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Olympics: German athletes earn more advertising rights during Games

FILE PHOTO: Andreas Mundt following a news conference in which the anti-trust watchdog presented its findings of the investigation into Facebook's data collection practices in Bonn
FILE PHOTO: Andreas Mundt, president of Germany's Federal Cartel Office poses for photographers following a news conference in which the anti-trust watchdog presented its findings of the investigation into Facebook's data collection practices in Bonn, Germany, February 7, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

February 27, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – German athletes and their sponsors will have more possibilities to advertise during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics following an easing of restrictions, the German Cartel Office said on Wednesday.

Athletes competing at the Olympic Games have been severely restricted in commercial advertising and promotion activities in the weeks running up to the Olympics as well as during the Games.

The International Olympic Committee charter rule 40 states that “except as permitted by the IOC Executive Board, no competitor, coach, trainer or official who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games.”

This was long seen as major problem for the vast majority of athletes who depend heavily on their visibility during the Olympics every four years to generate sponsorship and advertising revenues.

“We ensure that the advertising opportunities of German athletes and their sponsors during the Olympic Games, which the DOSB (German Olympic Sports Confederation) and IOC significantly restricted in the past, are extended,” Andreas Mundt, President of the Cartel Office, said in a statement following the completion of administrative proceedings that started in 2017.

He said sports organizations pursuing economic activities were also subject to competition law.

“While athletes are the key figures of Olympic Games, they cannot benefit directly from the IOC’s high advertising revenue generated with official Olympic sponsors. However, as the games mark the height of their sporting careers, self-marketing during the games plays a very important role.”

“Our decision grants German athletes more leeway when it comes to marketing themselves during the Olympic Games, for example as far as the use of certain “Olympic” terms or their pictures taken in sports events, or social media activities are concerned.”

Among the changes are that advertising activities planned for during the Olympics no longer need to be cleared by the DOSB beforehand.

They can also include some terms such as “medal, gold, silver, bronze, winter or summer games.”

It is now also permitted to use certain photographs taken during the Olympic Games, while athletes are allowed to use social media more freely during the Olympic Games.

These changes apply only for German athletes.

The IOC, whose Rule 40 has been aimed at protecting the rights of its own Olympic sponsors, had already somewhat eased restrictions at the 2018 Pyeongchang winter Olympics after the Cartel Office had launched its administrative proceedings for “suspected abuse of a dominant position against the DOSB and the IOC.”

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

Source: OANN

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New Zealand prime minister announces ban on 'military-style semi-automatic weapons' after mosque attack

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday announced the country was immediately banning "military-style semi-automatic weapons" after last week's attack that killed 50 people at two mosques.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Source: Fox News World

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Feds portray Avenatti as con man; he calls charges ‘bogus’

Federal prosecutors painted a picture of attorney Michael Avenatti on Thursday as a scheming operator who stole millions of dollars from clients, cheated on his taxes, lied to investigators and tried to hide money from debtors in bankruptcy proceedings.

A 36-count indictment returned late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California, offered the most damning and detailed account to date of Avenatti's apparent fall from grace a year after he seized the spotlight while crusading for porn actress Stormy Daniels in her legal battles against President Donald Trump.

Avenatti embezzled settlement funds and proceeds of other matters he handled from five clients and doled out small portions of what they were due to "lull" them into thinking they were getting what they were owed, prosecutors said.

"Money generated from one set of crimes was used to further other crimes," U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said at a news conference. "Typically in the form of payments designed to string along victims so as to prevent Mr. Avenatti's financial house of cards from collapsing."

Avenatti denied the charges on Twitter, saying he had made powerful enemies and would plead not guilty and fight the case.

"I look forward to the entire truth being known as opposed to a one-sided version meant to sideline me," he tweeted.

The new charges do not include a New York extortion case alleging Avenatti demanded millions to stay quiet about claims he planned to reveal about Nike paying high school players.

Avenatti, 48, was arrested March 25 in New York on the Nike charge and federal prosecutors at the time announced he also faced single counts of wire and bank fraud in Southern California, where he lives and practices law.

The 61-page Southern California indictment details charges that carry a potential prison sentence of 335 years, prosecutors said. Even if convicted of all counts, such a term is highly unlikely.

