Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Julius Baer has Credit Suisse wealth manager Khan on list for CEO job: sources

FILE PHOTO - Khan, CEO International Wealth Management of Swiss bank Credit Suisse, speaks during Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit in Zurich
FILE PHOTO - Iqbal Khan, CEO International Wealth Management of Swiss bank Credit Suisse, speaks during "The Wealth Management Industry - Into the next decade" at the Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit, Park Hyatt hotel, Zurich Switzerland, June 13, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

March 29, 2019

By Oliver Hirt and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss bank Julius Baer is considering Credit Suisse’s international wealth management head Iqbal Khan as a possible successor to its chief executive Bernhard Hodler, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Khan, who was hired by Chairman Urs Rohner in 2013 and promoted to lead the newly created International Wealth Management business in 2015, had also been tipped as a potential future chief executive of Credit Suisse.

Although Hodler has been Julius Baer CEO for less than one-and-a-half years, Baer’s board is already assessing potential successors, the sources said.

Julius Baer has axed jobs and cut growth targets this year after it was hit by challenging markets in 2018, and its shares are down 28 percent since Hodler took over.

Switzerland’s third-largest listed bank declined to comment on whether it or its new chairman are seeking to replace Hodler, while Credit Suisse declined to comment on the situation.

Hodler was chief risk officer at Zurich-based Julius Baer before the departure of his predecessor Boris Collardi, who also rose through the ranks of Credit Suisse, to unlisted Pictet.

Since taking the top job, Hodler has been trying to overhaul Julius Baer’s compliance practices following several inquiries related to bribery and corruption probes involving its clients.

In Khan, Julius Baer would gain a high-profile private banker in his early forties who has helped bring in a new generation of young, entrepreneurial clients for Credit Suisse.

Credit Suisse’s private banking operations outside of Switzerland and Asia Pacific have cut costs and layers of middle management, boosting profits and inflows under Khan, while the bank was undergoing a major restructuring.

If Khan were to leave, there are a handful of Credit Suisse executives who would be in the running to replace him.

These include Benjamin Cavalli, head of private banking in South Asia, Yves Sommerhalder, co-head of the bank’s International Trading Solutions, Serge Fehr, head of private banking and wealth management in the Swiss division, Eric Varvel, head of Asset Management in IWM, and Felix Baumgartner, head of premium clients in Switzerland, one source said.

Swiss Universal Bank head Thomas Gottstein and Investment Banking & Capital Markets boss Jim Amine would also be in the mix, the source added.

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Oliver Hirt; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

0 0

Rohingya ‘lost generation’ struggle to study in Bangladesh camps

Rohingya students are seen during a class at school, at Leda refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Rohingya students are seen during a class at school, at Leda refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, February 9, 2019. REUTERS/Jiraporn Kuhakan

March 18, 2019

By Poppy McPherson and Ruma Paul

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) – Sixteen-year-old Kefayat Ullah walked to his school in southern Bangladesh in late January, as he had done most days for the previous six years, to find that – despite being one of the top students in his class – he had been expelled.

A government investigation had outed him, along with dozens of his classmates, as a Rohingya refugee, a member of the mostly stateless Muslim minority from neighboring Myanmar.

“Our headmaster called us into his office and told us that there’s an order that Rohingya students have no rights to study here anymore,” said the teenager, a small boy with cropped hair and a faint moustache. “We went back home crying.”

For years, Bangladeshi schools have quietly admitted some of the Rohingya who live as refugees in sprawling camps on the country’s southern coast, and whose numbers have swelled to more than 1 million since violence across the border in 2017. But the new influx has tested the hospitality of the Bangladeshi government, leading them to apply tighter controls on the population.

The recent expulsions highlight the struggle of hundreds of thousands of children desperate to study in the world’s largest refugee settlement, but at risk of missing out on crucial years of education and the chance to obtain formal qualifications.

More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar after a military campaign in late 2017 that the United Nations has said was executed with “genocidal intent”. Thousands more, like Kefayat, were born in Bangladesh after their parents fled earlier waves of violence.

Though Myanmar says it is ready to welcome back the refugees, northern Rakhine state, from where they fled, is still riven by ethnic tensions and violence, and the U.N. has said conditions are not right for them to return.

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, meanwhile, has said the country cannot afford to integrate them.

