Calling the LGBT rights movement "imported," he said it "actually threatens our identity, our nation, its continuation and therefore the Polish state."

Source: Fox News World

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy near Lyon
Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy in Meyzieu near Lyon, France, April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot

April 26, 2019

By Julien Pretot

MEYZIEU, France (Reuters) – Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas was wringing out his women’s team shirts in the locker room on a rainy London day eight years ago when he decided it was time to take gender equality more seriously.

It was halftime in their Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal at Meadow Park with 507 fans watching and Aulas realized that his players did not have a another kit for the second half.

“Next time, there will be a second set just like for the men, that’s how it’s going to work from now on,” he said.

Lyon have since won five Champions League titles to become the most successful women’s team in Europe and recently claimed a 13th consecutive domestic crown.

They visit Chelsea on Sunday in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, with a fourth straight title in their sights.

At the heart of their achievements is a pervasive ethos that promotes gender equality throughout the club, starting in the youth academy.

In 2013, Aulas appointed former Lyon and France player Sonia Bompastor as head of the Women’s Academy — the female equivalent of one of France’s top youth set-ups that has produced players such as Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette and Hatem Ben Arfa.

At the Youth Academy, girls and boys share the same facilities.

“Pitches, physiotherapy rooms are the same for all,” the 38-year-old Bompastor told Reuters.

As the girls train under the watch of former Lyon and France international Camille Abily, the screams of the boys practicing can be heard nearby.

The boys and girls also benefit from the same psychological support that includes hypnosis sessions and yoga.

“We have a ‘mental ability’ cell and the hypnotist acts on the girls’ subconscious, on their deeply held beliefs after observing them on and off the pitch,” Bompastor added.

SAME TREATMENT

One message the Academy staff are trying to convey is that girls are as good as boys.

“Women’s nature is such that we have low self-esteem. So self-esteem is a big topic for our girls,” said Bompastor.

This is not the case with the boys, she added.

“Some 14, 15-year-old boys still think they would beat our professional players, we tell them this would not be happening. We still need to work on those beliefs,” she said.

Female players also have to face questions that their male counterparts do not, Bompastor explained.

“In France there is a problem with the way women are considered, there are high aesthetic expectations. So we get heavy questions on femininity, intimate questions that men don’t get,” she said.

OL’s Academy has been held up as a shining example for others to follow, even in the U.S., where women’s soccer has a wider audience than in Europe.

“About one third of the (senior women’s) squad comes from the Academy, we have a good balance,” said Bompastor.

“I’m getting tons of requests from American universities and foreign clubs, who want to come and visit our facilities.”

‘ONE CLUB’

The salaries of the senior players is one area where there remains a large discrepancy between Lyon’s men’s and women’s teams.

While the three best-paid women players in the world are at Lyon with Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg earning 400,000 euros ($445,520) a year, this figure is dwarfed by the around 4 million euros earned annually by men’s player Memphis Depay.

There is, however, a level of interaction between the men’s and women’s players that is not present at many other clubs.

“When you talk about OL you talk about women and men, you talk about one club and you feel it when you are here or outside in the city,” Germany defender Carolin Simon told Reuters.

“We see it when we play in the big stadium. It’s not ‘normal’ for women’s football,” the 26-year-old, who joined the club last year, added.

Lyon’s female players also enjoy respect from their male counterparts, Simon said.

“It’s very cool, it’s a big honor to feel that it doesn’t matter if you are a professional man or woman. We talk with the men, there are handshakes, it’s a good atmosphere and it’s also why we are successful,” said Simon.

“The men respect us and it’s not just for the cameras.”

Her team mate, England’s Lucy Bronze, sees the men’s respect as key to improving women’s football.

“We might not be paid the same but they are just normal with us, they see us as footballers the same as they are,” Bronze told Reuters.

“Being at Lyon has really opened my eyes. To improve women’s football, it starts with having the respect of your male counterparts. It’s the biggest thing because they can influence so many people.”