Avenatti faces 10 counts of wire fraud for stealing from a paraplegic man and four other clients he allegedly deceived by taking their money and using it to fund a lifestyle that included living in multimillion-dollar homes, flying in a private jet and sponsoring an auto racing team, authorities said.

He was also charged with 19 tax counts, including lying to an Internal Revenue Service officer, not paying personal income taxes since 2010, failing to pay taxes for his businesses, including two law firms, and pocketing payroll taxes from the Tully's Coffee chain that he owned, the indictment said.

Between September 2015 and January 2018, Global Baristas US, the company that operated Tully's, failed to pay the IRS $3.2 million in payroll taxes, including nearly $2.4 million withheld from employees, the indictment said.

When the IRS later put tax levies on coffee company bank accounts to collect more than $5 million, Avenatti had Tully's employees deposit cash receipts in a little-known account for his auto racing team, authorities said.

Avenatti was also charged with submitting phony tax returns to get more than $4 million in loans from The Peoples Bank in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 2014. The tax returns he presented to the bank were never filed to the IRS, prosecutors said.

The charges are the latest blow to a career that took off when Avenatti represented Daniels in her lawsuit to break a confidentiality agreement with Trump to stay mum about an affair they allegedly had.

Avenatti became one of Trump's leading adversaries, attacking him on cable news programs and Twitter. At one point, Avenatti even considered challenging Trump in 2020.

Back home, his business practices had come under scrutiny from the IRS and a former law partner who was owed $14 million by Avenatti and the Eagan Avenatti firm, which filed for bankruptcy.

The indictment said Avenatti made false statements in bankruptcy proceedings by submitting forms that under reported income such as a $1.3 million payment his firm received.

The most glaring example of deception and fraud was described in the indictment as scheming Avenatti allegedly did to deprive clients of money they were due from court settlements, legal negotiations or sales of stock and actions he took to cover his tracks.

Avenatti on Thursday called the allegation "bogus nonsense" on Twitter.

Prosecutors said in one case, Avenatti funneled a $2.75 million settlement into his bank accounts and spent $2.5 million on a private jet that he co-owned. The aircraft was seized Wednesday, authorities said.

Although Avenatti was due a portion of the more than $12 million he received for the five clients, the charges said he turned over only a fraction.

"It is Lawyer 101: do not steal your client's money," Hanna said.

Avenatti allegedly drained a $4 million settlement he negotiated in 2015 on behalf of Geoffrey Johnson, who was paralyzed after trying to kill himself in the Los Angeles County jail, the indictment said. Johnson was referred to as "Client 1" in the indictment, but was named at a recent court hearing involving the money Avenatti was ordered to pay his former partner.

Until last month, Avenatti had only provided $124,000 to Johnson, the indictment said.

Two years after the settlement was reached, Avenatti allegedly helped Johnson find a real estate agent to buy a house. But when Johnson was in escrow to purchase the property, Avenatti falsely said he had not received the settlement funds, the indictment said.

In November, when the Social Security Administration requested information to determine if Johnson should continue to receive disability benefits, Avenatti said he would respond, but didn't because he knew it could lead to the discovery of his embezzlement, the indictment said. The failure to respond led to Johnson's disability benefits being cut off in February.

After Avenatti was questioned about the alleged embezzlement during a judgment-debtor examination in federal court March 22, the indictment said he fabricated a defense for himself.

Avenatti had Johnson sign a document afterward saying he was satisfied with his representation, which the lawyer told him was necessary to get the settlement that had in fact been paid four years earlier, the indictment said.

Avenatti's tweet Thursday included a "client testimonial" bearing a signature purportedly from Johnson that said Avenatti is "an exceptional, honest and ethical attorney and I feel fortunate to have had him represent me."

Source: Fox News National

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ISIS wife dilemma: US-born citizens, even terrorists, can't be barred from re-entry, experts say

She married into one of the most brutal terrorist outfits in history, but now Alabama native Hoda Muthana, 24, wants to come home along with the 18-month-son she had with an ISIS husband.

The question is weighing heavily among American legislators, law enforcement and intelligence analysts. What to do with the wives of the ISIS fighters and what threat do they pose to the homeland?

“They should be brought home and charged criminally under terrorism, murder or other applicable laws. At the very least they should be charged with material support to a terrorist group,” Scott Stewart, VP of Tactical Analysis for Stratfor, a leading geopolitical analysis and forecasting firm, told Fox News. “These women should be held responsible for their choices and actions in support of a genocidal death cult.”