“HUNGRY FOR EDUCATION”

In some countries, governments allow refugees to study in local schools, allowing them to gain recognized qualifications, or permit institutions in the camps to teach the national curriculum. But Bangladesh has not recognized the vast majority of the Rohingya as refugees and does not issue birth certificates for those born in the camps, making their legal status unclear.

The government has also forbidden centers in the camps from teaching the Bangladesh curriculum, according to the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF.

“Many students are depressed and frustrated,” said a 21-year-old who asked not to be named because he was continuing to pass as Bangladeshi so he could go to university.

“Yes, we are somehow pretending to be Bangladeshi students. Yes, we have got some education. But now, where will we go? The world should think about this: if we can’t study, our future will be damaged. We are hungry for education.”

In the headmaster’s office at Leda High School, piles of textbooks inscribed with the names of some of the 64 expelled students lay stacked in a corner.

“We are very sorry and disappointed about the decision,” said the principal, Jamal Uddin. “The government is providing everything for the Rohingya – why not education?”

But others were relieved. Eighteen months on from the start of the crisis, and with no resolution in sight, some local people are losing patience.

In the grassy playground of the school, its founder, 48-year-old Kamal Uddin Ahmed, said the arrival of the Rohingya had been a massive upheaval for the local area.

“How do you think I feel?” he said. “We don’t mind the Rohingya, but we mind our lives.”

Intelligence officials who visited said it was “not safe for the country, not safe for our people” to have Rohingya in schools, he said.

Rohingya have been accused by some of bringing drugs and crime to Bangladesh.

“SHORT TERM”

In a letter to local headmasters dated January, Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission Chief Abul Kalam said that an intelligence report on the situation had been filed with the prime minister’s office in November.

“It has been seen the trend of Rohingya children’s participation in getting education has been increasing,” Kalam said in the letter, seen by Reuters, adding that some Rohingya had obtained fake Bangladeshi identity documents through “dishonest public representatives”.

“It is advised to monitor strictly so that no Rohingya children can take education outside the camps or elsewhere in Bangladesh,” he said.

Asked about his order to expel Rohingya children from local schools, Kalam said they were getting an education from learning centers in the camps.

“They are not allowed to enrol in Bangladeshi schools as they are not Bangladeshi citizens,” he said.

But many children and their parents say the hundreds of learning centers operated in the camps by international NGOs and the U.N. offer mostly unstructured learning and playtime.

Bob Rae, Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar, who has also traveled to Bangladesh, said Bangladesh authorities including Sheikh Hasina “have emphasized that the refugee camp is supposed to be ‘short term’ and that to talk about schooling beyond learning centers for very young children would risk giving the impression, to Myanmar and the world, that camps were there to stay”.

SECRET STUDYING

In the camps, many children study by themselves from tattered textbooks carried from Myanmar or purchased at local markets, where stalls ply a swift trade in copies of the Myanmar curriculum smuggled across the border. Recent fighting in the region has made imports tougher, one stall owner said.

“There are many Rohingya who can’t get the Myanmar curriculum – we are doing this so we can help them,” said 20-year-old Nurul Ansur, the Bangladeshi proprietor of a print shop which specializes in copies of the textbooks, pulling a copy of ‘Grade One Primer, Basic Education’ from a filing cabinet.

A makeshift school staffed with Rohingya volunteer teachers opened in February, though the headteacher said they had no official permission to operate.

Karen Reidy, a communications officer at UNICEF, which leads education programming in the camps, said efforts were under way to adapt other countries’ curriculums into a “learning framework” for refugee children.

“There’s a risk in the camps that we will see a lost generation of children if we don’t manage to catch them with education, with skills and training at this critical point in their lives,” she said.

At Nayapara camp, the expelled students recounted stories from years of illicit study at the Bangladeshi schools. Some of their classmates were cruel, said Kefayat Ullah.

“They used the word ‘Rohingya’, ‘Burma’ to tease us,” he said. “Nevertheless, we were happy. We need education.”

One 15-year-old, Mohammed Yunus, said he had worked in a brick-field to pay for classes that his parents could not afford.

“Bangladesh wants to see us a good community,” he said. “Also the U.N. wants to see us a good community, but if they block our education, how can we be?”

Kefayat Ullah had dreamed of graduating and becoming a journalist “to help our community”. Now, he watches his Bangladeshi former classmates travel to and from class in their crisp white shirts.

“We feel sad when we see the local students studying in a nice place, quietly,” he said. “Now we are always worried and thinking – what will we do?”

(Reporting by Poppy Elena McPherson; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Source: OANN

0 0

Jon Stewart calls on Congress to step up and help 9/11 heroes, their families

Jon Stewart isn’t joking when it comes to getting the proper funding to help 9/11 responders and their families who continue to deal with the lingering damage from America’s most horrific terrorist attack.

The former “Daily Show” host told “America’s Newsroom” those still suffering for their heroic actions “deserve our attention.”

“We don’t want the 9/11 community and the first responders to have their issue be swept under the rug or be ignored,” Stewart said.

9/11 FUND RUNNING OUT OF MONEY FOR THOSE WITH ILLNESSES

“These are men and women who have suffered great illnesses because of their heroic work down on ‘Ground Zero’ during 9/11 and during the months that passed and they deserve our attention.”

Stewart is in Washington, D.C. with John Feal, a 9/11 demolition supervisor, to support the “Never Forget the Heroes” Fund Act.

The bipartisan legislation would make sure that all first responders and survivors who were injured or are suffering illnesses from that day receive their full compensation.

The 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund announced earlier this month that they were running out of money and were cutting payments by as much as 50 and 70 percent.

“I’ve been to 181 funerals. The pain, the struggle, the fight is real,” Feal told co-host Sandra Smith.

FLASHBACK: AS 9/11 VICTIMS CONTINUE TO COME FORWARD, OFFICIALS AND ADVOCATES FEAR COMPENSATION FUND MAY DRY UP

“When this went into effect the conversations are, 'Now do I put gas in the car or do I put food on the table? Do I keep a roof over my head or do I pay the utilities?'

“This is real and this policy effect is devastating to the 9/11 community.”

“This has been a fight.  It’s not something they’re unaccustomed too but it’s something that I find… It’s unconscionable.  It cannot continue,” Stewart added.

“We cannot force the men and women that so heroically went down to ‘Ground Zero’ and stayed there for 9, 10 months disrupting their lives as well. We can’t force them to have to fight for this anymore.”

Both men took the opportunity to express to Congress that this was their opportunity to turn one of America’s horrific moments into a positive.

“Congress has a chance… I think Congress and the Senate need this more than anything to come together like we did 18 years ago,” Feal said.  “They can take our worst day, our worst weeks and our worst months. Especially our worst 18 years since and come together and make Congress’ finest hour.”

“This is a national embarrassment and crisis,” Stewart said.  “They’ve got to step up.”

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Cutting-Edge Planet Finder Hunts for Habitable Zones, Liquid Water

A new astronomical spectrograph built by a Penn State-led team of scientists provides the highest precision measurements to date of infrared signals from nearby stars, allowing astronomers to detect planets capable of having liquid water on their surfaces that orbit cool stars outside our Solar System.

The Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF) allows precise measurement of a star’s radial velocity, measured by the subtle change in the color of the star’s spectra as it is tugged by an orbiting planet, which is critical information in the discovery and confirmation of new planets.

The HPF, located at McDonald Observatory at the University of Texas at Austin, targets low-mass planets around cool nearby M dwarf stars in Habitable Zones, regions where liquid water might exist on a planet’s surface.

Owen Shroyer breaks down what to expect from Trump’s Space Force.

M dwarf stars are known to host rocky planets, but these stars are faint due to their size and their magnetic activity manifests as spots and flares, which pose problems for existing visible light instruments. The HPF, coupled to the 10-meter Hobby Eberly Telescope, instead uses near-infrared light — a type of invisible infrared light closest in wavelength to the visible spectrum — to observe these stars at wavelengths where they are brighter and less active.

“The HPF was built to be incredibly stable, and we added a calibrator called a laser frequency comb to increase precision,” said Suvrath Mahadevan, associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State and Principal Investigator of the HPF project. “The laser comb, which was custom-built by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), separates individual wavelengths of light into separate lines, like the teeth of a comb, and is used like a ruler to calibrate the near-infrared energy from the stars. This combination of technologies has allowed us to demonstrate unprecedented near-infrared radial velocity precision with observations of Barnard’s Star, one of the closest stars to the Sun.” These results appear in the Feb 20 issue of the journal Optica.

“We are especially interested in finding Earth-like planets that orbit in the habitable zone of the nearest stars,” said Mike Endl, senior research scientist at McDonald Observatory. “These planets around nearby stars represent our best chance to characterize and study them in greater detail. The laser frequency comb at the HPF enables us to reach the high level of precision required to detect these small planets.”

“Detecting near-infrared wavelengths also poses tremendous technical challenges,” said Mahadevan. For example, the instrument is so sensitive to infrared light that heat emitted at room-temperature blinds the detector, requiring operations at very cold temperatures. The HPF was designed to overcome these challenges, and also offers an extremely high level of control over temperature and pressure — essential to proper functioning of the instrument.

“The Habitable Zone Planet Finder was and is a unique opportunity to push beyond the known solutions for finding planets that could potentially harbor life,” said Fred Hearty, senior scientist of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State and the systems engineer of HPF. “Each advance we have made in the development of this instrument has revealed deeper and more subtle challenges.”

(Photo by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Flickr)

Larry Ramsey, distinguished scholar and professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State, and one of the original inventors of the Hobby Eberly Telescope design added “The research and development journey for precision instruments like the Hobby-Eberly telescope began in the 1980’s at Penn State. Over the next decades, this led to the construction of several instruments that have greatly improved our ability to search for potentially habitable planets — from the Fiber Optic Echelle Instrument and the near-infrared Pathfinder instrument testbed to the powerful Habitable Zone Planet Finder, which has incredible spectral stability and the velocity sensitivity when coupled to the Hobby Eberly Telescope.”

Mahadevan attributed the success of HPF and its laser comb calibrator to the multi-disciplinary and multi-institution HPF team. “We would not have been able to push these astrophysical limits without pushing technical and engineering limits here on the ground,” he said, “or without the hard work, commitment and creativity of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research associate, faculty, and industry partners who have worked on HPF for almost a decade. These results will pave the way to breaking barriers in the near-infrared, enabling discovery of terrestrial-mass planets in Habitable Zones.”

Alex Jones calls in from the road to blow the lid on this epic scoop.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Illinois House Passes Bill Requiring Women, African-Americans on Corporate Boards

The Illinois House of Representatives has passed a bill mandating that all publicly-traded companies headquartered in the state will need to have a woman and an African-American sitting on its corporate board by 2021.

Failure to comply could result in fines of up to $300,000.

A heated debate on the House floor preceded the bill’s passage, according to Illinois News Network.

“I’m not going to be ashamed to stand here and fight for the people that sent me here,” said Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch (D), who is African-American. “Let’s stand up for our people.”

“Ashamed to fight for African-Americans to have a right in the room? Are you kidding me?”

Opponents of the bill have warned that it will create more hurdles for Illinois business growth, effectively signaling that the state is unwelcoming of new companies.

“We are destroying the ability for our state to grow,” said Rep. Tony McCombie (R).

The bill stipulates, “the Secretary of State shall publish a report on its website documenting the number of corporations that have at least one female director and one African American director, the number of corporations that were in compliance at one point during the preceding calendar year, the number of corporations that moved to Illinois during the preceding calendar year, and the number of corporations that were previously subject to the requirements during the preceding year but are no longer publicly traded. Provides penalties for violations.”

The bill now heads to the Illinois Senate for consideration.



Top political cartoonist in the world, Ben Garrison, has been attacked by the left for being so effective in his support for liberty, capitalism, and President Trump.

Dan Lyman:

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Starbucks beats same-store sales expectations, shares rise 2%

FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks sign is show on one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California
FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks sign is show on one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 19,2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 25, 2019

(Reuters) – Starbucks Corp beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly sales at established cafes on Thursday, as higher prices and customer orders powered a strong growth in the United States, its largest market.

Shares of the company rose 2 percent in extended trading.

The world’s biggest coffee chain said sales at cafes open at least 13 months in its Americas unit rose 4 percent in the second quarter ended March 31, beating the 3.58 percent rise expected by analysts, according to IBES data by Refinitiv.

Total net revenue rose 4.5 percent to $6.31 billion, but was slightly below the estimate of $6.32 billion.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal and Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

Source: OANN

0 0

Two sons of 'El Chapo' indicted on drug conspiracy charges, remain fugitives

Two of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's sons have been indicted on drug conspiracy charges, barely a week after the Mexican kingpin was found guilty of running a drug cartel.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 34, and Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 28, were charged in a case unsealed in Washington, D.C. last week.

'EL CHAPO' ACCUSED OF DRUGGING, RAPING GIRLS AS YOUNG AS 13, ACCORDING TO COURT DOCUMENTS

The two brothers, who are both believed to be living in Mexico, allegedly conspired to distribute cocaine, meth and marijuana in the U.S. from April 2008 until April 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said Thursday.

The sons of the notorious leader remain fugitives.

The pair's father, 61-year-old El Chapo, was convicted on Feb. 12 of drug conspiracy charges following a three-month-long trial in New York. The jury of 12 people announced their decision at a federal courthouse in Brooklyn on the sixth day of deliberations, affirming Guzman was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel who conspired to commit murder.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

One of the most notorious drug traffickers in modern history, he was extradited to the U.S. in 2017 after Mexican authorities captured him a year prior during raids in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. He was free at that point after a dramatic escape in which he tunneled out of a Mexican prison.

Fox News' Marta Dhanis, Katherine Lam and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Real News with David Knight

9:00 am 12:00 pm



Cyprus police on Friday widened their search for more victims of a suspected serial killer after the 35-year-old national guard captain told investigators he killed four more people that he previously admitted to on the small Mediterranean nation.

The count now has climbed to seven.

CYPRUS FEARS POSSIBLE SERIAL KILLER AFTER BODIES OF TWO WOMEN ARE DISCOVERED IN MINESHAFT

Authorities said they are focusing on a military firing range, a man-made lake and an abandoned mine about 20 miles west of the capital Nicosia.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades expressed “deep sorrow and concern” at the slayings and said he shared the public’s revulsion at “murders that appear to have selectively targeted foreign women who are in our country to work.”

“Such instincts are contrary to our culture’s traditions and values,” he said in a statement from China, where he was on an official visit. He urged calm so police can complete their investigation.

The scale of the alleged crimes by a Cypriot National Guard captain has horrified the small nation of over a million people, where multiple killings are rare. Five British law enforcement officials — including a coroner, a psychiatrist and investigators who specialize in multiple homicides — have been dispatched to help with the investigation.

On Thursday, the 35-year-old suspect, who can’t yet be named because he hasn’t been formally charged, told investigators that he had killed four more people than he had previously admitted to. Police said the suspect will appear in court Saturday for another custody hearing.

Cypriot investigators and police officers search a flooded mineshaft where two female bodies were found, outside of Mitsero village, near the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, April 22, 2019. Police on the east Mediterranean island nation, along with the help of the fire service, are conducting the search Monday in the wake of last week's discovery of the bodies in the abandoned mineshaft and the disappearance of the six-year-old daughter of one of the victims. 

Cypriot investigators and police officers search a flooded mineshaft where two female bodies were found, outside of Mitsero village, near the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, April 22, 2019. Police on the east Mediterranean island nation, along with the help of the fire service, are conducting the search Monday in the wake of last week’s discovery of the bodies in the abandoned mineshaft and the disappearance of the six-year-old daughter of one of the victims.  (AP)

The victims — all foreigners— include Marry Rose Tiburcio, 38, from the Philippines, whose bound body was found April 14 in a flooded mineshaft. She and her six-year-old daughter had been missing since May of last year.

The girl remains missing and authorities believe she was also slain by the suspect. Divers have entered the reservoir to search for her but have not found her body yet.

CYPRUS: GROUND NOT YET READY FOR PEACE TALKS RESUMPTION 

Authorities tracked down the officer last week by scouring Tiburcio’s online messages.

Six days later, police discovered another body April 20 in the same mineshaft, identified by Cypriot media as 28-year-old Arian Palanas Lozano, also from the Philippines.

A third alleged victim, also of Filipino descent, is 31-year-old Maricar Valtez Arquiola, who had been missing since December 2017. The suspect initially denied killing Arquiola but reversed himself after a court hearing Thursday, a police official said.

The suspect on Thursday also pointed investigators to a military firing range, where they discovered another unidentified body, which according to the suspect belongs to a woman of either Nepalese or Indian descent.

SERIAL KILLER WHO MAY HAVE COMMITTED 90 MURDERS IS LINKED TO YET ANOTHER KILLING 

Cypriot police are also looking for a Romanian mother and daughter. Cypriot media identified them as Livia Florentina Bunea, 36, and eight-year-old Elena Natalia Bunea, who are believed to have been missing since September 2016.

The man-made lake remains off-limits to a manned search because of high levels of toxic heavy metals from the copper pyrite mine, Fire Service Chief Marcos Trangolas said, adding that authorities will use other means to scour the lake.

Chief of Cypriot police Zacharias Chrysostomou, center, walks with Cypriot investigators and police officers at a flooded mineshaft where two female bodies were found, outside of Mitsero village, near the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, April 22, 2019.

Chief of Cypriot police Zacharias Chrysostomou, center, walks with Cypriot investigators and police officers at a flooded mineshaft where two female bodies were found, outside of Mitsero village, near the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Monday, April 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Cyprus police have faced criticism from immigrant activists who said they didn’t act fast enough to investigate the whereabouts of some of the victims, many of them domestic workers. The island nation has 80 unsolved missing persons cases, going back to 1990.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Police chief Zacharias Chrysostomou said a three-member panel has been assigned to probe whether police followed all the correct protocol in recent missing persons cases.

According to the state-run Cyprus News Agency, an investigator had told the court at an earlier hearing that the suspect admitted to killing one woman he met online after having sex with her.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: Customers shop in a Sainsbury's store in Redhill
FILE PHOTO: Customers shop in a Sainsbury’s store in Redhill, Britain, March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By James Davey

LONDON (Reuters) – With Sainsbury’s dream of creating Britain’s biggest supermarket group in tatters, its chastened CEO Mike Coupe needs to reassure investors he has the plan to arrest a sales decline when he presents annual results next week.

Britain’s competition regulator blocked Sainsbury’s 7.3 billion pound ($9.4 billion) takeover of Walmart’s Asda on Thursday, saying the deal would increase prices. Sainsbury’s shares fell 5 percent and are down 22 percent over the last three months.

For Sainsbury’s fourth quarter to March 9 analysts are on average forecasting a 1.6 percent fall in like-for-like sales, which would follow 1.1 percent decline over the Christmas period.

Monthly industry data from researcher Kantar has also shown Sainsbury’s as the weakest performer of the big four grocers this year and this month it lost its status as Britain’s No. 2 supermarket group by market share to Asda.

While Sainsbury’s has struggled, market leader Tesco has gained momentum, this month reporting a 34 percent jump in full year profit.

Prohibition of the deal was a major blow to Coupe, its architect and Sainsbury’s boss since 2014.

Martin Scicluna became Sainsbury’s chairman last month and when bedded-in may decide that if the group needs a major shake-up it is best carried out by a new leader.

Much will depend on the attitude of 22 percent shareholder the Qatar Investment Authority, which has so far declined to comment, as well as Coupe’s own appetite to continue after 15 years at the group.

THE RIGHT STRATEGY?

Coupe said on Thursday he was confident Sainsbury’s was pursuing the right strategy.

That was a clear indication that Wednesday’s results statement will not include radical changes to the group’s plans, such as a big margin reset — sacrificing profit to drive sales.

However, sources connected to Sainsbury’s said Coupe would likely acknowledge that more needs to be done on prices, so the supermarket business can better compete with its big four rivals – Tesco, Asda and No. 4 Morrisons – as well as German-owned discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Coupe’s strategy is based on differentiating Sainsbury’s food offer, growing its general merchandise, clothing business and bank, while investing in convenience and online channels.

Some analysts believe major change is needed.

HSBC analyst David McCarthy reckons Sainsbury’s needs a margin reset, should allocate more space for core lines and needs to drive better store standards. He said Sainsbury’s might consider closing down space in some of its larger stores and reducing its non-food offer.

For the full 2018-19 year analysts are on average forecasting a pretax profit of 626 million pounds, up from 589 million pounds in 2017-18 – a second straight year of profit growth. A full year dividend of 10.5 pence per share is forecast versus 10.2 pence last time.

Bank and lawyer fees related to the proposed combination with Asda were 17 million pounds in the first half and have reportedly jumped to around 50 million pounds.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey rejected demands from a secular group to remove posts on social media where he sent Easter greetings and cited a Bible verse, offering to provide copies of the Constitution to his critics.

