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‘Tarnished image’: Myanmar touts troubled Rakhine as investment destination

A rider passes by the Rakhine State Investment Fair 2019 bulletin board in Ngapali beach in Thandwe
A rider passes by the Rakhine State Investment Fair 2019 bulletin board in Ngapali beach in Thandwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar February 19, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Wang

February 20, 2019

By Simon Lewis and Thu Thu Aung

YANGON (Reuters) – Organizers of a summit in Myanmar’s crisis-hit western state of Rakhine are this week pitching to investors its plentiful farmland and fishing grounds, tourist-ready beaches and historic temples.

The event’s website describes the “untouched opportunities” available in the strategically located region, close to large markets in India and Bangladesh. But a session at the fair will also be devoted to how to invest responsibly in the state, from which an estimated 730,000 minority Rohingya Muslims fled an army offensive in 2017.

A U.N. fact-finding mission last year said the military campaign, which refugees say included mass killings and rape, was orchestrated with “genocidal intent”. Myanmar denies the charge and says its offensive was a legitimate response to an insurgent threat and that it is welcoming the refugees back.

Myanmar hopes the Rakhine State Investment Fair – the first of its kind – will bring money into the impoverished region. Civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who in the past has said economic development is the key to addressing the state’s long-standing religious and ethnic tensions, is scheduled to deliver the keynote speech on Friday.

Suu Kyi’s spokesman did not answer calls seeking comment.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi last month pledged to make Myanmar more investment-friendly as she opened a separate investment summit in the capital, Naypyitaw.

But her government remains under pressure over the 2017 exodus of refugees to Bangladesh, and the plight of hundreds of thousands more Muslims still living in camps and villages inside Rakhine, where their movements and access to healthcare and education remain restricted. A separate conflict with Rakhine rebels that escalated in December has seen aid agencies blocked from reaching many areas.

“It’s quite extraordinary that this investment fair is on, even though large chunks of central Rakhine are now off limits to prying eyes,” said Laetitia van den Assum, a retired Dutch diplomat who was a member of a commission on Rakhine led by the late former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.

CHANGING VIEWS

The investment fair has been organized by the Rakhine state government and Myanmar Investment Commission, with backing from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).

More than 350 investors will mingle with local entrepreneurs and officials at the Rakhine tourist hotspot of Ngapali beach, discussing proposals to farm soft shell crabs or package cashew nuts.

“The Rakhine issue has tarnished the country’s image. But the fair will change the international view of Myanmar,” Htoo Min Thein, secretary of Rakhine’s investment committee, said in an interview carried by the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

“A goal of the fair is to ensure the long-lasting peace, stability and progress in the state through investment,” he said, adding that many areas of the state were unaffected by conflict.

Investment opportunities listed on the fair’s website include several in the troubled north of the state, from where most of the Rohingya population fled in 2017.

Kazufumi Tanaka, JETRO’s managing director in Yangon, said about 50 Japanese government officials, researchers and investors would attend the fair, and that Japanese firms were particularly interested in agriculture and fisheries investments.

Asked about human rights concerns, he told Reuters JETRO would advise Japanese firms on responsible investment practices, adding that most companies would be interested in projects in the south of the state, away from the conflict zone.

“Human rights due diligence is very, very critical of course,” he said. “The image is a very negative image but the other parts of Rakhine state I believe are an opportunity for international investors.”

JICA’s office in Yangon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ETHNIC SEGREGATION

The Rohingya crisis slowed Myanmar’s economic growth, turned off Western tourists and worried new investors. The government’s tally of new foreign investment approvals, which peaked before the violence at $9.5 billion in 2015-16, was just $3 billion for the 10 months up to January.

Peter Beynon, chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar, said investors should look beyond Myanmar’s “negative press”.

“Engagement is always better than isolation,” he said, adding that foreign investment in Rakhine could bring employment opportunities that would make refugees more likely to return.

Rakhine is one of Myanmar’s poorest regions, despite natural gas reserves offshore and infrastructure projects including a planned economic zone at Kyauk Pyu, where parallel oil and gas pipelines to China’s Yunnan province already have their terminals.

But some experts warn purely economic solutions to the state’s woes could cement the marginalization of the mostly stateless Rohingya. Kofi Annan’s commission said in 2017 that development in Rakhine had to be addressed alongside security and human rights, said van den Assum.

Investments that benefit all communities were welcome, she said, but companies should ask themselves, “Do they want to operate under a regime that strictly enforces ethnic segregation?”

A Reuters special report in December revealed that officials had built new homes for Buddhists where the Rohingya once lived, making the return of many refugees to their original homes impossible. (Link: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-rohingya-return)

Myanmar says it has been ready to accept returning refugees since January, and denies discriminating against Muslims who remain in Rakhine.

In Myebon, about 200 km (125 miles) north of Ngapali beach, Muslim residents are barred from returning to their homes nearly seven years after they fled communal clashes.