Through her attorney, Hassan Shilby, Muthana has pledged her “deep regret” for having been “ignorant and arrogant” when she first fled her home in Hoover, Alabama in 2014 to become a jihadi bride. Shilby also underscored that his client is ready to face any legal consequences and wants to be a voice to stop others from committing the same mistake.

“She is just another victim of these monsters,” Shilby, a lawyer for CAIR Florida who has represented the Muthana family since Hoda left the U.S., told a local Alabama paper this week.

WHY I LEFT ISIS: FORMER BAGHDADI 'FRIEND' AND AIDE, OTHERS SPEAK OUT

According to The Guardian, Muthana is currently the only American among an estimated 1,500 foreign women and children inside the sprawling al-Hawl displacement camp, which hosts some 39,000 people displaced by the long-running SIS battle in northern Syria.

But accurate figures of exactly how many U.S. citizens have left to join the callous terrorist organization, either as fighters or brides, are hard to come by.

A report released last year by George Washington University’s Program on Extremism estimated that 300 Americans had purportedly joined ISIS and other related insurgent groups in Iraq and Syria at that stage, but it’s not certain exactly how many actually made it into the ranks.

Twelve of those 300 were documented to have returned home. Of those 12, nine were subsequently arrested and remain behind bars. Another two have not been detained, but are known to authorities. The report pointed out that a 12th man returned to the Syrian battlefield for a second time and executed a suicide bombing.

None who have come back has committed an attack on American soil.

“I'm not sure anyone, even the U.S. government, knows for certain. There are dozens of American citizens who are believed to have joined jihadist groups such as the Islamic State and Hyat Tharir al-Sham,” Stewart noted. “However, nobody really knows how many have survived and are still there, other than the handful who have been captured and identified themselves as American citizens.”

This still from a video released by ISIS shows slain American James Foley with a man believed to be Mohammed Emwazi, formerly known by the alias, "Jihadi John."

This still from a video released by ISIS shows slain American James Foley with a man believed to be Mohammed Emwazi, formerly known by the alias, "Jihadi John." (Reuters)

The roughly 300 number accounted for about one percent of the overall 30,000 foreign fighters who joined the ISIS ranks in Iraq and Syria, with the vast majority coming from other Middle East countries as well as Europe.

At least 50 additional Americans have been apprehended attempting to leave with the intention to join ISIS, never making it beyond U.S. borders.

Like many of the ISIS foreign wives who faced the perils of being widowed and abandoned, Muthana married multiple times and is believed to have had three ISIS husbands throughout her tenure. She is also known to have been an ISIS recruiter and promoted the “spilling of American blood.”

A U.S-born, 2013 graduate of Hoover High School, Muthana went on, for a short time, to study a business degree at the University of Alabama Birmingham before becoming “inspired” by ISIS radicals she connected with online and subsequently fleeing.

Under the 14th Amendment, according to Stewart, native-born citizens – such as Muthana – cannot have their citizenship revoked against their will, although they can renounce citizenship if desired.

“A naturalized citizen can be denaturalized if they achieved citizenship via fraud, or if they are members of a subversive group – ISIS and al Qaeda would count as such –  within five years of being naturalized,” he observed. “That means the U.S. government cannot prevent the women from entering the U.S. if they get here. However, getting to the U.S. could prove to be a challenge if they have lost or destroyed their passports and/or if they have been added to the no-fly list as potential terrorists.”

Muthana is reported to have absconded from ISIS territory just a few weeks ago and surrendered herself to Kurdish fighters. Shilby has said he has contacted the FBI to arrange for her to be taken into custody on return, but claims they have shown “no interest” in her dilemma.

And the U.S. is under no obligation to assist the ISIS wife out of Syria and back to the U.S.

“Legally, we don’t have an obligation to facilitate travel home, but an American who arrives at the border can’t be barred from entry,” explained Dr. Ardian Shajkovci, the director of research at the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE). “Legally we can only prosecute for laws that were in place at the time of their travel, so no ex post facto prosecution.”

THE LIVES OF ISIS WIVES HELD IN SYRIA: INFIGHTING, JEALOUSY - AND REGRETS

But if there is evidence enough to prosecute, they are prosecuted as terrorists, Shajkovci said – usually under material support for terrorism laws which allow us to prosecute for giving bodily support, money etc. – they can’t just return home and not face the law.

