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Serbia: 4 ex-spies get up to 30 years for killing editor

A Serbian court has sentenced four former state security members to up to 30 years in prison each for the killing 20 years ago of a prominent journalist who was a fierce critic of then-strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Slavko Curuvija, the owner and editor of two independent newspapers at the time, was gunned down outside his home on April 11, 1999, just days after the start of NATO's air campaign launched to stop Serbia's crackdown in Kosovo.

The trial for Curuvija's murder was seen as important in dealing with Milosevic-era crimes against regime critics and media freedom.

The court on Friday sentenced the ex-head of state security Rade Markovic and another man to 30 years in prison, and the two others to 20 years in jail each.

Source: Fox News World

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Troop presence reinforced as Sudan sit-in continues for fifth day

People protest at the Khartoum military headquarters, near the university, in Khartoum
People protest at the Khartoum military headquarters, near the university, in Khartoum, Sudan April 10, 2019 in this still image taken from a video obtained from social media. Video obtained by REUTERS

April 10, 2019

By Khalid Abdelaziz

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Soldiers were heavily deployed around a sit-in outside Sudan’s defense ministry on Wednesday, as several thousand protesters danced, sang and chanted slogans calling on President Omar al-Bashir to step down.

The demonstrators have been camped since Saturday outside the compound, which also includes Bashir’s residence and the national security headquarters, in an escalation of protests that have shaken Sudan since December.

Forces from Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and the riot police have repeatedly tried to break up the sit-in in early morning raids, though the army have moved to protect the protesters.

There was no such raid on Wednesday. The sit-in area had expanded slightly, with hundreds of people entering and leaving despite temperatures rising to over 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), a Reuters witness said. Some blocked streets to the east of the compound with stones.

Protesters chanted “Fall, that’s all!”, “The people want to build a new Sudan”, and “Our army protects us”. Military trucks and troops were deployed around the compound, stopping cars from entering the area. Police and NISS forces appeared not to be present.

“With the army’s presence, we feel safe. The army is protecting us and we will continue the sit-in until the regime falls,” said Ayman Abdullah, a 23-year-old engineering graduate taking part in the sit-in.

Videos posted by the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, the main protest organizer, and others on social media showed demonstrators dancing, singing and chanting slogans.

A video shared by the opposition Sudanese Congress Party showed a large group of protesters marching towards the sit-in and cheering with a massive Sudanese flag draped over them.

Since Dec. 19, Sudan has been rocked by persistent protests sparked by the government’s attempt to raise the price of bread, and an economic crisis that has included fuel and cash shortages.

Opposition figures have called for the military to help negotiate an end to Bashir’s nearly three decades in power and a transition to democracy.

(Writing by Aidan Lewis and Yousef Saba; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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Crash that killed woman was driver's 6th DUI in 9 years, police say

A Pennsylvania man driving drunk on a suspended license on the day of his mother's funeral killed a 45-year-old woman last weekend, in what authorities say was his sixth DUI in nine years.

The suspect, identified as David Strowhouer, 30, of Willistown, crashed his Dodge Ram vehicle head-on into a Subaru WRX car last Saturday, a report said. Police responded to the crash around 9:20 p.m.

“I don’t know that he has learned his lesson yet. He’s brought tragedy to a family and, to an extent, brought tragedy to his own," Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun M. Copeland said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"I don’t know that he has learned his lesson yet. He’s brought tragedy to a family and, to an extent, brought tragedy to his own." 

— Katayoun M. Copeland, Delaware County district attorney

Strowhouer was in jail after police filed charges Sunday, a news outlet reported. He had pleaded guilty to five DUIs since 2010, the Inquirer reported.

Prosecutors are now looking to convict him with "homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence," the paper reported.

'MELROSE PLACE' ACTRESS AMY LOCANE TO SERVE MORE TIME FOR FATAL DUI CRASH

Authorities said the crash killed passenger Deana Eckman, 45, according to Philadelphia's WPVI-TV. She was pronounced dead at the scene, while her husband Chris was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries, reports said. Strowhouer allegedly attempted to flee on foot, the Philly Voice reported.

Police said Strowhouer initially lied to authorities and said his cousin was driving. But, through interviews and video, police believe he was behind the wheel, WPVI reported.

