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RNC criticized over St. Patrick’s Day tweet featuring Beto O’Rourke mugshot

The Republican National Committee on Sunday tweeted out a "special message" from “noted Irishman Robert Francis O’Rourke,” by sending his mugshot with a leprechaun hat that was widely criticized as insensitive.

O’Rourke has previously admitted to a 1998 arrest when he was 26 for drunken driving and said nothing else will come out that could be used against him during the 2020 presidential campaign.

O’Rourke told supporters Sunday that there’s “nothing” he hasn’t already revealed about his past that could come back to hurt his run for office.

The Washington Examiner reported that several high-profile Republicans came out against the tweet. An aide for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., tweeted, “If you think you’re funny or clever by stereotyping and making fun of any race or nationality to score political points, you’re an idiot, and you should probably not tweet.”

O’Rourke was asked about the tweet but said he didn’t want to focus on it. “People want us focused on the big picture. On our goals,” he said.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Comedian Zelenskiy maintains strong lead in Ukraine presidential poll

FILE PHOTO: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukrainian comic actor and candidate in the upcoming presidential election, takes part in a production process of Servant of the People series in Kiev
FILE PHOTO: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukrainian comic actor and candidate in the upcoming presidential election, takes part in a production process of Servant of the People series in Kiev, Ukraine March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

March 28, 2019

KIEV (Reuters) – Comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice who plays a fictional president in a popular TV series, has maintained a strong lead in Ukraine’s presidential election race, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday.

But support for the 41-year-old remains far below the level needed to secure outright victory in the March 31 ballot, and most voters still do not expect him to become president, the KIIS survey showed.

The poll by KIIS research body, the final survey for the election’s first round, showed Zelenskiy on 20.9 percent of votes, with incumbent Petro Poroshenko second on 13.7 percent and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko third on 9.7 percent.

Thirty-nine candidates have registered for the election. If no candidate wins 50 percent of the votes cast, the top two will face each other in a run-off on April 21.

KIIS said 21.5 percent of those it questioned favored Zelenskiy to win in a second round, 18.3 percent expected Poroshenko to be re-elected and 10.1 percent saw Tymoshenko as the winner.

KIIS said it interviewed 1,600 voters in all regions, except annexed Crimea, from March 20-26.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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Trump campaign not taking Bill Weld challenge seriously

President Trump's 2020 campaign made it clear on Tuesday that it wasn't worried about a primary challenge by the former governor of Massachusetts, Bill Weld.

When CBS News asked how seriously the campaign was taking Weld's candidacy, the Trump campaign's press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, said, "Not seriously at all."

McEnany pointed to both the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Republican voters' support for the president. "The voters have sent a pretty clear message — they stand with the president. The RNC has reflected that," she said.

After Weld announced his candidacy on Monday, the RNC painted the challenge — along with any others that might arise — as fruitless. "The RNC and the Republican Party are firmly behind the president. Any effort to challenge the president's nomination is bound to go absolutely nowhere," the party said.

According to early polling from Monmouth University, Weld faces dismal prospects for his 2020 bid — only 10 percent of Republican voters say they could possibly support him.

TRUMP ALREADY AMASSING HUGE WAR CHEST FOR 2020 — CHALLENGERS BEWARE

Weld's announcement also came amid figures showing that within the first three months of 2019, Trump had already filled his campaign coffers to the tune of more than $30 million.

McEnany discounted the possibility that Weld would get to debate Trump on TV, saying that the 2020 campaign wasn't even entertaining the idea. "We're focused on the Democrats," she told CBS News.

After two U.S. senators blasted the president's conduct, speculation emerged that those critics -- Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Mitt Romney, R-Mass. -- might challenge him in 2020. Both eventually denied planning to do so.

Intraparty tension seemed to reach a fever pitch in January when Romney's niece, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, blasted her uncle in response to his criticisms of Trump's character. Led by McDaniel, the Republican Party also unanimously approved a resolution earlier this year that offered the president "undivided support" before the 2020 presidential election.

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Like Romney, Weld attacked Trump's conduct while in office with a video that harped on, among other things, his comments surrounding the racially charged protests in Charlottesville, Va., that led to one person's death.

Although Weld acknowledged he had a slim chance of besting Trump, he saw a reason for hope in the 2000 and 2008 candidacies of Sen. John McCain's, R-Ariz. “John McCain made that work here twice. Not once but twice. He was the underdog both times,” Weld said.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Explainer – Israeli election results: what happens next?

Benny Gantz, head of Blue and White party, delivers a speech following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's parliamentary election at his party headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel
Benny Gantz, head of Blue and White party, delivers a speech following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's parliamentary election at his party headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

April 9, 2019

By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main challenger Benny Gantz both claimed victory in Israel’s election on Tuesday.

Israeli TV exit polls produced differing results about who will emerge as the leader of the largest single party, and the polls have been wrong in the past.

So both sides still have all to play for. However, there are indications that Netanyahu has a clearer path to forming a coalition government with other right-wing, far-right and religious parties.

Here’s a quick guide to what happens next:

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE THE RESULTS TO COME IN?

Final results are expected by Friday, but partial results are published by the Knesset as the vote-counting proceeds, so a clearer picture will begin to emerge before the final tally.

HOW ARE RESULTS CALCULATED AND WHY DOES IT TAKE TIME?

Israel has a parliamentary system, which means voters choose from party lists of candidates to serve in the 120-seat Knesset. No party has won a majority since Israel’s first election, in 1949.

In the 2019 election, about 6 million Israelis are eligible to vote. To enter parliament, a party must pass a threshold of at least 3.25 percent of the national vote, equivalent to 4 Knesset seats.

With 40 parties running, of which at least 12 have a real chance of passing the threshold, the calculations take time.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE ELECTION RESULTS ARE PUBLISHED?

Israel’s president will consult with the leaders of every party that won seats about their preference for prime minister, and will then choose the legislator who he believes has the best chance of putting together a coalition.

The nominee, who does not necessarily have to be the head of the largest party, has up to 42 days to form a government. If he or she fails, the president asks another politician to try. The leading candidates usually have a good idea whether they have majority support before they meet with the president, but things can often change in the process of deal-making.

WHAT SORT OF COALITION COULD BE FORMED?

Netanyahu will likely seek a coalition similar to his current government, with ultranationalist and Jewish Orthodox parties. Gantz, who heads the centrist Blue and White Party, will likely have the support of the left-wing parties. But early exit polls predict that even with that he would fall short of a governing majority.

HOW LONG UNTIL A GOVERNMENT IS IN PLACE?

Past coalition negotiations have often dragged on. Whoever is asked to form the next government will have to accommodate numerous parties, unless Netanyahu and Gantz choose to join forces and form a unity government.

WHAT OTHER FACTORS ARE THERE?

Netanyahu’s corruption cases. The prime minister is facing possible indictment in three graft cases, and may learn later this year if he will be formally charged. That could weaken his hand in negotiations with potential coalition partners who may condition their support, should he be indicted, on Netanyahu meeting their demands for cabinet posts and policy concessions.

The attorney general is expected to hand down his decision by the end of 2019. If Netanyahu is charged, his political allies will have to decide whether to continue supporting him. There is no guarantee that they will.

Netanyahu denies wrongdoing in all three cases and has the opportunity to convince the attorney general not to charge him in a pre-trial hearing, which is expected in July.

Another factor to watch is that U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to release his long-awaited Middle East peace plan some time after the election.

So far he has been a close ally of Netanyahu, but if he asks Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians, especially anything involving ceding land, some of Netanyahu’s far-right allies will be furious.

Gantz has vowed to pursue peace but has stopped short of endorsing Palestinian statehood.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Stephen Farrell and Sonya Hepinstall)

Source: OANN

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Steinhoff to provide South African capital markets watchdog with documents

Steinhoff's former Chief Executive Markus Jooste appears in parliament to face a panel investigating an accounting scandal that rocked the retailer in Cape Town
FILE PHOTO: Steinhoff's former Chief Executive Markus Jooste appears in parliament to face a panel investigating an accounting scandal that rocked the retailer in Cape Town, South Africa, September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

March 28, 2019

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Retailer Steinhoff will provide the necessary documents to South Africa’s capital markets watchdog to enable it to investigate alleged market transgressions, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) said on Thursday.

Steinhoff admitted “accounting irregularities” in December 2017, shocking investors who had backed its reinvention from a small South African business to a multinational retailer at the vanguard of the European discount furniture retail industry.

Findings from an independent report by PwC said earlier this month that Steinhoff had overstated profits over several years in a $7.4 billion accounting fraud involving a small group of top executives and outsiders.

The FSCA said it had met with representatives of Steinhoff who agreed to provide them with all relevant documents, without waiving confidentiality agreements from the PwC report, which Steinhoff has repeatedly refused to share in full with regulators.

The FSCA added that Steinhoff had confirmed the disclosure will enable it to act against all persons implicated in the transgressions.

Steinhoff said it could not comment on the FSCA’s investigations or beyond what was released in the PwC report.

Former Steinhoff Chief Executive Markus Jooste and seven others were named by the new CEO as being involved in a 6.5 billion euro ($7.4 billion) accounting fraud, during a session in parliament.

News of the irregularities in 2017 wiped about 85 percent off its market value and threw the company into a liquidity crisis.

(Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

Source: OANN

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Exclusive: Fed’s Williams says new economic outlook necessary for rate hikes

U.S. central banker Williams addresses news conference in Zurich
FILE PHOTO: John Williams, gestures as he addresses a news conference in Zurich, Switzerland September 22, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

February 19, 2019

By Howard Schneider, Jonathan Spicer and Trevor Hunnicutt

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Fed President John Williams on Tuesday said he was comfortable with the level U.S. interest rates are at now, and sees no need to raise them again unless growth or inflation shift to an unexpectedly higher gear.

In an interview with Reuters, Williams said he felt rates had reached his current view of a lower “neutral” level, with growth and unemployment leveling off and inflation, if anything, a bit weaker than hoped for.

Asked if it would take some sort of shock to resume rate increases, he said it would require one or more of those factors to surprise to the upside.

“I don’t think that it would take a big change, but it would be a different outlook either for growth or inflation” to return to hiking rates, Williams, one three Fed vice chairs and a key voice on rate policy, told Reuters.

Williams’ comments, made just weeks after the central bank paused its once quarterly rate hikes, underscore just how high the bar would be for tighter monetary policy, and suggest that such a move may not come any time soon.

The Fed could also keep levels of bank reserves on its books that are far closer to current levels than previously thought, Williams said.

Along with its rate-hike holiday, policymakers are currently finalizing plans on how they would end the reduction of their balance sheet, which includes holdings of bank reserves bulked up in part by the Fed’s need for cash to buy bonds to halt the global financial crisis a decade ago.

Williams estimated the so-called balance sheet rolloff could end when bank reserves get to “maybe $1 trillion of reserves or somewhat more than that,” about $600 billion less than current levels.

The figure is “a guess today of the amount of reserves that will be held in the system in the future – but again we are learning and will get a finer touch on that,” he said.

Williams, who is vice chairman of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee and votes whenever that group meets, said policymakers are “in a very good place” on policy, with rates around neutral, the U.S. economy in a strong place and pressures on prices subdued.

“Monetary policy is where it should be,” he said. “It’s around my view of what neutral interest rates are.”

After its most recent meeting, Fed policymakers signaled their three-year drive to tighten monetary policy may be at an end due to a suddenly cloudy outlook for the U.S. economy, a global growth slowdown and impasses over trade and government budget negotiations.

The Fed increased interest rates three times in 2017 and four times last year, pushing them up to 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent at its final 2018 meeting in December.

Further details on that policy meeting at the end of January are expected when the Fed releases records from its deliberations on Wednesday.

In recent days Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester and Fed Governor Lael Brainard both said they supported ending the U.S. central bank’s unwinding of its bond holdings this year.

The Fed’s balance sheet ballooned to over $4 trillion in the wake of the 2007-09 recession but policymakers began trimming its bond holdings in the final months of 2017.

Further details on that policy meeting at the end of January are expected when the Fed releases records from its deliberations on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Howard Schneider, Jonathan Spicer and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Pew Poll: Anxiety, Depression Major Problems for Teen Majority

Seventy percent of teens see anxiety and depression as a major problem among their peers, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

Bullying, drug addiction, and drinking alcohol are also major concerns, according to the survey of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17.

Getting good grades was the top pressure for teens, with 61 percent saying they felt a lot of pressure to do so. Twenty nine percent said they also felt a lot of pressure to look good, while 28 percent said they felt a lot of pressure to fit in socially.

The survey also found:

  • 4 percent said they felt a lot of pressure to use drugs.
  • 6 percent said they felt a lot of pressure to drink alcohol.
  • 59 percent said they plan to attend a four-year college after they finish high school.
  • 29 percent said they feel tense or nervous about their day.
  • 26 percent said they get excited by something they study in school.
  • Boys are more likely than girls to prioritize having a lot of money as adults, 61 percent to 41 percent.
  • 81 percent said helping other people in need was extremely or very important to them.
  • 95 percent said having a job or career they enjoyed was also extremely or very important to them.
  • Anxiety and depression was more concerning for teens who live in a household where parents are making between $30,000 and $74,999.

Source: NewsMax America

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Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy near Lyon
Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy in Meyzieu near Lyon, France, April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot

April 26, 2019

By Julien Pretot

MEYZIEU, France (Reuters) – Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas was wringing out his women’s team shirts in the locker room on a rainy London day eight years ago when he decided it was time to take gender equality more seriously.

It was halftime in their Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal at Meadow Park with 507 fans watching and Aulas realized that his players did not have a another kit for the second half.

“Next time, there will be a second set just like for the men, that’s how it’s going to work from now on,” he said.

Lyon have since won five Champions League titles to become the most successful women’s team in Europe and recently claimed a 13th consecutive domestic crown.

They visit Chelsea on Sunday in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, with a fourth straight title in their sights.

At the heart of their achievements is a pervasive ethos that promotes gender equality throughout the club, starting in the youth academy.

In 2013, Aulas appointed former Lyon and France player Sonia Bompastor as head of the Women’s Academy — the female equivalent of one of France’s top youth set-ups that has produced players such as Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette and Hatem Ben Arfa.

At the Youth Academy, girls and boys share the same facilities.

“Pitches, physiotherapy rooms are the same for all,” the 38-year-old Bompastor told Reuters.

As the girls train under the watch of former Lyon and France international Camille Abily, the screams of the boys practicing can be heard nearby.

The boys and girls also benefit from the same psychological support that includes hypnosis sessions and yoga.

“We have a ‘mental ability’ cell and the hypnotist acts on the girls’ subconscious, on their deeply held beliefs after observing them on and off the pitch,” Bompastor added.

SAME TREATMENT

One message the Academy staff are trying to convey is that girls are as good as boys.

“Women’s nature is such that we have low self-esteem. So self-esteem is a big topic for our girls,” said Bompastor.

This is not the case with the boys, she added.

“Some 14, 15-year-old boys still think they would beat our professional players, we tell them this would not be happening. We still need to work on those beliefs,” she said.

Female players also have to face questions that their male counterparts do not, Bompastor explained.

“In France there is a problem with the way women are considered, there are high aesthetic expectations. So we get heavy questions on femininity, intimate questions that men don’t get,” she said.

OL’s Academy has been held up as a shining example for others to follow, even in the U.S., where women’s soccer has a wider audience than in Europe.

“About one third of the (senior women’s) squad comes from the Academy, we have a good balance,” said Bompastor.

“I’m getting tons of requests from American universities and foreign clubs, who want to come and visit our facilities.”

‘ONE CLUB’

The salaries of the senior players is one area where there remains a large discrepancy between Lyon’s men’s and women’s teams.

While the three best-paid women players in the world are at Lyon with Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg earning 400,000 euros ($445,520) a year, this figure is dwarfed by the around 4 million euros earned annually by men’s player Memphis Depay.

There is, however, a level of interaction between the men’s and women’s players that is not present at many other clubs.

“When you talk about OL you talk about women and men, you talk about one club and you feel it when you are here or outside in the city,” Germany defender Carolin Simon told Reuters.

“We see it when we play in the big stadium. It’s not ‘normal’ for women’s football,” the 26-year-old, who joined the club last year, added.

Lyon’s female players also enjoy respect from their male counterparts, Simon said.

“It’s very cool, it’s a big honor to feel that it doesn’t matter if you are a professional man or woman. We talk with the men, there are handshakes, it’s a good atmosphere and it’s also why we are successful,” said Simon.

“The men respect us and it’s not just for the cameras.”

Her team mate, England’s Lucy Bronze, sees the men’s respect as key to improving women’s football.

“We might not be paid the same but they are just normal with us, they see us as footballers the same as they are,” Bronze told Reuters.

“Being at Lyon has really opened my eyes. To improve women’s football, it starts with having the respect of your male counterparts. It’s the biggest thing because they can influence so many people.”

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo

April 26, 2019

GENEVA (Reuters) – Yemeni authorities have rounded up about 3,000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopians, in the south of the country, “creating an acute humanitarian situation,” the U.N. migration agency said on Friday.

“IOM is deeply concerned about the conditions in which the migrants are being held and is engaging with the authorities to ensure access to the detained migrants,” the International Organization for Migration said.

The migrants are held in open-air football stadiums and in a military camp, it said in a statement.

The detentions began on Sunday in the city of Aden and the neighboring province of Lahj, which are under the control of the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran-aligned Houthi rebels control Sanaa, the capital, and other major urban centers.

Both sides are under international diplomatic pressure to implement a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire deal agreed last year in Sweden and to prepare for a wider political dialogue that would end the four-year-old war.

Thousands of migrants arrive in Yemen every year, mostly from the Horn of Africa, driven by drought and unemployment at home and lured by the wages available in the Gulf.

(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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U.S. dollar notes are seen in this picture illustration
U.S. dollar notes are seen in this November 7, 2016 picture illustration. Picture taken November 7. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them.

1/DOLLAR JUGGERNAUT

The dollar has zipped to near two-year highs, leaving many scratching their heads. To many, it’s down to signs the U.S. economy is chugging ahead while the rest of the world loses steam. After all, Wall Street is busily scaling new peaks day after day.

Never mind the cause, the effect is stark. The euro has tumbled to 22-month lows against the dollar and investors are preparing for more, buying options to shield against further downside. Emerging-market currencies are also in pain, with Turkish lira and Argentine peso both sharply weaker.

Now U.S. data need to keep surprising on the upside or even just meet expectations. The International Monetary Fund sees U.S. growth at 2.3 percent this year. For Germany, the forecast is 0.8 percent. The U.S. economy’s rude health has given rise to speculation the Fed might resume raising interest rates. Unlikely. But as other countries — Canada, Sweden and Australia are the latest — hint at more policy easing, there seems to be one way the dollar can go. Up.

(GRAPHIC: Dollar outperforms G10 FX – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dz17S5)

2/FED: UP OR DOWN?

Wall Street is near record highs and recession worries are receding, so as we mentioned above, investors might wonder if the Federal Reserve will start raising rates again.

Such a pivot is unlikely after the Fed killed off rate-rise expectations at its March meeting. And the latest Reuters poll all but puts to bed any risk of rates will go up this economic cycle, given inflation remains below the Fed’s alarm threshold and unemployment is the lowest in generations.

Before the March rate-pause announcement, a preponderance of economists penciled in one or more increases this year. But that has flipped. A majority of those surveyed April 22-24 see no further tightening through December and more are leaning toward a cut by the end of next year.

Indeed, interest rate futures imply Fed Funds will be below the current 2.25-2.50 percent target range by this December.

Recent positive consumer spending and exports data have eased market concerns of a sharp economic slowdown. But inflation probably needs to run hot for a long period to panic policymakers off their wait-and-see course.     

(GRAPHIC: Federal funds and the economy – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DzjTZz)

3/HEISEI TO REIWA

Next week ends three decades of Japan’s Heisei era. Heisei, or Achieving Peace, began in 1989 near the peak of a massive stock market bubble and closes with the country trapped in low growth, no inflation, and negative interest rates.

The new era that dawns on May 1 is called Reiwa, meaning Beautiful Harmony. It begins when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne. But do investors really want harmony? What they want to see is a bit of economic growth and inflation to shake up the status quo.

The Bank of Japan’s stimulus toolkit to revive a long-suffering economy is anything but harmonious and yet it’s set to stay. The central bank confirmed recently rates will stay near zero for a long time. But the coming days may not be harmonious or peaceful for currency markets. A 10-day Golden Week holiday kicks off on April 29 and investors are fretting over the risk of a “flash crash” – a violent currency spasm that can occur in times of thin trading turnover.

The year has already seen two yen spikes and many, including Japan’s housewife-trader brigade – so-called Mrs Watanabes – appear to have bought yen as the holiday approaches. Their short dollar/long yen positions recently reached record highs, stock exchange data showed.

(GRAPHIC: Japan stocks: from Hensei to Reiwa – https://tmsnrt.rs/2W6a7Fe)

4/EARNING TURNING

Quarterly earnings were supposed to be the worst in Europe in almost three years, but with a third of results in, things are looking a little rosier.

Two-thirds of companies’ results have beat expectations, and they point to earnings growth of 4.5 percent year-on-year. Financials have delivered the biggest surprises, according to analysis by Barclays.

That might just show how low expectations were. In fact, analysts are still taking a red pen to their estimates.

The latest I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv shows analysts on average expect first-quarter earnings-per-share for STOXX 600-listed companies to fall 4.2 percent. That would be their worst quarter since 2016 and down sharply from an estimated 3.4 percent just a week earlier.

Those estimates may end up being a little too bearish as earnings season goes on, quelling worries that Europe is heading toward a corporate recession.

GSK and Reckitt Benckiser will give the market a glimpse of the health of the consumer products market and spending on everything from toothpaste, washing powder and paracetamol.

(GRAPHIC: Earnings forecasts – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DuO2ZF)

5/WAITING FOR THE OLD LADY

Sterling has gone into the doldrums amid the Brexit delay and unproductive talks between the UK government and the opposition Labour party on a EU withdrawal deal. The resurgent dollar, meanwhile, has taken 2 percent off the pound in April. It is unlikely the Bank of England will be able to rouse it at its May 2 meeting.

Despite robust retail and jobs data of late, the economic picture is gloomy – 2019 growth is likely to be around 1.2 percent, the weakest since 2009, investment is down and Governor Mark Carney says business uncertainty is “through the roof”.

Indeed, expectations for an interest rate increase have been whittled down; Reuters polls forecast rates will not move until early 2020, a calendar quarter later than was forecast a month ago. The hunt for a new governor to replace Carney in October adds more uncertainty to the mix.

The recent run of UK data has fueled hopes of economic rebound. That’s put net hedge fund positions in the pound into positive territory for the first time in nearly a year. The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street might temper some of that optimism.

(GRAPHIC: Sterling positions – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XJwUXX)

(Reporting by Alden Bentley in New York, Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore; Karin Strohecker, Josephine Mason and Saikat Chatterjee in London; compiled by Sujata Rao; edited by Larry King)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Trump departs for travel to Indianapolis from the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said trade talks with China are going very well, as the world’s two largest economies seek to end talks with a trade agreement to defuse tensions.

Trump said on Thursday he would soon host China’s President Xi Jinping at the White House.

Earlier this week, the White House said that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would travel to Beijing for more talks on a trade dispute marked by tit-for-tat tariffs between the two countries.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments on North Korea this week following the Russian leader’s summit with Pyongyang’s Kim Jong Un.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump also said China was helping with efforts aimed at the denuclearization of North Korea.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Makini Brice; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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