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Valeo investor Harris says ‘fully supportive’ of management

The logo of Valeo is pictured during the Viva Tech start-up and technology summit in Paris
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Valeo is pictured during the Viva Tech start-up and technology summit in Paris, France, May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

March 28, 2019

By Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume

PARIS (Reuters) – U.S. investor Harris Associates supports the management of auto parts maker Valeo, Chief Investment Officer David Herro said on Thursday, after the French government more than doubled its stake in the company to 5.12 percent.

“As long-term value investors we are fully supportive of the company and its management,” Herro said in an emailed response to Reuters. New York-based Harris owns 6.37 percent of Valeo.

(Reporting by Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume; editing by Richard Lough)

Source: OANN

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Hong Kong protest organizers free on bail before sentencing

A Hong Kong court has extended bail for nine pro-democracy protest organizers convicted of public nuisance offences as they await sentencing.

The guilty verdicts handed down Tuesday against the nine were condemned by rights activists as a likely sign of more restrictions on free expression in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

The defendants left court on Wednesday and will be sentenced April 24.

The nine were leaders of 2014's nonviolent "Occupy Central" campaign, also known as the "Umbrella Movement" after a key symbol of defiance against police adopted by the street protests that shut down parts of the financial hub for 79 days.

Protesters demanded the right to choose Hong Kong's own leader rather than merely approve a candidate picked by Beijing but failed to win any concessions from the government.

Source: Fox News World

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British backpacker, 23, vanishes in Guatemala, family issues desperate plea

Authorities are searching for a 23-year-old British backpacker who vanished in Guatemala after she was last seen leaving a hotel early Tuesday morning.

Catherine Shaw, from Witney, was staying in San Pedro La Laguna, about 50 miles west of Guatemala City, when she disappeared early last week. Her parents, who said in a video they were “desperately worried,” said Shaw was last seen alive last Monday.

"She has always been really good about keeping in touch and informing us of her whereabouts and activities," Shaw’s parents said in a statement released by Lucie Blackman Trust. "So this is unusual behavior which gives us great concern for her safety. Please help us to find her."

Catherine Shaw had been traveling since last September.

Catherine Shaw had been traveling since last September. (Facebook)

Shaw was spotted on surveillance video leaving Hotel Mayachik with a musical instrument at 1:37 a.m. Tuesday and returned nearly four hours later before walking out again toward Lake Atitlan, the BBC reported.

MICHIGAN TEENAGER ON SPRING BREAK IN MEXICO DIES AFTER FALLING FROM BALCONY IN CANCUN

Family and friends searching for Shaw said she left the hotel with a puppy that was later located at the peak of Indian Nose trail, which is frequented by hikers. Shaw’s friend, Jess Elizabeth, wrote on a Facebook page dedicated to finding Shaw the backpacker had "no belongings with her, passport, money or mobile phone - they were left at the hostel.”

Guatemalan police, local residents and British people in the country helped search for Shaw near the area where the puppy was found over the weekend. Two drones were launched to search nearby wooded areas, the BBC reported.

NICARAGUA 'MARATHON MAN' PROTESTER DEFIANT FROM HOUSE ARREST

Shaw’s mother urged her daughter to get in touch with friends and family if she is alive. Shaw was described as a woman with a slim build who was about 5-foot-7. Her parents believe she may have shorter hair than in most released pictures.

The backpacker had been traveling since September and visited California and Mexico prior to her disappearance.

Source: Fox News World

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Putin ally to Ukraine’s probable new leader: Do deal and get territory back

Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk arrives to take part in peace talks in Minsk
FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk (R) arrives to take part in peace talks in Minsk January 31, 2015. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

April 18, 2019

By Andrew Osborn

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s new president could regain control over the separatist-controlled east of his country within months and get cheap gas and major investment from Russia if he does a deal with Moscow, the Kremlin’s closest ally in Ukraine said.

Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent figure in Ukraine’s Russia-leaning opposition, outlined the prospect in an interview before a presidential election runoff in Ukraine on Sunday which polls show political novice Volodymr Zelenskiy should easily win.

He said the Kremlin was keen to know more about Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old Russian-speaking TV comedian who has no political experience, to understand if he is someone it could do a deal with, something it failed to do with incumbent Petro Poroshenko.