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“On a day when he should’ve been with his family, he chooses to get drunk, cause a fatal crash, and then create a lie for investigators,” Copeland said, according to the Inquirer.

Stowhouer faces more than a dozen charges, including aggravated assault by vehicle, the reports said, citing court records.

Source: Fox News National

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Asda overtakes suitor Sainsbury’s to become UK’s No. 2 supermarket: Kantar

FILE PHOTO: Shopping bags from Asda and Sainsbury's are seen in Manchester.
FILE PHOTO: Shopping bags from Asda and Sainsbury's are seen in Manchester, Britain April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Noble/illustration/File Photo

April 2, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – Sainsbury’s has lost its status as Britain’s No. 2 supermarket group by market share to takeover target Asda for the first time in four years as industry data confirmed Sainsbury’s as the sector laggard.

Sainsbury’s sales fell 1.8 percent over the 12 weeks to March 24, reducing its market share to 15.3 percent from 15.8 percent in the same period last year, researcher Kantar said.

That meant Asda, the British arm of U.S. retailer Walmart, overtook Sainsbury’s with a market share of 15.4 percent as its sales edged up 0.1 percent in the period.

Kantar said Sainsbury’s remained the biggest seller of food and drink out of the two retailers as its figures did not include the Argos business it acquired in 2016.

(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle)

Source: OANN

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Winter storm brings record snowfall to parts of Arizona

A winter storm that swept through the Southwest and brought a rare snowfall to the Las Vegas Strip and the mountains above Malibu in California pounded north-central Arizona with record amounts.

The Clark County School District in southern Nevada, the nation's fifth-largest, is canceling classes Friday because of the weather. In northern Arizona, schools, government offices, airports and roads were expected to be closed for a second day as the storm tapers off.

Residents in northern Arizona will be digging out from what the National Weather Service characterized as "not your average" storm.

"It is by no means over for us," said meteorologist Mark Stubblefield in Flagstaff. "It's still dangerous to travel."

The snow began late Wednesday and didn't let up Thursday, falling at 3 to 4 inches (7.6 to 10.2 centimeters) an hour in parts of Arizona. The National Weather Service said that rate will fall by about half Friday. Officials will turn their concerns to local streets that didn't get plowed, overburdened roofs and freezing temperatures expected into the weekend.

Snowfall at the Flagstaff airport broke an all-time daily record set more than a century ago. The airport had 31.6 inches (80.3 centimeters) of snow as of Thursday evening and had to shut down its only runway earlier in the day because of zero visibility. The record set in 1915 was 31 inches (78.7 centimeters).

The National Weather Service in Las Vegas tweeted in response to its counterpart in Flagstaff that the .5 inches (1.27 centimeters) of snow recorded there broke its previous record of zero.

Clark County school officials say classes for roughly 320,000 students will be canceled due to the possibility of freezing temperatures making roads unsafe for buses.

McCarran International Airport spokeswoman Christine Crews said she tallied about 100 flight cancellations because of snow and ice. The storm has brought the first significant snowfall at the airport in a decade with 0.8 inches (2 centimeters) by Thursday afternoon.

The rare snowfall prompted revelers to erect a snowman near the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign.

"We expected cold, but not snow," tourist Lila de Guerrero said after taking a photo at the sign wearing a puffer jacket and hat.

The storm also dropped snow in the Santa Monica Mountains above the Malibu coast and coated large areas of desert northeast of Los Angeles.

"No need to panic Los Angeles — the LAPD is on snow watch," the city's police department tweeted, along with video of a light flurry.

Authorities closed portions of the main routes from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and Phoenix because of snow, ice and limited visibility.

Several roads across Arizona, including portions of Interstate 40 west of Kingman and northbound Interstate 17 from Camp Verde to Flagstaff, were closed. The Arizona Department of Public Safety said no one died or was seriously injured in the more than 250 calls it handled in the northern portion of the state.

The cities of Flagstaff and Prescott, and Coconino County declared emergencies. Officials said snow plows struggled to keep routes clear and there was "significant concern" about the weight on rooftops.

The roads were eerily quiet throughout the day and the storm essentially shut down towns across the region. Payson, about 90 miles (144.8 kilometers) northeast of Phoenix, gets an average annual snowfall of about 2 feet (0.6 meters). It hit that amount Thursday, closing roads in and out of town and leaving travelers stranded.