“I don’t think it’s a good time to invest in Rakhine,” said Tin Aung, a Muslim community leader in the camp where they now live. “It might be good for outsiders, but we, the people in the camps, are not going to benefit from these investments.”

(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Thu Thu Aung; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Source: OANN

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US shuts interior checkpoints to focus on Mexico border

U.S. immigration authorities have temporarily closed highway checkpoints in New Mexico and much of West Texas, as they reassign agents and use the outposts to help process the growing numbers of Central Americans arriving at the Mexican border.

The checkpoints, located up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the border, are designed to be a final layer of defense against illegal border crossings.

"Because of the volume we are processing wherever space is available," said U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The orange traffic cones used to divert traffic off Interstate 10 into the canopy-covered border checkpoints west of Las Cruces, New Mexico, now block the entrance, signaling to drivers that they don't have to stop. Checkpoints are closed throughout the Border Patrol's El Paso, Texas, sector, which stretches across 268 miles (429 kilometers) of border in Texas and New Mexico.

The unusual move, first reported by Texas Monthly, comes as the Trump administration says the border is in a state of crisis, helping justify the president's decision to declare a national emergency and free up military funds to erect a border wall. CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan will be in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday to discuss "the dramatic increase in illegal crossings."

Arrests on Mexican border jumped to 66,450 in February, up 149 percent from a year earlier, as more Central American families seek asylum. After years of calm, El Paso has quickly emerged as the second-busiest corridor for illegal crossings behind Texas' Rio Grande Valley, with arrests in February about eight times higher than they were a year ago.

March has been even busier. John P. Sanders, Customs and Border Protection's chief operating officer, said Tuesday that the agency was on track to make 100,000 arrests or denials of entry during the month, up about 30 percent from in February and about double the same period last year. Nearly 6 of 10 are arriving as families.

U.S. authorities made more than 4,000 border arrests on Monday alone, Sanders said at a conference in San Antonio.

While arrests are still well below highs of the early 2000s, the surge of families and children has stretched the Border Patrol.

"When you have checkpoints shutting down and you have huge distractions away from the core mission of border security, that puts our country in a very vulnerable position," said Manuel Padilla, commander of the Department of Homeland Security's Joint Task Force-West and the former head of the Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley.

U.S. officials say the checkpoint closures are a temporary measure to handle an increase in families and unaccompanied children entering the country illegally.

The Border Patrol operates 34 permanent checkpoints along the Mexican border — typically brick-and-mortar buildings with canopies over vehicle lanes — and another 103 "tactical" stops, often cones and signs that appear for brief periods, the Government Accountability Office said in a 2017 report.

While checkpoints account for only a sliver of Border Patrol arrests — 2 percent from 2013 to 2016 — they also handled 43 percent of drug busts during that time, according to the GAO.

At a gun range operated by the City of Las Cruces and used by Border Patrol agents, grandmother and Pichacho Gun Club volunteer Cindy Pollock said she first noticed the checkpoint closures on Thursday.

She thought the agents might be off training. When she heard that they were reassigned to process migrants, she wasn't surprised.

"There's only so many officers and there's nothing they can do," said Pollock, who believes the current wave of migrants draws resources away from anti-crime efforts. "My husband said 'boy just think about how many drugs are getting through today.'"

___

Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant contributed to this report from San Antonio.

Source: Fox News National

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China Aircraft Leasing says has not put Boeing 737 MAX order on hold

FILE PHOTO: Employees walk by the end of a 737 Max aircraft at the Boeing factory in Renton
FILE PHOTO: Employees walk by the end of a 737 Max aircraft at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo

April 9, 2019

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd (CALC) on Tuesday said it has not put its order for 100 Boeing Co 737 MAX jets on hold nor had it suspended payment, rebutting an earlier report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper.

The SCMP attributed its information to comments from CALC Chairman Chen Shuang. The Hong Kong-listed lessor said Chen was misquoted.

The Hong Kong-based newspaper later on Tuesday updated its story to quote CALC Chief Executive Mike Poon as saying the company had not stopped payment, but as deliveries were on hold, it did not need to make any payment for the time being.

“Our company currently does not have plans to change our Boeing aircraft orders and we have not suspended payment,” a spokeswoman for CALC told Reuters.

The Hong Kong-listed lessor, controlled by state-owned conglomerate China Everbright Group Co Ltd, placed an order for 50 737 MAX aircraft in June 2017 and later expanded the order.

A Boeing spokesman said the plane maker was focused on supporting customers and to ensure the 737 MAX’s return to commercial flight.

“China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings has been and continues to be a valued customer and we are sorry for the disruption this situation has caused them,” the spokesman said.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh and Stella Qiu; Additional Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

Source: OANN

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London court rejects Turkish challenge over extradition request

Businesman and media proprietor Akin Ipek from Turkey arrives at Westminster Magistrates court for an extradition hearing in London
Businesman and media proprietor Akin Ipek from Turkey arrives at Westminster Magistrates court for an extradition hearing in London, Britain, September 28, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

April 9, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – A London court rejected on Tuesday a request from Turkey to appeal a decision against extraditing Turkish businessman Akin Ipek to face terrorism-funding, fraud and other charges.