“They don’t have any expectations in Moscow,” he said. “They want to see what happens afterwards, who will be in his (Zelenskiy’s) entourage, and what he will do and with whom.”

A Ukrainian citizen, Medvedchuk does not represent Russia, but his words carry weight due to his close friendship with President Vladimir Putin and track record as a go-between between the two nations.

Medvedchuk said he had known Putin for 19 years, that the Russian leader is godfather to his daughter, and that he had held talks with Putin in Moscow as recently as two weeks ago.

The Kremlin has made clear it will be glad to see the back of Poroshenko but has not commented on Zelenskiy, saying only that it is watching candidates’ statements closely and hopes any new president can implement a peace deal on Donbass, eastern Ukraine, which has been under separatist control since 2014.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond when asked if Medvedchuk was acting on its behalf or if the outlines of his proposal were in line with its own thinking.

TESTING THE WATERS

Medvedchuk, who said he had only met Zelenskiy once “eight or nine years ago” and had no contacts with him, appears to be testing the waters however.

Medvedchuk was head of then-Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma’s administration until 2005. He has brokered prisoner exchanges between the two countries and held talks in Moscow last month with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev about gas prices.

At that meeting, he said he and an ally secured a pledge of a 25 percent discount for Russian gas if Kiev agreed to resume direct gas purchases from energy giant Gazprom instead of via European countries as it has done since the end of 2015.

Russia’s main focus is returning separatist-held Donbass to Kiev on its own terms. This could help Moscow win some relief from sanctions imposed by the European Union over its 2014 annexation of Crimea and its backing for the pro-Russian Donbass uprising.

Poroshenko balked at what he saw as the unfavorable terms of the so far unimplemented Minsk peace deal agreed at a 2015 summit with Russia, France and Germany which called for Donbass to be given a special status and for an amnesty for separatist fighters among other things.

So far, Zelenskiy has said he wants peace in the east and to breathe new life into stalled talks, while saying he would not implement parts of the Minsk deal either.

For now, said Medvedchuk, Zelenskiy was on the wrong policy track. But he said there was hope he might alter his stance once elected after he’d had a chance to immerse himself in the subject.

“Maybe he’ll come round to the idea that for the sake of peace you need to do this,” said Medvedchuk. “Nobody is talking about having to make concessions or give something back. We’re talking about the need to return people and territory.”

Putin might be willing to release 24 captured Ukrainian sailors as a goodwill gesture, Medvedchuk said, adding that billions of dollars of Russian money would flow into Ukraine’s economy if economic ties between the two neighbors, which have been disrupted by sanctions, were restored.

“We’re not saying that we have to kiss or hug each other again. We’re talking about restoring pragmatic economic relations,” he said, adding that Ukraine had lost $20 billion a year in exports to Russia because of Kiev turning its back on Moscow after Russia’s actions in 2014.

NEED TO TALK

Medvedchuk’s pitch to patch up ties with Moscow is unpalatable for many Ukrainians who view Russia as a strategic enemy, particularly in the Ukrainian-speaking west of the country.

But it has support in the Russian-speaking south-east and is designed to appeal to those weary of a 5-year-old war estimated by the United Nations to have killed over 16,000 people.

If pro-Russian separatists handed Donbass back to Ukrainian government control, some EU countries have suggested they would be ready to lift sanctions on Russia, though other countries only favor sanctions relief if Moscow returns Crimea as well.

An agreement on how to implement a peace deal over eastern Ukraine could be reached “within several months” and implemented on the ground within “six to eight months,” said Medvedchuk, saying any talks on the matter should be between Kiev, Moscow and the two pro-Russian separatist breakaway territories.

“We could do it all within a few months. We need to sit down and talk. It (the detail in the Minsk accord) has already been spelt out. We just need to determine the order of doing things.”

That would entail the Ukrainian parliament enacting several laws and approving a change to the constitution.

Medvedchuk said he would advise Zelenskiy on the subject if asked and that his party, “Opposition Platform – For Life”, which is second in the polls, — would potentially be ready to cooperate with Zelenskiy in parliament after elections in October on a case-by-case basis.

Zelenskiy has indicated he would not want to form a coalition with Medvedchuk’s party and has not said if he would be ready to work together on an ad hoc basis.

