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George Conway calls Trump a cancer that needs to be removed in blistering op-ed

George Conway, the husband of White House adviser Kellyanne Conway and a fierce critic of President Trump, penned an op-ed in The Washington Post that calls Trump a "cancer on the presidency" and urged Congress to take action to remove him from office.

After 22 months, a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia interference report was made available to the public. The report showed no evidence that Trump’s team “coordinated or conspired” with Russia, but many Democrats pointed out that Mueller identified 10 times where there was potential obstruction, and essentially left the next steps up to Congress.

Mueller wrote that Trump’s efforts to obstruct “were often carried out through one-on-one meetings in which the President sought to use his official power outside of usual channels.”

READ THE FULL REPORT 

He continued, “The President's efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests."

Trump's team late Thursday appeared to take a wait-and-see approach on how the public absorbed the findings. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lawyer, seemed to be in no particular hurry to release a 45-page rebuttal when asked about it on CNN.  The White House claimed total victory and vindication for the president

Conway, who has clashed publicly with the president before and questioned his mental fitness, barely touches collusion in his piece but highlighted the obstruction argument.

"Mueller couldn’t say, with any “confidence,” that the president of the United States is not a criminal. He said, stunningly, that “if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state.” Mueller did not so state," Conway wrote.

He pointed out that even if Trump did not reach the threshold of criminality, he could still be impeached based on earlier precedent. He called on Congress to act to “excise” the cancer in the White House “without delay.”

There is no love lost between Trump and Conway. Trump has called Conway a “stone cold LOSER & husband from hell.”

MUELLER REPORT THE 'BEGINNING OF THE BEGINNING': AXIOS EDTIOR

“George Conway, often referred to as Mr. Kellyanne Conway by those who know him, is VERY jealous of his wife’s success & angry that I, with her help, didn’t give him the job he so desperately wanted. I barely know him but just take a look, a stone cold LOSER & husband from hell!” Trump tweeted in March.

Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, wrote in the New York Post that Trump could have simply shut down the investigation and assert executive privilege to “deny the special counsel access to key White House witnesses,” but he didn’t.

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“Most important, the special counsel found that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and that the president’s frustration wasn’t over fear of guilt — the typical motivation for obstruction — but that the investigation was undermining his ability to govern the country,” McCarthy wrote.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Child hurt, suspect arrested in Mall of America incident

A 24-year-old man was arrested Friday in an incident in which a 5-year-old child may have been pushed or thrown from a balcony at the Mall of America, police said.

Bloomington Police Chief Jeffrey Potts said witnesses told police that the child may have been pushed or thrown from the mall's third level to the first floor on Friday. Officers gave first aid but the 5-year-old child suffered "significant injuries" and had been taken to a hospital, Potts said.

Potts said the suspect took off running right after the incident but was quickly found and arrested at the mall.

He said police don't think there is any relationship between the man and the child or the child's family. He says police don't have an idea about possible motive.

"At this point we believe this is an isolated incident," Potts said. "We're actively trying to figure out why this occurred."

No details were immediately available about the child's condition.

The 4.2-million-square-foot Mall of America is in Bloomington, about 10 miles south of Minneapolis.

Source: Fox News National

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Canadian Conners headed to Augusta after winning Texas Open

PGA: Valero Texas Open - Final Round
Apr 7, 2019; San Antonio, TX, USA; Corey Conners celebrates after putting in to win on the 18th green during the during the final round of the Valero Texas Open golf tournament at TPC San Antonio - AT&T Oaks Course. Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

April 8, 2019

(Reuters) – Canadian Corey Conners clinched an astonishing two-shot victory over American Charley Hoffman at the Texas Open on Sunday to punch the final ticket to the Masters.

Conners, ranked 196th in the world, compiled a crazy, rollercoaster six-under-par 66 that included 10 birdies in the final round at TPC San Antonio.

He followed four early birdies with four consecutive bogeys on the front nine before storming home with six birdies and three pars to claim his first PGA title.

The 27-year-old, who had to come through a Monday qualifier just to get into the field at the Texas Open, finished at 20-under 268 for the tournament.

Conners previously played in the Masters as an amateur in 2015. This year’s Masters starts on Thursday.

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, editing by Nick Mulvenney)

Source: OANN

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Serrano Announces Parkinson's Diagnosis, Won't Seek Re-election

Rep. José Serrano, D-N.Y., announced on Monday that he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and has decided not to run for re-election in 2020, The Hill reports.

“Today, I am announcing that I am living with Parkinson’s disease,” Serrano said in a press release.