“The U.S. has not thus far refused to take anyone back, but they could,” he continued. “The UK has stripped citizenship and others have as well, especially when there are dual citizenships.”

Reports on Tuesday afternoon by ITV News indicated that another ISIS wife, London-born Shamima Begum who, too, had made an appeal to return home, was to be stripped of her British citizenship.

Typically, the wives are held in a separate area confined from the rest of the displaced population and are well-guarded by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who are backed by the U.S. Much of the reasoning for keeping them there is less about a security threat stemming from them, and more about avoiding conflict and retaliation by upset locals who have suffered at the hands of and lost loved ones to the terrorist group.

Lena Frizler talks of returning to her native Germany after fleeing to be an ISIS wife, but fears her children will be taken from her.

Lena Frizler talks of returning to her native Germany after fleeing to be an ISIS wife, but fears her children will be taken from her. (Hollie McKay/Fox News)

However, officials have long complained that the wives are often ungrateful and resentful in their own right – threating camp workers with disrespect and fighting amongst each other with accusations of stealing and parental differences.

Several ISIS wives and widows interviewed by Fox News last year said that they wanted to receive visits from representatives from their native governments, but that as of that stage, nobody had reached out to them.

It also remains unclear exactly how many western “wives” went voluntarily or were forced to travel to the now crumpled caliphate – and remain there – but approximations suggest the figure is in the thousands and said to represent more than 120 nationalities.

The U.S and its SDF fighters are in the final fight to completely rid ISIS of its territorial control in Syria, and the question looms large over what will happen to many fighters and their families apprehended and being watched over in the region. This year alone, two Americans – including one minor – were captured by the SDF fighting for ISIS.

President Donald Trump has urged European countries to take back their citizens who fled, but to date the issue seems to be falling flat. On Monday, France rejected the request – insisting it will deal with its some 150 suspected jihadists on a “case-by-case” basis.

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Anne Speckhard, Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and director of the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism (ICSVE) stressed that in the case of U.S. citizens going abroad to join groups like ISIS, we ultimately have a responsibility to take our citizens back if the government that caught them is not interested in keeping and prosecuting them.

“In the case of the Syrian Defense Forces, they are not a recognized government and have no legitimate way to prosecute them and maybe most importantly they are asking everyone to take the ISIS men and women and children they have in their custody home,” she added. “We should respect that given the SDF bravely fought ISIS in the world’s behalf. Some women committed horrors in ISIS, must most did not bear arms or shed blood, but still get prosecuted.  Probably best to give them short sentences and rehabilitation.”

Source: Fox News World

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Trump’s ex-lawyer Cohen says testimony ‘could have been clearer’: lawyer

Former Trump personal attorney Cohen testifies before House Oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington
FILE PHOTO: Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney of U.S. President Donald Trump, is flanked by his attorneys Lanny Davis (L) and Michael Monico (R) as he arrives to testify before a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

March 13, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and one-time “fixer” Michael Cohen’s testimony to Congress regarding any potential pardon for his crimes could have been clearer, but he never personally asked the president for such a reprieve, Cohen’s lawyer said.

In a statement to lawmakers on Tuesday, Cohen’s legal team sought to clarify his recent testimony amid questions over whether Cohen sought, or Trump offered, a pardon to the man, who one declared he would take a bullet for the Republican president but has since flipped to cooperate with federal prosecutors.

Cohen, who reports to prison in May for campaign finance crimes and previously lying to Congress, said at a public hearing before a House panel last month, “I have never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from President Trump.”

Trump himself challenged that claim. In a tweet on Friday, Trump said that Cohen “directly asked me for a pardon. I said NO. He lied again!” Cohen, in his own tweet, responded, calling the president’s assertion “another set of lies.”

In Tuesday’s letter, an attorney for Cohen said his testimony about not seeking a pardon referred to the period after Cohen decided to break from Trump in June 2018 and left their joint defense agreement.

“Cohen rejected the opportunity to ask for and receive a pardon even though he knew he was going to prison with hardships to his family,” Cohen lawyer Michael Monico said in the letter, to the U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Cohen has met with congressional committees four times since being sentenced, including the televised Feb. 27 hearing led by House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings.