In the meantime, Moscow’s standoff with Kiev is deepening. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday he had signed a decree limiting Russian exports of some coal, crude oil and oil products to Ukraine in response to a recent Ukrainian embargo on some Russian goods.

Cold economic logic now dictated the need for a rapprochement with Moscow, said Medvedchuk.

“If we don’t do it and continue with this anti-Russian policy and hysteria our economic life will deteriorate further.”

(Editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Source: OANN

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Trump says he told OPEC to lower oil prices

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the OPEC is seen at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

April 26, 2019

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he called the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and told the cartel to lower oil prices.

“Gasoline prices are coming down. I called up OPEC, I said you’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,” Trump told reporters.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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The Latest: $5M bond set for parents of slain Illinois boy

The Latest on death of the 5-year-old northern Illinois boy (all times local):

10 a.m.

A judge has set bail at $5 million each for an Illinois mother and father charged with murder in the death of their 5-year-old son.

Joann Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr. appeared separately on Thursday morning at the McHenry County Jail during a hearing in which a prosecutor told Judge Mark Gerhardt that Freund allegedly beat Andrew "AJ" Freund and forced him into a cold shower.

The judge's order means that each of the parents would each have to post 10 %, or $500,000 to be released from jail.

The parents reported the boy missing last week. On Wednesday, the boy's father provided information that led to the discovery of a body believed to be that of the boy in a shallow grave a few miles from the family's Crystal Lake home.

The parents are charged with first-degree murder and several other felony charges.

___

8:15 a.m.

An Illinois couple is due in court on charges accusing them in the death of their 5-year-old son after a body believed to be his was found wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave.

McHenry County sheriff's records show 36-year-old JoAnn Cunningham and 60-year-old Andrew Freund Sr. of Crystal Lake have a Thursday morning hearing.

They were arrested Wednesday and face murder and battery charges in the killing of Andrew "AJ" Freund.

Authorities say an autopsy could happen Thursday.

Cunningham and Freund reported AJ missing a week ago and authorities used sonar and canine units to search the area for the boy. On Wednesday, detectives confronted the parents with cellphone data evidence, which led investigators to the boy's body in a "makeshift grave" near a farm access road.

Source: Fox News National

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The Latest: Corruption, dire economy key issues in Ukraine

The Latest on Ukraine's presidential runoff: (all times local):

10:10 a.m.

Corruption and economic stagnation are big issues for voters in Ukraine's presidential runoff.

Lyudmila Potrebko, a 22-year-old computer programmer, cast her ballot for Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comedian who is challenging President Petro Poroshenko.

She says "I have grown up under the old politicians and only have seen empty promises, lies and corruption ... It's time to change that."

Zelenskiy, 41, got twice as many votes as Poroshenko in the first round three weeks ago. Like his sitcom character, a teacher thrust into the presidency after a video of him blasting corruption goes viral, he has focused on fighting graft, riding the wave of public distrust of Ukraine's political elite.

Many voters in this nation of 42 million are struggling to survive on meager wages and soaring utility bills.

Irina Fakhova, a 55-year-old sales clerk, says "we have grown poor under Poroshenko and have to save to buy food and clothing ... we have had enough of them getting mired in corruption and filling their pockets and treating us as fools."

___

8 a.m.

Polls have opened in Ukraine's presidential runoff as the nation's incumbent leader struggles to fend off a strong challenge by a comedian who denounces corruption and plays the role of president in a TV sitcom.

Opinion surveys ahead of Sunday's vote have shown 53-year-old President Petro Poroshenko trailing far behind comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reflecting public dismay with endemic corruption, a moribund economy and a five-year fight against Russia-backed insurgents in the country's east.

Zelenskiy, 41, got twice as many votes as Poroshenko in the first round three weeks ago. Like his sitcom character, a teacher thrust into the presidency after a video of him blasting corruption goes viral, he has focused on fighting graft, riding the wave of public distrust of Ukraine's political elite.

Poroshenko, a billionaire candy magnate before taking office, has relied on traditional political barnstorming, using sympathetic television stations to extensively cover his appearances. Zelenskiy, however, has largely stayed away from the campaign trail and eschewed interviews. He has run his campaign mainly on Instagram, where he has 3.7 million followers.

Source: Fox News World

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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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