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo

April 26, 2019

GENEVA (Reuters) – Yemeni authorities have rounded up about 3,000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopians, in the south of the country, “creating an acute humanitarian situation,” the U.N. migration agency said on Friday.

“IOM is deeply concerned about the conditions in which the migrants are being held and is engaging with the authorities to ensure access to the detained migrants,” the International Organization for Migration said.

The migrants are held in open-air football stadiums and in a military camp, it said in a statement.

The detentions began on Sunday in the city of Aden and the neighboring province of Lahj, which are under the control of the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran-aligned Houthi rebels control Sanaa, the capital, and other major urban centers.

Both sides are under international diplomatic pressure to implement a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire deal agreed last year in Sweden and to prepare for a wider political dialogue that would end the four-year-old war.

Thousands of migrants arrive in Yemen every year, mostly from the Horn of Africa, driven by drought and unemployment at home and lured by the wages available in the Gulf.

(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
U.S. dollar notes are seen in this picture illustration
U.S. dollar notes are seen in this November 7, 2016 picture illustration. Picture taken November 7. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them.

1/DOLLAR JUGGERNAUT

The dollar has zipped to near two-year highs, leaving many scratching their heads. To many, it’s down to signs the U.S. economy is chugging ahead while the rest of the world loses steam. After all, Wall Street is busily scaling new peaks day after day.

Never mind the cause, the effect is stark. The euro has tumbled to 22-month lows against the dollar and investors are preparing for more, buying options to shield against further downside. Emerging-market currencies are also in pain, with Turkish lira and Argentine peso both sharply weaker.

Now U.S. data need to keep surprising on the upside or even just meet expectations. The International Monetary Fund sees U.S. growth at 2.3 percent this year. For Germany, the forecast is 0.8 percent. The U.S. economy’s rude health has given rise to speculation the Fed might resume raising interest rates. Unlikely. But as other countries — Canada, Sweden and Australia are the latest — hint at more policy easing, there seems to be one way the dollar can go. Up.

(GRAPHIC: Dollar outperforms G10 FX – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dz17S5)

2/FED: UP OR DOWN?

Wall Street is near record highs and recession worries are receding, so as we mentioned above, investors might wonder if the Federal Reserve will start raising rates again.

Such a pivot is unlikely after the Fed killed off rate-rise expectations at its March meeting. And the latest Reuters poll all but puts to bed any risk of rates will go up this economic cycle, given inflation remains below the Fed’s alarm threshold and unemployment is the lowest in generations.

Before the March rate-pause announcement, a preponderance of economists penciled in one or more increases this year. But that has flipped. A majority of those surveyed April 22-24 see no further tightening through December and more are leaning toward a cut by the end of next year.

Indeed, interest rate futures imply Fed Funds will be below the current 2.25-2.50 percent target range by this December.

Recent positive consumer spending and exports data have eased market concerns of a sharp economic slowdown. But inflation probably needs to run hot for a long period to panic policymakers off their wait-and-see course.     

(GRAPHIC: Federal funds and the economy – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DzjTZz)

3/HEISEI TO REIWA

Next week ends three decades of Japan’s Heisei era. Heisei, or Achieving Peace, began in 1989 near the peak of a massive stock market bubble and closes with the country trapped in low growth, no inflation, and negative interest rates.

The new era that dawns on May 1 is called Reiwa, meaning Beautiful Harmony. It begins when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne. But do investors really want harmony? What they want to see is a bit of economic growth and inflation to shake up the status quo.

The Bank of Japan’s stimulus toolkit to revive a long-suffering economy is anything but harmonious and yet it’s set to stay. The central bank confirmed recently rates will stay near zero for a long time. But the coming days may not be harmonious or peaceful for currency markets. A 10-day Golden Week holiday kicks off on April 29 and investors are fretting over the risk of a “flash crash” – a violent currency spasm that can occur in times of thin trading turnover.

The year has already seen two yen spikes and many, including Japan’s housewife-trader brigade – so-called Mrs Watanabes – appear to have bought yen as the holiday approaches. Their short dollar/long yen positions recently reached record highs, stock exchange data showed.

