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Police: Welfare agency had reports on couple whose son died

Child welfare authorities had received abuse reports about a Wichita couple whose 3-year-old son was found dead in a crib at their mobile home and a baby was found in critical condition, according to police.

Capt. Brent Allred provided no details Monday on the Kansas Department for Children and Families' involvement with the family of Zaiden Javonovich, whom investigators believe had been dead for days before his body was found. The welfare agency, which has been under fire after other child deaths, declined to comment while it's investigating the case.

Although welfare officials had received reports, police officers hadn't received such reports before finding the child's body Thursday while responding to a domestic disturbance at the home. Police encountered Zaiden's parents — 28-year-old Patrick Javonovich and 22-year-old Brandi Marchant — as they walked back to the home.

Inside, officers found Zaiden's body wrapped in a blanket in a crib. Allred said Zaiden suffered "obvious injuries," but he didn't elaborate.

Officers also found an injured 4-month-old boy, who was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Allred said the baby is improving.

"It's shocking to see adults treat their kids in the way these two were treated," Allred said. "It's, I say, pathetic, because that's what it is."

The parents are jailed on $200,000 bonds on suspicion of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated child endangerment. Police said the criminal case was presented to the district attorney's office Monday afternoon.

A spokesman for the prosecutor didn't immediately return a phone message Tuesday about whether Javonovich or Marchant had attorneys who could comment on their behalf.

The home, where the family had lived for a couple months, had food and no signs of drug use, police said. Allred said Marchant has two other children but doesn't have custody of them. Javonovich has one other child who sometimes visits on weekends.

The Wichita area has seen several child abuse homicides. The victims include 3-year-old Evan Brewer, whose body was found encased in concrete, and 5-year-old Lucas Hernandez, whose body was found under a rural bridge months after he went missing.

The agency had extensive involvement with both children before their deaths. While campaigning last year, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly repeatedly described problems in the child welfare system as among the most pressing the state faces. Lawmakers now are considering increasing funding to add more child welfare workers.

Source: Fox News National

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Greek parliament debates war reparations claim against Germany

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras addresses lawmakers during a parliamentary session before a vote on German World War II reparations in Athens
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addresses lawmakers during a parliamentary session before a vote on German World War II reparations in Athens, Greece April 17, 2019. REUTERS/Costas Baltas

April 17, 2019

By Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos

ATHENS (Reuters) – The Greek parliament will vote Wednesday on whether Greece should pursue billions of euros in reparations from Germany for the Nazi occupation during World War Two, an issue Germany says was settled long ago.

Neverthelesss, successive Greek governments have said Germany owes Greece. Wednesday’s vote in the 300-seat house, however, will be the first official decision by parliament on the question, which resurfaced after Greece became mired in a debt crisis a decade ago.

Parliament Speaker Nikos Voutsis is expected to submit a proposal – based on a parliamentary commission report that assessed the cost of the occupation at upwards of 300 billion euros – on the next legal and diplomatic steps Greece would take and put it to a vote in the evening.

“Greece should, and I think it has the means, negotiate so that Germany recognizes … the reparations, accepting that there is a moral, political and economic issue,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sia Anagnostopoulou.

“Greece paid one of the biggest blood and destruction tolls (in World War Two),” she said, promising to start a diplomatic campaign.

Despite the estimates, it is not clear how much money Greece would seek in reparations. Any move to formally seek reparations would probably be legally enforceable, but the issue is a deeply emotive one that will gain traction in an election year.

Greece emerged in the past year from a decade of austerity imposed by international lenders in return for bailouts that kept it afloat after the debt crisis erupted in 2010.

Many Greeks blamed their biggest creditor, Germany, for the painful cuts attached to the rescue loans, which they feel have stripped them of sovereignty.

Germany has in the past apologized for Nazi-era crimes but has not been willing to discuss reparations. German government spokesman Steffen Seibert repeated Berlin’s view that the issue has long been settled.

“The question of German reparations has been conclusively settled, both legally and politically,” he said. “We are, and I hope you can believe us, aware of our historic responsibility.”

Germany invaded Greece in May 1941, raising the swastika over the Acropolis in Athens. About a thousand Greek villages were razed during the war and tens of thousands of people killed in reprisals by Nazi troops, trying to crush Greek resistance.

The parliamentary committee assessed the occupation cost as at least 269 billion euros ($304 billion), rising to over 300 billion euros with the inclusion of an amount the Nazis forced the Bank of Greece to hand over in 1942, a year after they invaded Greece.

That “occupation loan” also helped bankroll Hitler’s military campaign in North Africa.

Germany has denied owing anything to Greece since it paid Athens the sum of 115 million deutschmarks in 1960.

(Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke and Thomas Escritt, editing by Michele Kambas and Larry King)

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Italian shipping firm fined $4M in US waste oil dumping case

An Italian shipping company admitted in the U.S. to dumping oily waste and other pollutants at sea rather than paying to dispose of them properly, and will pay a $4 million fine.

U.S. authorities in New Jersey say d'Amico Shipping Italia S.p.A. pleaded guilty Wednesday in Newark to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.

The charge involved the oil tanker Cielo di Milano that visited ports in New Jersey, Maryland and Florida multiple times in 2014 and 2015.

The Palermo-based company admitted that the ship's crew intentionally discharged bilge water and oily waste from the vessel's engine room into the sea, according to court documents.

It also admitted falsifying and destroying records, and lying to the Coast Guard during inspections.

According to statements made in court, and in court documents, the company admitted the ship's crew intentionally bypassed required pollution prevention equipment by discharging bilge water and oily waste from the vessel's engine room through its sewage system into the sea.

Some of the discharges were made within the 200-mile (321-kilometer) territorial limits of the U.S.

One chief engineer falsified the ship's Oil Record Book to state that bilge water had been processed through the vessel's pollution control equipment when, in fact it had not. And the crew routinely hid equipment used to conduct the discharges when the vessel entered port.

The company also admitted that crew members made false statements to the Coast Guard during its inspection of the Cielo di Milano in January 2015; and destroyed a record book after the Coast Guard had boarded the vessel, according to court documents.

Gregory Linsin, a lawyer for the company, said the matter remains under the supervision of the court, adding, "The company will address the issue following the conclusion of the court proceeding."

During its four-year term of probation, the company will be subject to an environmental compliance program that requires outside audits by an independent company and oversight by a court-appointed monitor.

The plea allocates $1 million to projects, to be chosen by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, to clean up marine pollution, preservation of aquatic life, and restore shorelines around Newark Bay.

___

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Source: Fox News National

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Illinois billboard touts ‘safe, legal abortion’ in hit against Missouri pro-life laws

An Illinois abortion clinic is using a billboard to tout the state as an abortion-friendly alternative to others like Missouri, which has stringent laws on abortion.

"Welcome to Illinois, where you can get a safe, legal abortion," the Hope Clinic for Women billboard reads near the Missouri-Illinois border.

ALYSSA MILANO PUSHES AGAINST GEORGIA ABORTION BAD, GEORGIA PUSHES BACK

“The goal of this billboard is to remind people coming in from Missouri that they are now in a state that trusts and allows pregnant people to make their own healthcare and family planning decisions,” Erin King, Hope Clinic executive director, said in a statement.

The Granite City, Ill., abortion clinic, located just 10 minutes outside of downtown St. Louis, got the idea from a liberal group that put up a similar billboard in Colorado near the Utah border.

BILL TO FORCE COLLEGE CAMPUSES TO PROVIDE 'ABORTION PILLS' ADVANCES IN CALIFORNIA

“It was just a no-brainer for us,” Alison Dreith, a Hope Clinic spokeswoman, told the Riverfront Times. Half of Hope Clinic's patients come from Missouri to get an abortion.

As Missouri state legislators consider the "heartbeat bill," making it illegal to get an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, the state only has one abortion clinic and has a 72-hour waiting period to get an abortion. That's in stark contrast to Illinois, which is working to make abortion more and more accessible, including a bill that could repeal parental notification in the case of minors.

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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, pledged at the beginning of the year to make Illinois “the most progressive state in the nation when it comes to standing up for women’s reproductive rights.”

Source: Fox News National

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Tense calm on Gaza-Israel border after flareup

Palestinian man inspects his damaged house after Israeli air strikes targeted a nearby Hamas site on Monday, in Gaza City
A Palestinian man inspects his damaged house after Israeli air strikes targeted a nearby Hamas site on Monday, in Gaza City March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

March 27, 2019

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Schools reopened in southern Israel and traffic clogged Gaza’s streets on Wednesday in signs of a pullback from the most serious escalation of cross-border fighting in months.

But while violence eased amid Egyptian mediation, Israeli forces and Palestinian militants were on hair-trigger footing, with rocket attacks from Gaza and Israeli air strikes in the enclave briefly resuming late on Tuesday after a day-long lull.

Despite dozens of rocket launchings and Israeli attacks, no deaths have been reported. Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile interceptors have destroyed some of the rockets and Palestinian militants vacated facilities targeted in the air strikes.

Towns in southern Israel, where rocket-warning sirens have disrupted daily life since the current round of fighting began on Monday, reopened classrooms. In Gaza, schools were also operating and cars filled the streets.

The Gaza frontier remained tense, however, with Israeli troops and tanks deployed along the border. Both Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant group made clear that attacks by the other side would not be tolerated.

Even if the crisis subsides, it could shadow Israel’s April 9 election, in which right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has campaigned on a tough security platform.

TENSIONS BUILDING

The latest fighting has added to tensions that were already building ahead of the first anniversary on March 30 of the start of weekly Gaza protests at the border. Some 200 Gazans have been killed and thousands wounded by Israeli fire during those protests, and one Israeli soldier has been killed.

Israel says its use of lethal force is meant to stop attempts to breach the border and launch attack on its troops and civilians.

The protesters are demanding the right to return to lands Palestinians fled or were forced to leave in Israel during fighting that accompanied its founding in 1948.

Seven Israelis were injured in Monday’s initial rocket attack that hit the village of Mishmeret, 120 km (75 miles) north of Gaza. No other casualties in Israel have been reported. Twelve Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli strikes, Gaza health officials said.

Egypt was expected to pursue further truce talks on Wednesday, said a Palestinian official involved in the efforts.

U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council on Tuesday he had been working with Egypt to secure a ceasefire and that a fragile calm had taken hold.

Security is a major issue for Netanyahu, in power for a decade and beset by corruption allegations that he denies. He is facing his strongest electoral challenge from a centrist coalition led by a former general.

In Dheisha refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, a 17-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops during clashes with stone-throwers, an ambulance service official said, identifying him as a volunteer wearing a paramedic uniform. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta; Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Maayan Lubell and Gareth Jones)

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AOC to Bank Execs: Should More Have Gone to Jail for Financial Crisis?

Firebrand freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., grilled banking bigwigs Wednesday on whether more industry chieftains should have gone to jail for the 2007 financial crisis.

In a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Ocasio-Cortez expressed "concerns about how much things have really changed" since the recession, The Hill reported.

The progressive lawmaker pointed to fines and penalties like Bank of America's $16.5 billion settlement in 2014 over misconduct related to mortgage-backed securities, as well as a $20 million and another $720 million in consumer relief.

She questioned whether they were viewed merely as "the cost of doing business," The Hill reported.

"I represent kids that go to jail for jumping a turnstile because they can't afford a MetroCard," Ocasio-Cortez told Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon. "Do you think that more folks should have gone to jail for their role in a financial crisis that led to 7.8 million foreclosures in the 10 years between 2007 and 2016?"

Dimon demurred, saying it was a question for "legal experts," while asserting no one should be imprisoned for jumping a turnstile, The Hill reported.

The committee summoned CEOs of the nation's largest banks as a group for the first time since 2009 for the hearing — all claiming their companies have become safer and more responsible since they were bailed out during the crisis, The Hill reported.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Charges dropped against former MLB star Lenny Dykstra

A judge has dropped drug and terroristic threat charges filed against former Major League baseball player Lenny Dykstra after an altercation with an Uber driver.

A judge dismissed the charges Friday after Dykstra pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was fined $125.

Dykstra says he is "happy this chapter of my life is behind me."

The three-time All-Star, who was a member of the New York Mets' 1986 championship team, said the driver tried to kidnap him after he asked to change the trip's destination.

The driver told police Dykstra held a gun to his head, though no weapon was found.

The driver tells NJ.com that Dykstra has "admitted to what he did in my car."

A kidnapping complaint filed against the driver is pending.

Source: Fox News National

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One of Joe Biden’s newly-hired senior advisers has seemingly had a very recent change of heart.

Symone Sanders, a prominent Democratic strategist and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., staffer in 2016, was announced as one of the big-name members of Team Biden on Thursday.

But Sanders, who has also served as a CNN contributor, is seen in resurfaced footage from November 2016 expressing her opposition to a white person leading her party after Donald Trump’s election.

“In my opinion, we don’t need white people leading the Democratic party right now,” Sanders told host Brianna Keilar during a discussion on Howard Dean potentially becoming DNC chairman.

BIDEN HIRES FORMER BERNIE SANDERS’ SPOKESPERSON AS SENIOR ADVISER

“The Democratic party is diverse, and it should be reflected as so in leadership and throughout the staff, at the highest levels. From the vice chairs to the secretaries all the way down to the people working in the offices at the DNC,” she said.

Sanders wrapped up her remarks by saying: “I want to hear more from everybody. I want to hear from the millennials and the brown folks.”

Footage of the interview was resurfaced by RealClearPolitics.

After news of her hiring broke on Thursday, Sanders backed her new boss on Twitter.

TRUMP ASSESSES 2020 DEMS; TAKES SWIPES AT BIDEN, SANDERS; DISMISSES HARRIS, O’ROURKE; SAYS HE’S ROOTING FOR BUTTIGIEG

“@JoeBiden & @DrBiden are a class act. Over the course of this campaign, Vice President Biden is going to make his case to the American ppl. He won’t always be perfect, but I believe he will get it right,” she wrote.

The hiring of Sanders has been viewed as another indication of the expected tough fight that Biden and Sanders are in for as the two frontrunners battle a deep Democratic field.

While Sanders himself didn’t torch Biden as he jumped into the race, it’s clear that many of his progressive supporters view the former vice president as a threat.

Biden’s entry into the race – at least in the early going – sets up a battle between himself and Sanders, who thanks to his fierce fight with eventual nominee Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic nomination, enjoys name ID on the level of the former vice president.

BIDEN VOWS THAT ‘AMERICA IS COMING BACK,’ SPARKING ‘MAGA’ COMPARISONS

Justice Democrats — who also called Biden “out-of-touch” – is an increasingly influential group among the left of the party. They’ve championed progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York as well as Sanders. The group was founded by members of Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.

Biden has pushed back against the perception that he’s a moderate in a party that’s increasingly moving to the left. Earlier this month he described himself as an “Obama-Biden Democrat.”

And Biden said he’d stack his record against “anybody who has run or who is running now or who will run.”

Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile – a Fox News contributor – highlighted that “Joe Biden can occupy his own lane in large part because he’s earned it. He’s earned the right to call himself whatever.”

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But she emphasized that “elections are not about the past, they’re about the future…I do believe he has the right ingredients. The question is can he find enough people to help him stir the pot.”

Fox News Andrew O’Reilly contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who is facing increased calls for her immediate resignation, remains in poor health and is not “lucid” enough to decide whether to step down, her attorney told reporters late Thursday.

Steve Silverman, speaking outside one of Pugh’s residences which was raided by the FBI and IRS earlier in the day, said the embattled city leader could make a decision as early as next week.

“She is leaning toward making the best decision in the best interest in the citizens of Baltimore City,” he said, adding that Pugh has “several options” to consider.

“She just needs to be physically and mentally sound and lucid enough to make appropriate decisions.”

BALTIMORE MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH, ON LEAVE AMID BOOK PROBE, HAS HOMES AND CITY HALL OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDS

Silverman said Pugh met with a doctor at home Thursday and plans to do so again Friday, the Baltimore Sun reported.

In the latest image-tarnishing scandal for struggling Baltimore, the first-term Democratic mayor faces accusations that she used children’s book deals to cover up kickbacks for favorable treatment as a state lawmaker and city leader that earned her roughly $800,000 over several years.

BALTIMORE’S ACTING MAYOR SAYS HE ‘WOULD HATE TO SEE’ EMBATTLED MAYOR RETURN AFTER BOOK SCANDALS

As a state senator, 69-year-old Pugh sold $500,000 worth of her self-published “Healthy Holly” illustrated paperbacks to the University of Maryland Medical System, a major state employer whose board she sat on for nearly 20 years.

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Baltimore police officers stand outside the house of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Pugh and also in City Hall. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

UMMS reportedly paid Pugh for 100,000 copies of her books between 2011 and 2018 with the stated intention of distributing the books to schools and day care centers. But some 50,000 copies remain unaccounted for and officials are probing if they were even printed.

Pugh also made $300,000 in bulk sales to other customers including health carriers that did business with the city of Baltimore.

BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL CALLS ON EMBATTLED MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY

The politically isolated Pugh slipped out of sight on April 1 after a hastily organized press conference where she called her no-contract book deals a “regrettable mistake.” That same day, Maryland’s governor called on the state prosecutor to investigate allegations of “self-dealing.”

Pugh took an indefinite leave of absence, citing her health deteriorating intensely after a bout with pneumonia.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide.

Federal agents arrive at the Maryland Center for Adult Training in Baltimore. MD, Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall, as well as the office of her lawyer and the home of a top aide. (Loyd Fox/Baltimore Sun via AP)

On Thursday morning, agents with the FBI and IRS searched her two Baltimore homes, her City Hall offices, and a nonprofit organization she once led. The home of at least one of Pugh’s aides was also scoured.

Silverman said federal agents also served a subpoena at his law firm, retrieving Pugh’s original financial records. They did not seek any attorney-client privileged communications, he said.

Pugh’s attorney said she was “emotionally extremely distraught” following the searches by FBI and IRS agents.

“There was nothing incriminating that came out of her home,” Silverman said.

UMMS spokesman Michael Schwartzberg told reporters that the medical system received a grand jury witness subpoena seeking documents and information related to Pugh.

Other probes against Pugh include a review by the city ethics board and the Maryland Insurance Administration.

BALTIMORE MAYOR’S $500G DEAL FOR ‘HEALTHY HOLLY’ CHILDREN’S BOOKS DRAWS SCRUTINY

In recent weeks, the calls for Pugh’s resignation have intensified with the strongest voice coming from Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who did not mince words after Thursday’s early morning raids.

“Now more than ever, Baltimore City needs strong and responsible leadership. Mayor Pugh has lost the public trust,” he said. “She is clearly not fit to lead. For the good of the city, Mayor Pugh must resign.”

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall.

Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service agents search the home of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh in Baltimore, MD., Thursday, April 25, 2019. Agents with the FBI and IRS are gathering evidence inside the two homes of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh and in City Hall. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun via AP)

Many of her fellow Democrats, including those on Baltimore’s demoralized City Council and state lawmakers, are also insisting that Pugh put the citizens’ interests above any attempt to preserve her political career.

City Council member Brandon Scott called the Thursday raids “an embarrassment to the city.”

However, only a conviction can trigger a mayor’s removal from office, according to the city solicitor. Baltimore’s mayor-friendly City Charter currently provides no options for ousting its executive.

Six of Pugh’s staffers joined her on paid leave earlier this month; three of them were fired this week by the acting mayor.

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Pugh came to office in late 2016 after edging out ex-Mayor Sheila Dixon, who had spent much of her tenure fighting corruption charges before being forced to depart office in 2010 as part of a plea deal connected to the misappropriation of about $500 in gift cards meant for needy families.

She would certainly face a bruising 2020 Democratic primary if she were to return and run for reelection. Veteran City Council leader Bernard “Jack” Young, who is serving as acting mayor, said as she went on leave that he would merely be a placeholder. But this week, before the raids, he said “it could be devastating for her” if she tried to return.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad
FILE PHOTO: Cases of Pepsi are shown for sale at a store in Carlsbad, California, U.S., April 22, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Amit Dave and Mayank Bhardwaj

AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc has sued four Indian farmers for cultivating a potato variety that the snack food and drinks maker claims infringes its patent, the company and the growers said on Friday.

Pepsi has sued the farmers for cultivating the FC5 potato variety, exclusively grown for its popular Lay’s potato chips. The FC5 variety has a lower moisture content required to make snacks such as potato chips.

PepsiCo is seeking more than 10 million rupees ($142,840.82) each for alleged patent infringement.

The farmers grow potatoes in the western state of Gujarat, a leading producer of India’s most consumed vegetable.

“We have been growing potatoes for a long time and we didn’t face this problem ever, as we’ve mostly been using the seeds saved from one harvest to plant the next year’s crop,” said Bipin Patel, one of the four farmers sued by Pepsi.

Patel did not say how he came by the PepsiCo variety.

A court in Ahmedabad, the business hub of Gujarat, on Friday agreed to hear the case on June 12, said Anand Yagnik, the lawyer for the farmers.

“In this instance, we took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety,” A PepsiCo India spokesman said. “This was done to protect our rights and safeguard the larger interest of farmers that are engaged with us and who are using and benefiting from seeds of our registered variety.”

PepsiCo, which set up its first potato chips plant in India in 1989, supplies the FC5 potato variety to a group of farmers who in turn sell their produce to the company at a fixed price.

The All India Kisan Sabha, or All India Farmers’ Forum, has asked the Indian government to protect the farmers.

The farmers’ forum has also called for a boycott of PepsiCo’s Lay’s chips and the company’s other products.

The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

PepsiCo is the second major U.S. company in India to face issues over patent infringement.

Stung by a long-standing intellectual property dispute, seed maker Monsanto, which is now owned by German drugmaker Bayer AG, withdrew from some businesses in India over a cotton-seed dispute with farmers, Reuters reported in 2017. (reut.rs/2ncBknn)

(Reporting by Amit Dave in AHMEDABAD and Mayank Bhardwaj in NEW DELHI; Editing by Martin Howell and Louise Heavens)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New York
FILE PHOTO: The Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By P.J. Huffstutter and Shradha Singh

CHICAGO/BENGALURU (Reuters) – Archer Daniels Midland Co said on Friday it was considering spinning off its ethanol business after slim biofuel margins and Midwestern floods slammed the U.S. grains merchant’s profit, which tumbled 41 percent in the first quarter.

ADM said it was creating an ethanol subsidiary, which will include dry mills in Columbus, Nebraska; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Peoria, Illinois.

The ethanol subsidiary will report as an independent segment, the company said, allowing options “which may include, but are not limited to, a potential spin-off of the business to existing ADM shareholders.”

Results were hit by the “bomb cyclone” blizzards that devastated the Midwest and Great Plains this year, causing massive flooding across Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, washing out rail lines and wreaking havoc in the moving and processing of corn, soybeans and wheat. One-sixth of U.S. ethanol production was halted.

In March, ADM warned Wall Street that flooding and severe winter weather in the U.S. Midwest would reduce its first-quarter operating profit by $50 million to $60 million.

“The first quarter proved more challenging than initially expected,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Juan Luciano, with earnings down in its starches, sweeteners and bioproducts unit. Luciano said impacts of the severe weather ultimately “were on the high side of our initial estimates”.

Ongoing problems in the ethanol industry added to the problems and “limited margins and opportunities” for ADM, Luciano said.

The ethanol industry has been in the midst of a historic downswing due to the U.S.-China trade war, excess domestic supply and weak margins.

ADM, which had been an ethanol pioneer, signaled to Wall Street in 2016 that it was hunting for options and considering sales of its U.S. dry ethanol mills. Luciano told Reuters this year that offers ADM had received for the mills were too low.

In addition, ADM said it planned to repurpose its corn wet mill in Marshall, Minnesota, to produce higher volumes of food and industrial-grade starches.

Other major traders are alsy trying to distance themselves from struggling ethanol businesses. Louis Dreyfus Company BV spun off its Brazilian sugar and ethanol business Biosev in 2013. Rival Bunge sold its sugar book and has sought a buyer for its Brazilian mills since 2013.

ADM, which makes money trading, processing and transporting crops, such as corn, soybeans and wheat, has been looking to strengthen its core business. Last month it said it would seek voluntary early retirements of some North American employees and cut jobs as part of a restructuring effort.

The company expects to lower 2019 capital spending by 10 percent to between $800 million and $900 million.

Net earnings attributable to the company fell to $233 million, or 41 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $393 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $15.30 billion from $15.53 billion. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 46 cents per share, while analysts on average had estimated 60 cents, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Shradha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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The Slack app logo is seen on a smartphone in this illustration
FILE PHOTO: The Slack app logo is seen on a smartphone in this picture illustration taken September 15, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Slack Technologies Inc, operator of the popular workplace instant-messaging app, reported a loss of $140.7 million in the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2019, the company said on Friday in a regulatory filing ahead of its planned public market debut.

The company said its daily active users exceeded 10 million in the three months ended Jan. 31, 2019.

Slack expects to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SK”, it said.

The San Francisco-based company is seeking to go public via a direct listing, making it the second big technology company after Spotify Technology SA to bypass the traditional route of listing shares through an initial public offering.

A direct listing is a cheaper way of becoming a public company as the process requires fewer investment banks and therefore lower fees.

In a direct listing, however, a company does not sell any new shares to raise money. Instead, it gives existing shareholders the opportunity to cash out.

Slack is the latest in a string of high-profile technology companies looking to go public this year. Lyft Inc, Pinterest and Zoom Video Communications have completed IPOs so far in 2019.

The company is hoping for a valuation of more than $10 billion in the listing, Reuters had previously reported. Some early investors and employees have been selling the stock at around $28, valuing the company close to $17 billion, Kelly Rodriques, CEO of Forge, a brokerage company, told CNBC on Thursday.

Slack set a placeholder amount of $100 million to indicate the size of the IPO. The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filings is used to calculate registration fees. The final size of the IPO could be different.

Its competitors include Microsoft Teams, a free chat add-on for Microsoft’s Office365 users.

(Reporting By Aparajita Saxena and Joshua Franklin in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

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