Representatives for Cummings, a Democrat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Mark Hosenball; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: OANN

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Texas’ John Cornyn to face Air Force vet MJ Hegar in 2020 Senate race

With the memory of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s tough re-election campaign against former congressman – and current 2020 Democratic presidential candidate – Beto O’Rourke still fresh in the minds of many Texans, voters in the Longhorn state are readying themselves for another senatorial race pitting a longtime GOP stalwart against an up-and-coming Democrat.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, will face a re-election battle next year against Democrat Mary Jennings “MJ” Hegar, after the former Air Force helicopter pilot Tuesday declared her intent to run for one of Texas’ Senate seats.

“Washington still has a lot of listening to do, and I’m gonna make sure they hear us,” Hegar said in a video announcing her campaign. “Texans deserve a senator who represents our values: strength, courage, independence, putting Texas first.”

TED CRUZ WARNS CLOSING BORDER 'WOULD BE DEVASTATING TO TEXAS' 

Hegar - who lives in Round Rock, just north of Austin, with her husband and two children – served three tours in Afghanistan between 2004 and 2009, when she flew combat search-and-rescue and medevac missions. In 2009, she was shot down and wounded during a mission, earning a Purple Heart and a Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor Device for her actions to save her crew and patients.

In 2012, Hegar filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense that was part of the movement that ultimately led to the Combat Exclusion Policy, banning women from certain military positions, being deemed unconstitutional.

In her campaign announcement, Hegar accused Cornyn of aligning himself too closely with Republican Party leaders and not looking after the interests of Texans.

“He calls himself Big John, but he shrinks out of the way while Mitch McConnell gets in the way of anything actually getting done in our government,” she said. “And now John Cornyn’s shrinking out of the way again while they try to take away protections for those of us with pre-existing health conditions. Weakness, partisanship, gridlock - those are not Texas values, John. But maybe you’ve been in Washington so long that you’ve forgotten that.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee retorted by calling Hegar Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer’s “chosen candidate” and labeling the Air Force vet as “Hollywood Hegar” for her support from celebrities like Broadway star Lin Manuel Miranda.

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“New York liberal Chuck Schumer found his chosen candidate in MJ Hegar,” NRSC Communications Director Jesse Hunt said in a statement. “Hollywood Hegar’s support for late-term abortion and government-run health care will play better with progressive Hollywood celebrities than with mainstream Texans.”

This is not Hegar’s first foray into politics.

Last fall, Hegar lost a close race for Texas’ 31st Congressional District against incumbent Rep. John Carter, who is now serving his ninth term on Capitol Hill. Carter earned 50.8 percent of the vote, with Hegar pulling in 47.5 percent and Libertarian Jason Hope about 1.6 percent of the overall vote.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Three US troops, 1 contractor killed in Afghanistan IED blast, Pentagon says

Three US troops and 1 contractor were killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan Monday near Bagram Air Base, the Pentagon announced. Three U.S. service members were also wounded in the blast.

Those hurt were evacuated and are receiving care, the Pentagon said. The names of those killed are being held back for 24 hours until the notification of next of kin has been completed, as per U.S. Department of Defense policy.

The violence follows recent signs of support of US outreach to the Taliban.

Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah says he supports U.S. efforts to pursue a cease-fire with the Taliban, who effectively control half of Afghanistan and refuse to negotiate with his government. Abdullah Abdullah shares power with President Ashraf Ghani in a U.S.-brokered unity government. Abdullah spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday at the World Economic Forum in Jordan.

Abdullah says the Taliban could take part in elections and even compete for the presidency if they renounce violence. He says Afghans want peace, but "they don't want to live the way that the Taliban want them to live."

The Taliban have held talks with a U.S. envoy in recent months while continuing to carry out daily attacks on Afghan forces. The insurgents dismiss the Afghan government as a U.S. puppet.

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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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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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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

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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

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Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas
Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza talks to the media during a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s foreign minister and a Venezuelan judge, according to a statement on the department’s website.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza and a judge, Carol Padilla, were targeted over the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, the Treasury Department said, the latest in a list of officials blacklisted by U.S. authorities for their role in President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Makini Brice and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of
Avengers fans gather at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to attend the opening screening of “Avengers: Endgame” in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Marvel Studios superhero spectacle “Avengers: Endgame” hauled in a record $60 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices during its Thursday night debut, distributor Walt Disney Co said.

Global ticket sales for the film about Iron Man, Hulk and other popular characters reached $305 million for the first two days, Disney said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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