Paul Moss and other drivers were chatting about the latest road conditions at a travel center west of Flagstaff on Thursday, where semi-trailers were stuck waiting to fuel up. Moss said he could drive in the snow but prefers not to do so.

"Sometimes it's just unsafe. You need to shut down," said the Los Banos, California, resident, who was hauling a truckload of oranges. "I've got a family to go home to. My family is more important than freight."

___

AP writers Ken Ritter, Michelle Price and Regina Garcia Cano in Las Vegas; Terry Tang, Paul Davenport and Astrid Galvan in Phoenix; and Christopher Weber and John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Paul Ryan: Dem Could Beat Trump in 2020 If He Relies on Personality

President Donald Trump must define his 2020 reelection campaign through policy proposals because he could lose to a Democrat if he relies on his personality alone, former House Speaker Paul Ryan warned during a lecture in Florida Monday.

“The person who defines that race is going to win the race," Ryan told an audience in Vero Beach, reports local publication TC Palm. "If this is about Donald Trump and his personality, he isn’t going to win it."

Ryan was House Speaker from 2015 through early January when Democrats took majority control of the house. He opted not to seek reelection, but while in office clashed often with Trump on issues such as Russia and immigration, notes The Hill.

Trump also blamed Ryan for not getting funding for his border wall, complaining that he signed an omnibus bill he did not like after Paul had told him that Republicans would get him the money if he didn't veto the bill.

Ryan's speech in Florida centered more on policy successes and failures that occurred while he was in Congress, including telling the audience that one of the House's biggest mistakes under his leadership was taking too long to reach a plan for repealing and replacing Obamacare.

However, he touted successes on the response to the opioid crisis, criminal justice reform, the repeal of some small business regulations, and energy reforms.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Internal 2018 Swedbank report showed $10 billion in ‘suspicious’ Baltic transfers: SVT

FILE PHOTO: Swedbank's logo on its Lithuanian headquarters in Vilnius
FILE PHOTO: Swedbank's logo is pictured on its Lithuanian headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania, in this May 10, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo

March 15, 2019

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – An internal Swedbank report showed last September some $10 billion of transactions between “suspicious” customers of Swedbank and Danske Bank in the Baltics between 2007-2015, Swedish state television SVT said on Friday.

Swedbank said the TV report figure – which is more than double the number SVT reported previously – referred to the gross amount of transactions between the two banks reviewed in its initial analysis and that following the review it took action where suspicious activity was identified, including reporting activities to the police.

Several European and overseas banks have been dragged into a scandal at Denmark’s Danske Bank, which centres on suspicious transactions totaling 200 billion euros ($226 billion) originating in Russia and elsewhere that flowed through its Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015.

“As we have repeated many times, we act on different signals. Therefore, it was natural for us to act when the disclosures about Danske Bank came out on the market,” Swedbank said in a statement responding to the media report.

“In the analysis last year, we looked at both current and former customers in the Baltic countries … In many cases, there was no need to act further, but in some cases we proceeded with, among other things, reports to the finance police,” it said.

Swedbank shares were down 2.5 percent at 171.80 Swedish crowns at 0822 GMT.

The lender is the subject of a joint probe by Swedish and Estonian financial watchdogs after an SVT report in February tied it to at least 40 billion Swedish crowns ($4.3 billion) of suspicious transactions through Denmark’s largest bank.

Since that report, CEO Birgitte Bonnesen has said she has confidence in Swedbank’s anti-money laundering procedures and argued the bank reported to authorities suspicious transactions identified over the years.

The bank has declined to comment on the data in the original report or a consequent criminal complaint by Bill Browder, an investor who campaigns to expose corruption, saying it can not comment on details due to Swedish banking secrecy laws.

Swedbank said on Friday it had shared its internal report, which covered an in-depth analysis of about 2,000 customers throughout the Baltic countries, with the Swedish watchdog.

The bank, which has 900,000 private and 130,000 corporate customers in Estonia, also said that based on last year’s transactions flagged by its anti-money laundering systems, it had made four notifications per day to the Estonian finance police.

The Swedish watchdog and Danske did not reply immediately with a comment. The Estonian watchdog declined to comment.

(Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom; Editing by Kim Coghill and Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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A Chinese woman adjusts a Chinese national flag next to U.S. national flags before a Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting, part of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Beijing
A Chinese woman adjusts a Chinese national flag next to U.S. national flags before a Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting, part of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, July 10, 2014. REUTERS/Ng Han Guan/Pool (CHINA – Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)

April 26, 2019

By April Joyner

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Even as the lift from optimism over prospects for U.S.-China trade detente shows signs of wearing off for the wider U.S. stock market, upbeat sentiment around China’s economy could bolster shares of materials companies.

Shares of S&P 500 industrial and technology companies, which were buffeted by last year’s tit-for-tat tariffs as well as slowing global demand, have been very responsive to progress in U.S.-China trade relations and a strengthening Chinese economy. This year, those sectors have outpaced the ascent in the S&P 500, which reached a record closing high on Tuesday.

Materials stocks have not been as sensitive, however, even though they also stand to benefit as a stronger Chinese economy lifts global consumption and industrial output. As China has taken measures to stimulate its economy, its economic data have turned more upbeat. That in turn could aid global growth, which has flagged as a result of China’s cooldown.

“What we’re seeing is China spending more on stimulus: fiscal stimulus and monetary stimulus,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco in New York. “That’s likely to be a positive for materials.”

The People’s Bank of China has cut banks’ reserve requirement ratio five times over the past year and is widely expected to ease policy further to spur lending and reduce borrowing costs. The stimulus appears to have boosted Chinese economic data, with factory activity growing in March for the first time in four months.

Yet so far in 2019, the S&P 500 materials index has underperformed the S&P 500 at large, rising just 11.9% compared with 16.7% for the benchmark index. Moreover, it is among the biggest decliners in the period since the S&P’s previous record closing level on Sept. 20. The materials index has fallen 7% over those seven months, versus a 5.2% gain for technology and a 3% loss for industrials. Only the energy index has dropped more over that period.

A trade agreement could serve as a catalyst for a bump in materials shares as a drag on China’s economy is lifted, some market strategists say. Some commodity prices, including those for copper and oil, have ascended this year as the prospects for the global economy have somewhat brightened.

“It all goes back to the global growth outlook,” said Andrea DiCenso, portfolio manager for alpha strategies at Loomis Sayles in Boston. “With the front run in hard data, we’re beginning to see a pretty significant rally.”

Additionally, a trade agreement is expected to include commitments from China to purchase higher quantities of U.S. products such as soybeans, which could benefit companies that make agricultural chemicals, including DowDuPont Inc and CF Industries Holdings Inc.

CF Industries is scheduled to report quarterly results after the bell on Wednesday, and DowDuPont is scheduled to report before the market open on Thursday.

To be sure, even with a trade agreement, some materials companies could face price pressures. Shares of Freeport-McMoRan Inc fell 10.1% on Thursday after the copper mining company posted a lower-than-expected profit as its production slipped and its costs rose.

A rollback of tariffs on Chinese imports, particularly aluminum and steel, would likely prompt a fall in some commodity prices, which could hurt prospects for certain materials companies, said Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Investment Management in El Segundo, California.

Even so, those drawbacks may be outweighed by the support for global demand fostered by a U.S.-China trade agreement.

“You could see a number of companies with lowered expectations bring them back up as they talk favorably about the impact that a trade deal would have on them,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York.

(Reporting by April Joyner; additional reporting by Sinéad Carew; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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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.

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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

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Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Gilber Caro is seen delivering a speech at a forum on human rights in Caracas
Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Gilber Caro is seen delivering a speech at a forum on human rights in Caracas, Venezuela June 12, 2018 in this still image taken from a video. REUTERS TV/ via REUTERS

April 26, 2019

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition-run National Assembly said on Friday that opposition lawmaker Gilber Caro was detained, which it described in a Twitter post as a violation of diplomatic immunity.

Caro had previously spend a year and a half in jail, before being freed in June 2018. The arrest comes as Juan Guaido, the National Assembly’s leader, mounts a challenge to President Nicolas Maduro, arguing his 2018 re-election was illegitimate. Guaido in January invoked the country’s constitution to assume an interim presidency.

(Reporting by Caracas newsroom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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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

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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.

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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

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