“After my diagnosis, I initially planned to continue my work representing the people of the South Bronx far into the future — a responsibility that brings me great joy,” he continued. “Although this disease has not affected my work in Congress, over the last few months, I’ve come to the realization that Parkinson’s will eventually take a toll, and that I cannot predict its rate of advancement. Because of this uncertainty, I do not intend to seek re-election in 2020. I do intend to serve the remainder of my term in the 116th Congress.”

Serrano, 75, first won election to Congress in 1990, and has served longer than any other Hispanic-American legislator. He is the Chairman of the Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, and Dean of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

The congressman represents New York’s 15th District, which Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016 with 94 percent of the vote. City councilman Ritchie Torres announced a committee to explore running to the seat prior to Serrano’s announcement.

“Jose Serrano is an icon. He’s been an inspiration to young Latino [elected officials] like myself for decades. He should be celebrated for his public service,” Torres told Politico.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Trump Fights to Fix Shipping Rates That Favor China

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Did you know that it costs significantly more to mail a package to Boise from Boston than it does from Beijing?

According to the U.S. Postal Service, it costs around $20 to mail a small parcel weighing 4.4 pounds from one U.S. state to another, yet mailing the same package from China only costs about $5. Millions of Americans who have purchased consumer goods online from Chinese sellers for a few bucks, shipping included, have likely noticed this disparity first-hand.

This shipping differential is the product of the U.S. government subsidizing Chinese shipments. The government estimates USPS delivers Chinese goods at a 40% to 70% discount, losing money on each package it delivers.

This unfair dynamic hurts U.S. small businesses, whose bottom lines are increasingly reliant on e-commerce, because it allows China to dump its often-counterfeit products in the U.S. market at an artificially low cost. And it sticks taxpayers with the tab because they are on the hook for bailing out the government-funded USPS. Yes, you read that right. Uncle Sam allows this to happen and is ultimately to blame. With a friend like this, who needs enemies?

The Universal Postal Union, a United Nations agency that sets postal rates among its 192-member countries, dictates USPS's artificially low rates. It bizarrely groups China – the world’s second-largest economy – with developing nations like Gabon and Fiji into its third tier of shipping rates, which are just a fraction of what the developed world must pay.

Successive U.S. presidents have turned a blind eye to this injustice. Until now. The Trump administration has made correcting this shipping status quo a priority. Last month, the federal Advisory Committee on International Postal and Delivery Services, a unit of the State Department, met to discuss its plan to reform UPU rules to allow the U.S. to self-declare rates for inbound delivery rather than follow UPU diktat. Self-declaration is already standard for larger packages that weigh more than 4.4 pounds.

Last October, President Trump announced the U.S. would begin to withdraw from the UPU entirely -- a process that takes one year to complete -- while simultaneously seeking to renegotiate UPU terms. In an effort to retain the U.S. as a member, UPU officials are meeting this month to consider the U.S.’s proposal.

Given that nearly half the world's mail goes through the U.S., the UPU would be wise to accept the administration’s offer. If it refuses to do so, Trump shouldn't let bureaucratic inertia at the State Department slow down his order to extricate the U.S. from this bad deal by this October.

Consider some examples of how this current shipping dynamic is hurting U.S. small businesses. Jayme Smaldone, a small New Jersey travel mug manufacturer, pays $6.30 to ship a mug domestically. His Chinese counterparts sell knock-offs of his product for $5.69, including free shipping all the way from China. Becca Peter, a Washington state designer packaging tape manufacturer, pays $3.50 for domestic shipping. Her Chinese competitors charge just $2 for their version of the product, shipping included.

Bigger businesses and franchises, such as the recently bankrupt Radio Shack and Toys R Us, are also negatively affected. Arthur Herman, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, highlights how an electric voltage measurer cost $24.99 at Radio Shack versus $15.82 at Deal Extreme, a Chinese e-commerce company. At this price differential, many Americans would have purchased at Radio Shack given its reputation and return policy. Yet factor in shipping -- $5.95 at Radio Shack versus free at Deal Extreme – and all of a sudden American consumers are being asked to pay twice as much to purchase their product domestically. Herman argues this dynamic helped kill Radio Shack.

USPS loses about $300 million per year on Chinese imports -- losing about $1 per small package it delivers. Given that China will deliver hundreds of millions of small packages this year, eliminating this postal subsidy would be enough to move USPS from the red into the black when it comes to Chinese imports.

Until this happens, USPS will be forced to continue raising domestic shipping rates in an attempt to recoup losses, as it has done in recent years. This means taxpayers and American shippers are effectively subsidizing Chinese merchants.