(GRAPHIC: Japan stocks: from Hensei to Reiwa – https://tmsnrt.rs/2W6a7Fe)

4/EARNING TURNING

Quarterly earnings were supposed to be the worst in Europe in almost three years, but with a third of results in, things are looking a little rosier.

Two-thirds of companies’ results have beat expectations, and they point to earnings growth of 4.5 percent year-on-year. Financials have delivered the biggest surprises, according to analysis by Barclays.

That might just show how low expectations were. In fact, analysts are still taking a red pen to their estimates.

The latest I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv shows analysts on average expect first-quarter earnings-per-share for STOXX 600-listed companies to fall 4.2 percent. That would be their worst quarter since 2016 and down sharply from an estimated 3.4 percent just a week earlier.

Those estimates may end up being a little too bearish as earnings season goes on, quelling worries that Europe is heading toward a corporate recession.

GSK and Reckitt Benckiser will give the market a glimpse of the health of the consumer products market and spending on everything from toothpaste, washing powder and paracetamol.

(GRAPHIC: Earnings forecasts – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DuO2ZF)

5/WAITING FOR THE OLD LADY

Sterling has gone into the doldrums amid the Brexit delay and unproductive talks between the UK government and the opposition Labour party on a EU withdrawal deal. The resurgent dollar, meanwhile, has taken 2 percent off the pound in April. It is unlikely the Bank of England will be able to rouse it at its May 2 meeting.

Despite robust retail and jobs data of late, the economic picture is gloomy – 2019 growth is likely to be around 1.2 percent, the weakest since 2009, investment is down and Governor Mark Carney says business uncertainty is “through the roof”.

Indeed, expectations for an interest rate increase have been whittled down; Reuters polls forecast rates will not move until early 2020, a calendar quarter later than was forecast a month ago. The hunt for a new governor to replace Carney in October adds more uncertainty to the mix.

The recent run of UK data has fueled hopes of economic rebound. That’s put net hedge fund positions in the pound into positive territory for the first time in nearly a year. The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street might temper some of that optimism.

(GRAPHIC: Sterling positions – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XJwUXX)

(Reporting by Alden Bentley in New York, Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore; Karin Strohecker, Josephine Mason and Saikat Chatterjee in London; compiled by Sujata Rao; edited by Larry King)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren suggested that doctors and nurses don’t treat African American women the same way they do white women.

Warren appeared on Wednesday together with a number of other 2020 Democratic candidates at the She The People Forum in Houston, discussing issues concerning women of color.

WARREN’S $1.25T EDUCATION PLAN ‘SWEEPING’ GIVEAWAY TO THE WEALTHY AT EXPENSE OF THE POOR, WAPO EDITORIAL BOARD SAYS

The Massachusetts senator announced on stage a plan to decrease the childbirth mortality rate among black women while identifying a systematic problem with how they are treated.

“And there is a specific problem, as you rightly identified, for women of color who are three, four times more likely to die in childbirth,” Warren said.

“And here’s the thing, even after we do the adjustments for income, for education, this is true across the board. This is true for well-educated African American women, for wealthy African American women, and the best studies that I’m seeing put it down to just one thing, prejudice,” she added.

“That doctors and nurses don’t hear African American women’s medical issues the same way that they hear the same things from white women.”

“That doctors and nurses don’t hear African American women’s medical issues the same way that they hear the same things from white women.”

— Elizabeth Warren

CHARLIE KIRK: WARREN AND OTHER DEMS OFFER FREE MONEY – BUT DON’T TELL YOU PRICE WILL BE YOUR FREEDOM

Warren went on to get into details of her plan, noting that hospitals will be given bonuses if they manage to reduce the childbirth mortality rate among black women in an effort to give financial incentives for those doctors and nurses to provide better care.

“And if they don’t, then they’re going to have money taken away from them,” Warren added.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I want to see the hospitals see it as their responsibility to address this problem head-on and make it a first priority. The best way to do that is to use the money to make it happen because we gotta have change, and we gotta have change now.”

Source: Fox News Politics

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist