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Japan seen hiking sales tax to 10 percent in October, fourth-quarter GDP to contract: Reuters poll

FILE PHOTO: Girls wearing the yukata, or casual summer kimono, run as they cross the road at a shopping district in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO: Girls wearing the yukata, or casual summer kimono, run as they cross the road at a shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, July 20, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

April 12, 2019

By Kaori Kaneko

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will forge ahead with a planned sales tax hike to 10 percent in October, likely knocking the economy into contraction in the fourth quarter, a Reuters poll showed.

Tokyo has twice postponed raising the sales tax from 8 percent but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly said the hike will proceed this time.

To blunt its economic impact, the government has earmarked about 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) in spending.

Authorities say the move is needed to cover growing social welfare costs as the population rapidly ages.

Forty of 41 economists expect the levy will be raised as scheduled, according to the poll, which was conducted April 2-11.

“There are no reasons to postpone the tax hike at the moment,” said Takumi Tsunoda, senior economist at Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute.

He pointed out the 2014 tax increase, from 5 percent to 8 percent, was larger and said the government’s proposed steps to cushion the blow are “significant.”

Still, there is speculation Abe may delay the hike a third time even if Japan isn’t hit by a major economic blow, as was the case in 2016, when he postponed it a second time.

At that time, Abe laid the groundwork for the delay at a Group of Seven summit, insisting fellow leaders shared a “strong sense of crisis” about the global economy. Other G7 leaders seemed to differ with Abe on this assessment, fueling commentary Abe was using the G7 summit to justify the delay.

Given that history, about half the economists — even those who predicted the hike will proceed — said there is a possibility Abe may decide postpone it again. Asked if it might be delayed even without an economic shock, 18 of 37 analysts said “yes,” while 19 answered “no.”

Asked if the government will need to compile an extra budget for this fiscal year started in April to shore up the economy, 22 of 38 analysts answered “no” and 16 said “yes.”

“The government has already adopted enough steps to soften pains from the tax hike, so there is no need to compile additional spending,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

BOJ OUTLOOK

Meanwhile, more than half of economists polled — 24 of 40 — said the Bank of Japan’s next step will be to start normalizing its super-loose monetary policy. But 16 economists projected the BOJ will ease further.

That compares with 29 and 10, respectively, in the March survey.

Many forecast the BOJ will likely retain its current monetary policy framework for at least the rest of the year.

“We expect the BOJ will escape the situation where it has to ease policy,” said Atsushi Takeda, chief economist at Itochu Research Institute. “But the central bank will keep its current pace of easing as there are no signs that inflation will reach the BOJ’s 2 percent target.”

But Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, says the BOJ will be forced to ease further.

“The United States is expected to worsen from around late 2019, which will drag down the global economy.”

The economists predicted Japan’s core consumer price index, which includes oil products but not fresh foods, will rise to 0.7 percent for fiscal 2019, which started April 1, and to 0.8 percent the next fiscal year.

They also forecast the economy contracted at an annualized rate of 0.2 percent last quarter amid weak foreign demand for Japanese products.

It will shrink again by an annualized rate of 2.0 percent in the October-December quarter due to the planned sales tax hike, the poll showed. Only one economist predicted growth that quarter.

But the economy is expected to muster modest growth of 0.5 percent this fiscal year and 0.6 percent for the next, little changed from last month’s poll.

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; polling by Khushboo Mittal; Editing by Malcolm Foster and Ross Finley)

Source: OANN

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Jared Kushner speaks on Mueller report, border crisis in Fox exclusive; Biden 2020 over before it really begins?

Welcome to Fox News First. Not signed up yet? Click here.
 
Developing now, Tuesday, April 2, 2019

FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: JARED KUSHNER SPEAKS OUT - In an exclusive interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, addressed Special Counsel Robert Mueller's findings in the Russia investigation, his coverage in the mainstream media and the president's threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border ... Kushner said any further attempts by Democrats to pursue a Russia collusion investigation would be "not productive" and "an embarrassment to our democracy" and that he's willing to testify on Capitol Hill about Russia.

Kushner said Trump's threats to close the U.S.-Mexico border are a way "to pressure everybody" into taking action to limit illegal immigration. Click on the videos above to watch Laura Ingraham's interview with Jared Kushner.


CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP.