Reforming UPU rules has received broad support from across the political spectrum. It is a non-controversial way to level the playing field to help U.S. small businesses compete fairly against their Chinese competitors while also improving the trade deficit.

Whether UPU terms are reformed to allow the U.S. to self-declare its own rates, or whether the U.S. leaves the Swiss-based organization altogether, the days of something costing less to mail across the world than across the county line are numbered. Get ready to chalk up another victory for U.S. small businesses and taxpayers under President Trump. 

Alfredo Ortiz is the president and CEO of the Job Creators Network.

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Acting ICE boss Ron Vitiello, passed over for permanent job, to resign in days

The shakeup within the Department of Homeland Security’s leadership continued on Wednesday after it was announced that Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Ron Vitiello would be stepping down on Friday.

Outgoing DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen issued a statement Wednesday announcing Vitiello’s departure and thanked him for his “unwavering” leadership.

“For over three decades, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Ron Vitiello has protected our homeland with courage and conviction,” the statement read. “Ron’s knowledge and expertise as a seasoned law enforcement professional has been invaluable to DHS, and he has left a legacy of excellence as our Department has expanded and refined our efforts to curb illegal immigration and secure our borders.”

NIELSEN RESIGNS AS DHS SECRETARY AFTER WHITE HOUSE MEETING WITH TRUMP

“On behalf of DHS I want to thank Ron for his service and dedication, and I wish him the very best in this next chapter of his career.”

An ICE official told Fox News that Vitiello’s last day will be Friday.

His departure was the latest in a string of resignations coming as President Trump has aimed to take a tougher stance against immigrants at the southern border.

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After Nielsen’s resignation last Sunday, officials said Monday that Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles was stepping down, and DHS’ acting deputy secretary Claire Grady - who was technically next in line to replace Nielsen - resigned on Tuesday.

Trump over the weekend named Kevin McAleenan, the head of Customs and Border Protection, to serve as acting secretary.

Fox News' Gregg Re and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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New York Democrats launch fresh bid to dig up Trump’s tax returns

New York state Democrats launched a new effort Monday to pave the way for the release of President Trump’s state tax returns – a move New York’s GOP chairman called “ludicrous,” “partisan” and illegal.

Under New York tax law, it is illegal to share someone’s state tax return information.

DEMS RAMP UP ANTI-TRUMP PROBES

But on Monday, state Sen. Brad Hoylman introduced S5072, which would amend the law and require the commissioner of taxation and finance “to cooperate with investigations by certain committees of the United States Congress under certain circumstances” – a bid to let the state share tax return information, specifically Trump’s, with congressional committees that request it.

“This new bill will permit New York State to comply with requests from congressional investigative committees and help ensure Congress can’t be blocked in their attempts to hold even the highest elected officials in the land accountable to the American people,” Hoylman said in a statement.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said in a statement that the bill could help Congress get tax returns if blocked at the federal level – an apparent reference to an effort by another House committee to get six years of Trump’s returns directly from the IRS.

“This legislation would make the work of a federal committee a little easier, if confronted with inability to receive the federal tax return, we can turn to New York State,” Nadler said.

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said on “Fox News Sunday” that Democrats will “never” see the president’s tax returns, “nor should they.”

MULVANEY VOWS DEMS WILL NEVER SEE TRUMP TAX RETURNS

Ed Cox, the chairman of the New York State Republican Party, called the latest legislation from New York Democrats “ludicrous.”

“This is so political, so aimed at Donald Trump no matter how they disguise it otherwise,” said Cox, who predicted the issue will go all the way to the Supreme Court. “I suspect it will be ruled to violate equal protection laws and be deemed a bill of attainder.”

A bill of attainder is an unconstitutional legislative act that singles out an individual or group for punishment without a trial. Cox argues the Democratic majority and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are trying to change the law for political gain.

“They are trying to re-litigate the 2016 election. It’s called Trump Derangement Syndrome and in the process, they aren’t doing the business of the people of New York state. Instead they are playing politics including the governor, who is running hard to be president,” Cox said.

Cuomo has said he will not make a 2020 presidential run and has said former Vice President Joe Biden has the “best case” among the Democratic contenders. But in a profile in The Atlantic, Cuomo suggested that “if” Biden chooses not to run, he could throw his hat in the ring.

To this point, Cuomo has not expressed public support for the legislative proposals.

The push for S5072 follows the January introduction of a bill by New York Assemblyman David Buchwald that requires the disclosure of tax returns by statewide elected officials including the president.