Ipek built a multi-billion-dollar fortune in Turkey based on gold mining but left the country in 2015 after relations between the government and followers of U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen soured.

Ankara accused Gulen, a former ally of President Tayyip Erdogan, of orchestrating a 2016 failed coup attempt and has carried out a widespread crackdown targeting his alleged followers. Gulen has denied any involvement.

Ipek and two other men, Ali Celik and Talip Buyuk, who are said by Ankara to be high-ranking members of Gulen’s organization (FETO), were arrested by Britain last year following extradition requests from Turkey.

A judge in November said that while he had serious reservations about the state of the rule of law in Turkey, he accepted that the men would receive a fair trial.

But he rejected the extradition request, saying they faced a real risk of ill-treatment on their return.

Judge Elisabeth Laing upheld that ruling on Tuesday. “I refuse this renewed application for permission to appeal,” Laing said.

Ipek said the ruling brought an end to the extradition battle, adding that he would continue efforts to regain control of his businesses which have been seized by Turkish authorities.

There was no immediate comment from the Turkish government.

In November Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul described the original ruling as unacceptable and said Ankara would continue to try to bring suspects back for trial in Turkey.

(Reporting by Barbara Lewis; Editing by Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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Police officer shot in suburban Atlanta; suspect dead

A police officer in suburban Atlanta has been shot and the suspect is dead.

Union City police spokesman Jerald January tells news outlets that the unidentified officer was shot multiple times.

The officer was taken to an Atlanta hospital. His condition is unknown.

The suspect's identity has not been released and it's unclear what prompted the shooting.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it has been called in to investigate the shooting.

This is the 27th shooting involving a police officer in Georgia so far this year.

Source: Fox News National

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Disney’s ‘Avengers: Endgame’ sets opening day record in China

Actors Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige place their handprints in cement at a ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood
Actors Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo show their hands after placing their handprints in cement at a ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles,California, U.S. April 23, 2019. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

April 24, 2019

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Marvel superhero movie “Avengers: Endgame” set an opening-day record in China with an estimated $107.2 million in ticket sales, distributor Walt Disney Co said on Wednesday.

“Endgame” is the finale of a story told across 22 Marvel films featuring popular characters such as Iron Man, Thor and Black Widow.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine)

Source: OANN

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Washington Examiner journalist on Barr’s ‘spying’ allegations: What AG said is ‘a fact’

Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said Wednesday that Attorney General William Barr was speaking in "fact" when he said he thought federal authorities had spied on the Trump presidential campaign.

“It's set off this this firestorm of reaction. But what the attorney general said was accurate when he said, ‘I think spying did occur,’ and the question whether ...  it was adequately predicated,” York said on “Special Report.”

COMEY MEMOS CONTAINED FAR MORE CLASSIFIED INFO THAN PREVIOUSLY KNOWN

“And the fact is, the FBI wiretapped Carter Page, they monitored his electronic communications. You can look at the warrant application; it was all about the campaign. This is just actually a fact.”

"I think spying did occur," Barr said Wednesday during a hearing before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee. "The question is whether it was adequately predicated. …Spying on a political campaign is a big deal."

Barr later clarified: "I am not saying that improper surveillance occurred; I’m saying that I am concerned about it and looking into it, that’s all.”

Washington Post opinion writer Charles Lane said the use of the word “spying” was a mistake that Barr made that triggered everyone.

FBI BLAMES SYSTEM-WIDE SOFTWARE GLITCH FOR MISSING TEXTS; STRZOK'S TEXTS FROM MUELLER PROBE TOTALLY WIPED

“Bill Barr is a very seasoned experienced lawyer who got into a little trouble today by not using lawyerly words. ‘Spying’ is an inflammatory term that kind of gets people triggered and if he had said a word like surveillance which is what he reverted to later we might not be having this discussion,” Lane told Bret Baier.

“So some kind of contact or surveillance or observation was going on of these people in Trump's orbit and to call it ‘spying’ I think was an indiscretion that triggered everybody.”

Fox News' Gregg Re and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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The headquarters of Wirecard AG is seen in Aschheim near Munich
FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of Wirecard AG, an independent provider of outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payment transactions is seen in Aschheim near Munich, Germany April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

April 26, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – Wulf Matthias will not stand for a second term as Wirecard’s chairman in 2020, German daily Handelsblatt said on Friday, citing sources in the financial industry.

For age reasons alone this would not be an option for Matthias, aged 75, Handelsblatt added.

Matthias will keep his mandate until it ends in 2020, the paper quoted a company spokeswoman as saying.

Wirecard was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Thomas Seythal)

Source: OANN

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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)

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