BIDEN'S BLUES: Joe Biden's potential 2020 candidacy may be in jeopardy before it even begins after a second woman has come forward to accuse former vice president of inappropriate touching ... Amy Lappos, 43, first told the Hartford Courant in an interview published Monday that Biden grabbed her during a $1,000-per-plate October 2009 fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn. Lappos, who was working as an aide for Himes at the time, said Biden's action's weren't sexual, but that he did grab her. Her accusations came on the heels of a similar claim by former Nevada lieutenant governor candidate Lucy Flores, who said Monday she'd still vote for Biden over Trump, despite her claims.

THE BATTLE OVER THE MUELLER REPORT: As House Judiciary Committee Democrats prepare subpoenas seeking the release Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s full report from the Justice Department, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz says Attorney General William Barr is not legally required to make the report public ... In an interview on "Hannity" Monday night, Dershowitz used the “shoe on the other foot” test to demonstrate that the Trump administration doesn’t have to comply with the Democrats' demands. Click on the video above to watch Dershowitz's interview.

CONFERENCE FEATURING 2020 DEMS HIGHLIGHTS FUGITIVE COP-KILLER: A conference featuring eight prominent 2020 Democrat presidential hopefuls kicked off in Washington, D.C. on Monday with the fiery rallying cry of a fugitive cop-killer ... Jamal Watkins, vice president of civic engagement at the NAACP, began by telling the audience at the We the People conference that he would invoke the words of Assata Shakur (aka Joanne Chesimard), who was convicted of the 1973 murder of a New Jersey state trooper when she was in the Black Liberation Army.

Among the groups in attendance were the Sierra Club, MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, SEIU and Communications Workers of America. Speakers included 2020 Democratic White House contenders Cory Booker, Julián Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jay Inslee, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

REPORT: SAUDIS GIVE BLOOD MONEY TO SLAIN ACTIVIST'S FAMILY - Saudi Arabia has given multimillion-dollar homes and monthly five-figure payments to the children of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post writer who was killed in a Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last October, as compensation for their father’s death, according to a report ... The payments to Khashoggi’s two sons and two daughters are part of a long-term arrangement to ensure they refrain from speaking out, the Washington Post reported.

THE SOUNDBITE

COLLUSION BETWEEN DEMS AND MEDIA 'BUDDIES' -  "The Democrats on the left here just want to get their hands on the report so — it’ll probably be classified, there will be a lot of classified information in there so they can leak it to all the bodies in the media, so they can continue on going down rabbit holes of pretending that there is some kind of Russian collusion.”– U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. and ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, on "Outnumbered Overtime," on Democrats' push to have the unredacted Mueller report released to the public. (Click the image above to watch the full video.)

TODAY'S MUST-READS
MSNBC's Ocasio-Cortez Town Hall falls flat, loses to Tucker Carlson in ratings.
Mick Jagger to undergo heart surgery in NYC this week, reports say.
Murdered University of South Carolina student's cause of death revealed.
Nipsey Hussle shooting suspect ID'd by Los Angeles police.

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS
Border shutdown: Here's how U.S. economy could be impacted.
Boeing to submit Max update to FAA in 'coming weeks,' agency says.
Amazon slashing prices at Whole Foods this week.

STAY TUNED

On Fox News:

Fox & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: Special guests include: Howard Schultz, former Starbucks chairman and CEO and potential 2020 presidential candidate; U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Hannity, 9 p.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.

On Fox Business

Mornings with Maria, 6 a.m. ET: Special guests include: U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn.

Varney & Co., 9 a.m. ET: Steve Nelson, Nebraska Farm Bureau president.

Trish Regan Primetime, 8 p.m. ET: U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Kennedy, 9 p.m. ET: An interview with Carter Page, former Trump campaign adviser.

On Fox News Radio:

The Fox News Rundown podcast: "Fox News Speaks to ISIS Bride" - A dozen states have signed onto the "National Popular Vote Interstate Compact" in an attempt to have more control over the Electoral College. John Koza, originator of the National Popular Vote legislation, and Chris Stirewalt, Fox News digital politics editor, discuss what this means for the 2020 presidential campaigns and election. Fox News' Benjamin Hall discusses his interview with Hoda Muthana, an American-born former ISIS bride embroiled in a legal battle with the Trump administration over her attempt to return to the U.S. Plus, commentary by Jessica Tarlov, senior director of research at Bustle.com and Fox News contributor.

Want the Fox News Rundown sent straight to your mobile device? Subscribe through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher.

The Brian Kilmeade Show, 9 a.m. ET: President Trump's threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border, the Mueller report and Joe Biden's woes in the 2020 presidential race will be the topics of debate with the following guests: author Ron Kessler; former U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla.; Chris Stirewalt, Fox News digital politics editor. Plus a slew of new book offerings from Ben Shapiro, Susan Page, former New York Mets star Ron Darling, and Taya Kyle.

The Todd Starnes Show, Noon ET: Todd speaks with U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, about President Trump’s threat to shut down the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Tom Shillue Show, 3 p.m. ET: Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief of USA Today and author of "The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty," joins Tom Shillue to discuss Donald Trump's tumultuous relationship with the Bush family and establishment Republicans.

#TheFlashback
2014: At Fort Hood in Texas, three soldiers are killed and 16 others are wounded in a shooting rampage by another soldier, Army Spc. Ivan A. Lopez, who then kills himself.
1992: Mob boss John Gotti is convicted in New York of murder and racketeering; he would be later sentenced to life, and die in prison.
1912: The just-completed RMS Titanic leaves Belfast to begin its sea trials, eight days before the start of its ill-fated maiden voyage.

Fox News First is compiled by Fox News' Bryan Robinson. Thank you for joining us! Have a good day! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Tuesday morning.

Source: Fox News National

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More Joe Biden Stories Are Coming Out: “Anybody Who’s Ever Been Around Joe Biden Has Been Touched By Him – Literally”

For years, conservatives have been pointing out Joe Biden’s extremely inappropriate behavior with women and children, but the mainstream media almost entirely ignored it. 

But now that some victims on the left are coming forward and speaking out, all of a sudden the mainstream media is all over this story.  Could it be possible that the media has been given the green light to destroy “Creepy Uncle Joe” because someone else is slated to get the Democratic nomination?  No new polls have been released since this scandal went viral, but an average of the previous six polls shows Biden with a solid 7.4 point lead over the rest of the field.  And even though he is not the most charismatic politician in the Democratic field, he is still widely loved by many on the left, and many people believed that he had the best chance of beating President Trump in November 2020.

But not now.  Lucy Flores dealt the first blow, and now more women are coming forward with their own stories.

Christian Science Monitor reporter Linda Feldmann recalls her encounter with Biden very vividly.  She was up in Connecticut on a very hot day to report on a political event, and the thing she remembers most about that day is “Mr. Biden’s sweaty arm”

We were at an outdoor event in Glastonbury, the sun blazing overhead, and I noticed the senators standing around chatting. I walked over and introduced myself. Senator Biden greeted me warmly – and then threw a sweaty arm over my shoulder, and gave me a squeeze. I cringed a little internally; I had never met Mr. Biden before. But I chalked the overly friendly gesture up to his personal style, and maybe a generational difference. I proceeded to interview the senators, but the thing I remember most vividly is Mr. Biden’s sweaty arm.

As Gail Russell Chaddock, a longtime congressional reporter for the Monitor put it, “Anybody who’s ever been around Joe Biden has been touched by him – literally.”

Clearly Feldmann was not as offended by this encounter as Lucy Flores was, but she did admit that she “cringed a little” when Biden grabbed her.

What former congressional aide Amy Lappos is alleging is much more disturbing.  On Monday, she told the Hartford Courant about the time that Biden inappropriately touched her…

“It wasn’t sexual, but he did grab me by the head,”Amy Lappos told The Courant Monday. “He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth.”

Like so many of Biden’s encounters, it was relatively brief, but Lappos continues to be traumatized by this memory to this day

“I never filed a complaint, to be honest, because he was the vice president. I was a nobody,” Lappos said. “There’s absolutely a line of decency. There’s a line of respect. Crossing that line is not grandfatherly. It’s not cultural. It’s not affection. It’s sexism or misogyny.”

Of course these new allegations are not exactly shocking to those of us that have been following this story for years.

As Vox has noted, Biden has a very long history of touching women in inappropriate ways…

Biden’s been caught on camera embracing a female reporter from behind and gripping her above her waist, just below her bust. At a swearing-in ceremony for Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Biden put his hands on the shoulders of Stephanie Carter, Carter’s wife, and then leaned in and whispered into her ear. (He’s whispered into many women’s ears.) He’s also touched women’s faces and necks during other photo ops. Once at a swearing-in ceremony for a US senator, he held the upper arm of the senator’s preteen daughter, leaned down and whispered into her ear, as she became visibly uncomfortable. Then he kissed the side of her forehead, a gesture that made the girl flinch.

Biden just kept getting away with it, and so he just kept on doing it.

But now his skeletons are starting to catch up with him.

And Biden has always known that he makes women feel uncomfortable.  Just consider this old quote from well before this current uproar

“I’m a tactile politician,” Biden said March 16 during a speech in Dover, Del. “That gets me in trouble, as well, because I think I can feel and taste what is going on.”

I really can’t understand why some on the left are still choosing to defend the guy.

Just think about it.  If some dude went around touching women inappropriately, sniffing their hair and kissing them without permission, how long would that individual last in your workplace?

In no universe is such behavior acceptable, and this is a point that even CNN’s Jake Tapper is making

Discussing former Nevada lawmaker Lucy Flores’ claim he inappropriately touched and kissed her in 2014 at a campaign rally, Tapper said, “I have to say, if any of the men around this table behaved this way at our places of work, we would get reprimanded, we would get potentially even fired. You are not allowed to touch women inappropriately. Again, it doesn’t matter if your intention is sexual or just friendly — you can’t massage a woman’s shoulders and sniff her hair and kiss the back of her head. That’s not appropriate.”

Someone has just put up a fake Biden campaign site that highlights his inappropriate behavior, and I have to admit that it was the best April Fool’s joke that I saw this year.

His campaign is dead now, and he was receiving a very lukewarm reception from potential donors even before this story broke

Don’t just take my word for it; consider this recent AP headline: “Joe Biden faces a challenge winning over progressives. That challenge is affecting Biden’s fundraising efforts.” According to CNBC, “Skeptical Democratic donors tell Joe Biden they will not raise funds for him at the start of the 2020 campaign.”

Major donors admitted that “they’re not yet convinced he can overtake the younger, more diverse and progressive field, and that they are going to wait to see how he competes in the race.”

If America is ever going to move in a positive direction, we must demand moral behavior from our leaders.

And that includes those on both the left and the right.

Joe Biden’s behavior should disqualify him from running for any political office ever again, and anyone that tries to defend him is choosing to become part of the problem.

Source: InfoWars

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Fed should consider holding more short-term bonds: Rosengren

FILE PHOTO: The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's President and CEO Eric S. Rosengren speaks during the
FILE PHOTO: The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's President and CEO Eric S. Rosengren speaks during the "Hyman P. Minsky Conference on the State of the U.S. and World Economies", in New York, April 17, 2013. REUTERS/Keith Bedford

March 26, 2019

HONG KONG – The Federal Reserve should consider raising the proportion of short-term Treasury bonds it holds to give itself more options to respond to economic pullbacks, a top policy maker said on Tuesday.

In remarks to be delivered in Hong Kong, Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, offered a hard-line defense for one of policy makers’ most controversial responses to the 2008 global financial crisis: bond buying.

He is the third Fed policymaker in two days to weigh in on exactly what bonds the Fed should keep and why, following speeches by his counterparts in Chicago and Philadelphia. Rosengren, who is a voter this year on the Fed’s policy-setting committee, said holding shorter-term bonds could help the U.S. central bank in a future crisis by giving officials a security they could exchange for longer-term bonds to push those rates down without expanding their balance sheet.

Interest rates, he said, would likely hit their lower limits near zero percent again during a recession and bond buying would be an option. The Fed currently targets short-term rates between 2.25 and 2.5 percent.

“Some have suggested that the Fed’s balance sheet is partly responsible for financial market volatility at the end of 2018, but I disagree,” Rosengren said in remarks prepared for delivery at the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong. “The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet decline has been quite gradual, and proceeded along roughly the same path when stock prices have been rising as when stock prices have been falling.”

The Fed bought bonds to help the economy after the financial crisis, but drew criticism for a policy seen increasing the risk of inflation or financial instability.

Last year, the Fed was criticized for letting the bonds disappear. President Donald Trump pressed the central bank to stop the balance sheet runoff on Twitter, and shares sank on Wall Street after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in December that plans to trim the holdings were on “automatic pilot.”

In January, the Fed said it would be willing to adjust its plans if financial conditions warranted. Last week policymakers announced the runoff would end by September.

The Fed may have to decide to buy assets again even in the absence of a recession, Rosengren said, to keep a significant amount of bank reserves. Policy makers now control rates by paying banks a percentage on the assets they keep in reserve, but those are likely to decline from current levels for reasons out of the Fed’s control.

“I dare say it is important for market observers, lawmakers and the public to become more comfortable with the benefits of central banks using their balance sheet tools to pursue the public interest,” Rosengren said.

(Reporting by Noah Sin in Hong Kong; Writing by Trevor Hunnicutt in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Brazil’s president calls Nazis leftists after Israel Holocaust museum visit

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks at an event with Israeli and Brazilian business people, attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaks at an event with Israeli and Brazilian business people, attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

April 3, 2019

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro said “there is no doubt” that Nazism was a leftist movement, just after visiting Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.

Bolsonaro’s remarks directly contradicted information on the museum’s website saying Germany’s Nazi movement rose out of right-wing radical groups responding to the rise of communism.

In Tuesday’s televised comments, the Brazilian president echoed previous remarks by his country’s foreign minister, Ernesto Araujo, also claiming the Nazis were leftists.

Asked by reporters if he agreed with Araujo, Bolsonaro said, “There is no doubt, right?”

He went on to say that the Nazi party’s name was the National Socialist Party of Germany, which includes the word “socialist.” The official name was the National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

Despite their name, the Nazis followed a fascist and anti-Semitic – rather than a socialist – ideology.

Bolsonaro leaves Israel on Wednesday to return to Brazil. His four-day visit came just one week before Israel’s election in which right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking re-election.

The visit had initially been seen as potentially boosting Netanyahu’s election prospects but fell short of the Israeli prime minister’s expressed hope that Brazil would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Bolsonaro suggested soon after his inauguration in January that he would move the embassy, but his government later walked back the comments. Brazilian officials instead announced during his Israel visit that the country would open a trade office in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu has said he hopes the trade office is a step toward moving the embassy there as well.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who Bolsonaro regards as an ally, recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and ordered the American Embassy moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which took place last May.

Israelis and Arabs dispute the status of Jerusalem, which is holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Israel regards the city as its “eternal and indivisible” capital but that is not recognized internationally. Palestinians want Jerusalem to be the capital of an eventual Palestinian state.

Jerusalem is home to Yad Vashem, which documents the Holocaust and is a memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany during World War Two.

(Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; Writing by Jake Spring; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Mexican president says no sign of recession despite slow growth

Mexico's President Obrador gives a speech marking the first 100 days of his presidency at the National Palace in Mexico City
Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador gives a speech marking the first 100 days of his presidency at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

March 11, 2019

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday that there are no signs of an impending recession despite slow economic growth, adding that his flagship infrastructure projects are on track.

In recent weeks, the government has come under pressure as credit ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch issued a series of warnings about Mexican sovereign debt, oil firm Pemex and dozens of corporations.

During a speech marking the first 100 days of his administration, Lopez Obrador conceded that economic expansion remains slow but reiterated his goal of reaching 4 percent growth.

“The economy is coming along, fortunately, though growth has been modest,” he said. “But there is no hint of a recession.”

Mexican economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter of 2018 as manufacturing, mining and construction shrank, and growth for the full year clocked in at 2 percent, according to data published by the national statistics agency in January.

Lopez Obrador, who took office in December, said the administration is making progress on its infrastructure projects. In April, the government will publish a call for tenders for the Maya Train project in southern Mexico, he said.

He stressed that all of the projects the government is launching, which include airport renovations and a new refinery, will be completed by the end of his term.

Lopez Obrador roiled markets last year with his decision to cancel a new airport for the capital, one of the signature projects of his predecessor, former president Enrique Pena Nieto. Lopez Obrador stressed canceling the airport project was the “best decision,” despite the costs.

(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; writing by Julia Love; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: OANN

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Cut Britain some slack, says Ireland’s Varadkar

PM (Taoiseach) of Ireland Varadkar waits for President of European Council Tusk in Dublin
FILE PHOTO: Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of Ireland Leo Varadkar waits to meet with President of the European Council Donald Tusk in Dublin, Ireland March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

March 21, 2019

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Britain must give a reason if it wants to delay its departure from the European Union, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said ahead of a summit of European leaders on Thursday, adding that Britain needed flexibility given the “chaos” in London.

Varadkar said that nobody in the EU wanted Britain to leave the European Union without a deal, and that there was openness to an extension.

“The situation in London is somewhat chaotic at the moment,” he added. “We need to cut the entire British establishment a little bit of slack on this and support their request … for a short extension. No deal will only ever be a British choice.”

(Reporting by Robin Emmott and Alastair Macdonald, writing by Thomas Escritt, editing by Alissa de Carbonnel)

Source: OANN

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Alex Jones – Info Wars

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Sri Lanka's former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake
Sri Lanka’s former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake, Sri Lanka April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

April 26, 2019

By Sanjeev Miglani and Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s former wartime defense chief, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said on Friday he would run for president in elections this year and would stop the spread of Islamist extremism by rebuilding the intelligence service and surveilling citizens.

Gotabaya, as he is popularly known, is the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the two led the country to a crushing defeat of separatist Tamil rebels a decade ago after a 26-year civil war.

More than 250 people were killed in bomb attacks on hotels and churches on Easter Sunday that the government has blamed on Islamist militants and that Islamic State has claimed responsibility for.

Gotabaya said the attacks could have been prevented if the island’s current government had not dismantled the intelligence network and extensive surveillance capabilities that he built up during the war and later on.

“Because the government was not prepared, that’s why you see a panic situation,” he said in an interview with Reuters.

Gotabaya said he would be a candidate “100 percent”, firming up months of speculation that he plans to run in the elections, which are due by December.

He was critical of the government’s response to the bombings. Since the attacks, the government has struggled to provide clear information about how they were staged, who was behind them and how serious the threat is from Islamic State to the country.

“Various people are blaming various people, not giving exactly the details as to what happened, even people expect the names, what organization did this, and how they came up to this level, that explanation was not given,” he said.

On Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena said the government led by premier Ranil Wickremesinghe should take responsibility for the attacks and that prior information warning of attacks was not shared with him.

Wickremesinghe said earlier he was not advised about warnings that came from India’s spy service either, presenting a picture of a government still in disarray since the two leaders fell out last October.

Gotabaya is facing lawsuits in the United States, where he is a dual citizen, over his role in the war and afterwards.

The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project, in partnership with U.S. law firm Hausfeld, filed a civil case in California this month against Gotabaya on behalf of a Tamil torture survivor.

In a separate case, Ahimsa Wickrematunga, the daughter of murdered investigative editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, filed a complaint for damages in the same U.S. District Court in California for allegedly instigating and authorizing the extrajudicial killing of her father.

Gotabaya said the cases were baseless and only a “little distraction” as he prepared for the election campaign. He said he had asked U.S. authorities to renounce his citizenship and that process was nearly done, clearing the way for his candidature.

‘DISMANTLE THE NETWORKS’

He said that if he won, his immediate focus would to be tackle the threat from radical Islam and to rebuild the security set-up.

“It’s a serious problem, you have to go deep into the groups, dismantle the networks,” he said, adding he would give the military a mandate to collect intelligence from the ground and to mount surveillance of groups turning to extremism.

Gotabaya said that a military intelligence cell he had set up in 2011 of 5,000 people, some of them with Arabic language skills and that was tracking the bent towards extremist ideology some of the Islamist groups were taking in eastern Sri Lanka was disbanded by the current government.

“They did not give priority to national security, there was a mix-up. They were talking about ethnic reconciliation, then they were talking about human rights issues, they were talking about individual freedoms,” he said.

President Sirisena’s government sought to forge reconciliation with minority Tamils and close the wounds of the war and launched investigations into allegations of rights abuse and torture against military officers.

Officials said many of these secret intelligence cells were disbanded because they faced allegations of abuse, including torture and extra judicial killings.

Muslims make up nearly 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 22 million, which is predominantly Buddhist.

(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Federal Reserve Board building on Constitution Avenue is pictured in Washington
FILE PHOTO: The Federal Reserve Board building on Constitution Avenue is pictured in Washington, U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

April 26, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve may lower the interest it pays on excess reserves banks leave with it by 5 basis points at its April 30-May 1 policy meeting in a bid to prevent the federal funds rate from drifting higher, Morgan Stanley analysts said on Friday.

This would mark the third such “technical” adjustment on the interest on excess reserves (IOER) following cuts last June and December.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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In response to the news that the U.S. economy rose 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2019, White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said that this “prosperity cycle” will continue if President Trump‘s policies stay in place.

Calling the advance in gross domestic product a “blow-out number,” Kudlow told “America’s Newsroom” Friday that it serves as concrete proof Trump’s measures to grow the economy have been successful.

“I’ll just say, Trump’s policies to rebuild the economy, lower taxes, regulations, opening energy, trade reform. Look, this stuff is working,” he said.

“It tells me, among other things, that the prosperity cycle we have entered into is continuing, it is strong. It has legs and momentum and frankly it is going to go on for quite some time,” he continued. “This is the new Trump economy. Some people don’t like that or they don’t agree with that. I respect the differences but I’ll tell you it’s working.”

STUART VARNEY: THANKS TO TRUMP, AMERICANS ARE FEELING BETTER ABOUT THEIR FINANCES

39 MILLION ADULTS CANNOT AFFORD A SUMMER VACATION

Kudlow added that Trump has “ended the war” on business and success, and is rallying for the small business owners of America.

“The president is rebuilding incentives, he is rebuilding confidence, he the rebuilding optimism,” he said. “He is basically saying you should keep more of what you earn. He is basically saying to small businesses we’ll cut the paperwork back and make it easier for you to start a business and prosper.”

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Kudlow said the Trump administration is also working with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders to implement bipartisan deals to ensure the continuation of the GDP’s success.

“If the policies and the principles remain in place — and I believe they will — then I believe this new prosperity expansion cycle is going to go on for a whole bunch of more years,” he said.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Tennis - Australian Open - Women's Singles Final
FILE PHOTO: Tennis – Australian Open – Women’s Singles Final – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, January 26, 2019. Japan’s Naomi Osaka attends a news conference after winning her match against Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – World number one Naomi Osaka came from behind in the final set to beat Croatian Donna Vekic 6-3 4-6 7-6(4) on Friday and move into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix semi-finals.

Osaka comfortably won the opening set but was tested by the Croatian, who pushed her to the limit in the second and third. The Japanese made 45 unforced errors as she struggles to get to grips with swapping hard courts for clay.

Osaka was visibly frustrated and trailed 5-1 in the final set but she refused to give up and found her rhythm to break Vekic twice and prevent her from serving for the match.

In the tiebreaker, a confident Osaka upped her baseline game and had two early mini breaks before wrapping up the match in two hours and 18 minutes. An infuriated Vekic even smashed her racket after losing the match.

“I told myself I didn’t want to have any regrets here,” Osaka said. “I was stressed out when I went down 1-5… but this (comeback) was pretty good because I don’t play really well on clay.”

Earlier, world number three Petra Kvitova came back from a set down to beat Anastasija Sevastova 2-6 6-2 6-3 and move into the tournament’s semi-finals for the third time in her career.

Sevastova had a dream start, breaking Kvitova twice to take a 3-0 lead as the Czech struggled with her first serve. Kvitova also made a slew of unforced errors, with many of her returns going long.

Sevastova used the full width of the court to get the better of Kvitova, who played on the back foot for much of the first set as the Latvian gave her little time to catch her breath.

However, Kvitova recovered in the second set and she broke Sevastova’s serve when she was 3-2 up, winning 10 straight points to take a 5-2 lead. Sevastova looked shaken and was broken again to give Kvitova the second set.

Kvitova took command in the final set and broke a visibly upset Sevastova to take a 3-1 lead before easing into the semis.

“In the first set I missed almost everything. I was pretty slow and she just couldn’t miss,” Kvitova said. “In the second set it was very important for me to stay on my serve and the chance to break her came.”

Kiki Bertens plays Angelique Kerber later on Friday and Victoria Azarenka faces Anett Kontaveit in the last quarter-final.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)

Source: OANN

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President Donald Trump says he feels “young” and “vibrant” at age 72 and thinks he can beat 76-year-old Joe Biden “easily.”

A reporter asked Trump at the White House on Friday how old is too old to be president of the United States.

Trump said: “I just feel like a young man. I’m so young. I can’t believe it. … I’m a young vibrant man.”

Then he smiled and said he’s not sure about Democratic presidential contender Biden, the second-oldest contender in the race behind Bernie Sanders.

Trump said: “I look at Joe. I don’t know about him.”

Biden, in an interview on ABC’s “The View,” joked in response that if Trump “looks young and vibrant compared to me, I should probably go home.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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