Ducey, who’s a practicing Catholic, has been bombarded with calls from Secular Communities for Arizona to remove the post, which included a cross, a Bible verse, and the phrase, “He is risen.”

ARIZONA’S GOP GOVERNOR WAGING WAR AGAINST OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING LAWS

The group argued the posts crossed a line into government sponsorship of religious messages and was unconstitutional.

The governor fired back at the group, saying in a tweet that he will never remove the posts or other religious ones.

“We won’t be removing this post. Ever. Nor will we be removing our posts for Christmas, Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Palm Sunday, Passover or any other religious holiday,” he tweeted. “We support the First Amendment, and are happy to provide copies of the Constitution to anyone who hasn’t read it.”

Dianne Post, an attorney for the secular group, told the Arizona Republic “elected officials should not use their government position and government property to promote their religious views.”

LICENSE REQUIRED TO REPAIR DOORS? REGS SPARK HEATED DEBATE IN ARIZONA

She added the courts have repeatedly “struck down symbolism that unites government with religion,” adding that Ducey’s office must “represent and protect the rights of all residents of Arizona, including those who do not believe in a monotheistic God or any gods at all.”

Many congratulated Ducey for not backing down amid the pressure, though some Facebook users sided with the secular group and criticized the governor on his original post.

“Why do you use a government platform to bring up your personal religion?” asked one person. “Are there no citizens in your jurisdiction that believe differently from you?”

Another stipulated that the post was somewhat discriminatory. “Great sensitivity, Doug. That’s the last time this Jew votes for you,” one person wrote.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Ducey wished in a statement Arizonans last week a “blessed and joyful Easter and Passover weekend.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A Canadian dollar coin commonly known as the
FILE PHOTO: A Canadian dollar coin, commonly known as the “Loonie”, is pictured in this illustration picture taken in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, January 23, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File Photo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada posted a budget surplus in the first 11 months of the 2018/19 fiscal year compared to a deficit the year earlier as revenues increased mostly on higher tax incomes, the finance department said on Friday.

The surplus for April-February was C$3.1 billion, compared to a deficit of C$6 billion in the same 2017/18 period. Revenues climbed by 8.5 percent, mainly due to higher tax receipts, while program expenses rose by 4.8 percent.

The surplus for February was C$4.3 billion compared with C$2.8 billion in February 2018. Revenues jumped by 12.2 percent while program expenses posted a more modest 6.9 percent gain.

Last month, the Liberals unveiled their new budget, projecting a C$14.9 billion deficit in 2018/19, with the deficit rising to C$19.8 billion in fiscal 2019/20.

(Reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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

President Trump said Friday he would beat Joe Biden “easily” in the 2020 presidential election, suggesting the former vice president could not have enough “energy” to hold the post—taking an apparent swipe at his age.

The president, departing the White House, was asked about Biden’s entrance into the Democratic primary field. Biden announced his presidential bid early Thursday morning, marking his third attempt at the White House.

JOE BIDEN OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES 2020 PRESIDENTIAL BID

“I think we’d beat him easily,” Trump told reporters Friday.

Trump, 72, said he feels “young” and is ready for 2020, and another term for his administration.

“I feel like a young man. I am a young, vibrant man,” Trump said. “I look at Joe, I don’t know about him.”

The president’s comments seemingly were a shot at the age of Biden, who is 76.

BIDEN ENTERS WHITE HOUSE RACE WITHOUT OBAMA’S ENDORSEMENT

“I would never say anyone’s too old,” Trump said. “I know they’re all making me look very young both in terms of age and in terms of energy.”

Biden became the 20th candidate to join the crowded Democratic primary field Thursday. But Biden is not the oldest in the pack. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is 77 and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is 69.

Should Trump be re-elected, he would be 74 on Jan. 20, 2021—Inauguration Day. Should the presidency go to one of the elder Democrats in the field—Biden would be 78; Sanders would be 79; and Warren would be 71.

Meanwhile, in a wide-ranging interview on “Hannity” Thursday night, Trump dismissed Biden’s candidacy, nicknaming him “Sleepy Joe,” and saying he’s “not the brightest bulb.” Trump also said that while the former vice president has name recognition, he won’t “be able to do the job.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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

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

Title

Artist