On the steps of the state capitol in Albany, Buchwald and Hoylman touted that legislation, the New York Truth Act, as critical.

“Why is it important that we have access to the president’s tax returns? It is because those tax returns reveal conflicts and potential conflicts of interest. They show whether the president has been in full compliance with our tax laws and they also show what the implications are to him of proposals he makes to amend the tax laws in this country,” Buchwald, a former tax attorney, said at the press conference.

While similar efforts have failed in the past, state Democrats suggest this year’s could gain traction. Buchwald said 93 Assembly members and a majority 32 state senators support the Truth Act.

“There is a copy of President Trump’s tax returns right here in New York state in an office somewhere, and the only thing that prevents that state income tax return from being made public is a state statute that we in the state legislature should have the power to amend,” Buchwald said.

Trump has shown little interest in turning over the documents, as the White House braces for a fight.

“We’re under audit, despite what people said, and we’re working that out—I’m always under audit, it seems, and I’ve been under audit for many years because the numbers are big. ... But until such time as I’m not under audit, I would not be inclined to do that,” Trump told reporters last week.

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain's far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville
FILE PHOTO: Supporters of the Spain’s far-right party VOX wave Spanish flags as they attend an electoral rally ahead of general elections in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Spain April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By John Stonestreet and Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Vox party, aligned to a broader far-right movement emerging across Europe, has become the focus of speculation about last minute shifts in voting intentions since official polling for Sunday’s national election ended four days ago.

No single party is anywhere near securing a majority, and chances of a deadlocked parliament and a second election are high.

Leaders of the five parties vying for a role in government get final chances to pitch for power at rallies on Friday evening, before a campaign characterized by appeals to voters’ hearts rather than wallets ends at midnight.

By tradition, the final day before a Spanish election is politics-free.

Two main prizes are still up for grabs in the home straight. One concerns which of the two rival left and right multi-party blocs gets more votes.

The other is whether Vox could challenge the mainstream conservative PP for leadership of the latter bloc, which media outlets with access to unofficial soundings taken since Monday suggest could be starting to happen.

The right’s loose three-party alliance is led by the PP, the traditional conservative party that has alternated in office with outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists since Spain’s return to democracy in the 1970s.

The PP stands at around 20 percent, with center-right Ciudadanos near 14 percent and Vox around 11 percent, according to a final poll of polls in daily El Pais published on Monday.

Since then, however, interest in Vox – which will become the first far-right party to sit in parliament since 1982 – has snowballed.

It was founded in 2013, part of a broader anti-establishment, far-right movement that has also spread across – among others – Italy, France and Germany.

While it is careful to distance itself from the ideology of late dictator Francisco Franco, Vox’s signature policies include repealing laws banning Franco-era symbols and on gender-based violence, and shifting power away from Spain’s regional governments.

TRENDING

According to a Google trends graphic, Vox has generated more than three times more search inquiries than any other Spanish political party in the past week.

Reasons could include a groundswell of vocal activist support at Vox rallies in Madrid and Valencia, and its exclusion from two televised debates between the main party leaders, on the grounds of it having no deputies yet in parliament.

Conservative daily La Vanguardia called its enforced absence from Monday’s and Tuesday’s debates “a gift from heaven”, while left-wing Eldiario.es suggested the PP was haemorrhaging votes to Vox in rural areas.

Ignacio Jurado, politics lecturer at the University of York, agreed the main source of additional Vox votes would be disaffected PP supporters, and called the debate ban – whose impact he said was unclear – wrong.

“This is a party polling over 10 percent and there are people interested in what it says. So we lose more than we win in not having them (in the debates),” he said

For Jose Fernandez-Albertos, political scientist at Spanish National Research Council CSIC, Vox is enjoying the novelty effect that propelled then new, left-wing arrival Podemos to 20 percent of the vote in 2015.

“While it’s unclear how to interpret the (Google) data, what we do know is that it’s better to be popular and to be a newcomer, and that Vox will benefit in some form,” he said.

For now, the chances of Vox taking a major role in government remain slim, however.

The El Pais survey put the Socialists on around 30 percent, making them the frontrunners and likely to form a leftist bloc with Podemos, back down at around 14 percent.

The unofficial soundings suggest little change in the two parties’ combined vote, or the total vote of the rightist bloc.

That makes it unlikely that either bloc will win a majority on Sunday, triggering horse-trading with smaller parties favoring Catalan independence – the single most polarizing issues during campaigning – that could easily collapse into fresh elections.

(Election graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/2ENugtw)

(Reporting by John Stonestreet and Belen Carreno, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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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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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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