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Treasury won’t meet House Dems’ deadline to provide Trump tax returns, Mnuchin says

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that the department hasn't decided if it'll comply with a demand by a key House Democrat to deliver President Trump's tax returns, and won't meet a Wednesday deadline to do so.

The news came a day after Mnuchin faced off in a contentious exchange on the issue with the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, California Rep. Maxine Waters. Mnuchin, who testified for more than three hours, said he would rethink whether to reappear before the committee, based on Waters' behavior.

In a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., who asked for Trump's returns a week ago, Mnuchin said Treasury would consult with the Justice Department and further review the request.

WATCH: MNUCHIN SPARS WITH MAXINE WATERS, TELLS HER TO 'BANG THE GAVEL' AS SHE GOES WIDE-EYED IN SHOCK

"The legal implications of this request could affect protections for all Americans against politically-motivated disclosures of personal tax information, regardless of which party is in power," Mnuchin wrote.

He said Treasury respects lawmakers' oversight duties, and would make sure taxpayer protections were "scrupulously observed, consistent with my statutory responsibilities."

Earlier Wednesday, Trump, who has broken with decades of presidential tradition by not releasing his returns, told reporters he wouldn't do so while he's under IRS audit. He said much the same thing last week.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies Tuesday before a House Appropriations subcommittee during a hearing on President Trump's budget. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies Tuesday before a House Appropriations subcommittee during a hearing on President Trump's budget. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

"I would love to give them, but I'm not going to do it while I'm under audit."

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told Fox News on Sunday that Democrats would "never" see Trump's returns.

The IRS says there's no rule against subjects of an audit releasing their tax filings.

The brouhaha comes as several other Democrat presidential contenders have vowed to release their returns or have already done so. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts released her 2018 tax returns on Wednesday, showing she and her husband earned nearly $1 million last year.

And Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced Tuesday that he'll release 10 years of tax returns on Monday -- filings expected to show that the self-declared Democratic socialist made millions from book sales.

Trump's position has long been that he is under audit and therefore unable to divulge his returns. But in recent weeks, he has added to the argument, saying publicly and privately that the American people elected him without seeing his taxes and would do so again.

"Remember, I got elected last time — the same exact issue," Trump said, echoing Mulvaney's remarks in his "Fox News Sunday" interview. "Frankly, the people don't care."

The president has told those close to him that the attempt to get his returns represented an assault on his privacy and a further example of the Democratic-led "witch hunt."

Trump has repeatedly asked aides about the status of the House request and has inquired about the "loyalty" of the top officials at the IRS, according to one outside adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

"Frankly, the people don't care."

— President Trump

Democrats didn't expect the department to comply, but they haven't sketched out their next steps. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., speaking before Mnuchin's response was delivered, said it may take Neal a couple of days to issue his own response.

House Democrats are at a party retreat in the Virginia suburbs of Washington.

Neal has adopted a methodical approach to seeking Trump's returns. He has the option of eventually seeking to subpoena the records or go to court to get them, but it's not clear if he's prepared to ratchet up the confrontation.

2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders greets supporters after a rally, Saturday, March 9, 2019, at the Iowa state fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)

2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders greets supporters after a rally, Saturday, March 9, 2019, at the Iowa state fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)

Neal's initial letter didn't lay out any consequences for the IRS if it didn't comply, and a spokesman said a likely course would be a second, more insistent, letter.

"We intend to follow through with this," Neal said Wednesday. "I'll let you know fast."

The request for Trump's tax filings is but one of many oversight efforts launched by Democrats after taking back the House in last fall's midterms. Neal is relying on a 1920s-era law that says the IRS "shall furnish" any tax return requested by the chairmen of key House and Senate committees.

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Mnuchin told lawmakers that his department will "follow the law," but he hasn't shared the department's interpretation of the statute.

The White House did not respond to questions as to whether the president asked Mnuchin or the IRS head to intervene.

The president's outside attorney also did not respond to a request for comment.

Fox News' Chad Pergram, Paulina Dedaj, Chris Wallace, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Sri Lanka attack shows ISIS is not ‘Junior Varsity’: counter-terror expert

Despite a weakened presence in places such as Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State terrorist group remains a serious threat, said Aaron Cohen, a counter-terrorist and security expert, on "Fox & Friends" Wednesday.

Cohen, a former member of Israel’s elite special forces, said the Easter attack on Sri Lanka churches, hotels and other sites that claimed the lives of more than 300 people showed that the Islamic State appears to be sowing terror through small, affiliated groups.

"The fact that Sri Lanka was able to be attacked by a terror group which essentially had no name at first before ISIS connected the thorns," Cohen said, "and the fact that this terror organization is connected to ISIS as a smaller proxy organization, or a puppet organization, and the fact that ISIS is able to connect these threads to wannabe, nomad terror groups" means the pressure on them "must stay on."

"Fox & Friends" host Ed Henry recalled when President Barack Obama in 2014 likened ISIS to a junior varsity basketball team in an attempt to downplay the terrorist group's level of threat to international security.

"Here we are years later...they can still take deadly action," Henry said to Cohen.

Q&A: THE END OF THE ISLAMIC STATE GROUP'S 'CALIPHATE?' 

"What I will say is unlike junior varsity sports teams, terror organizations are extremely well-funded by countries such as Iran," Cohen said, "continue to not only pay terrorists to carry out acts of terrorism, but fund their families in case they're lost in the acts of terrorism because they're looked at as heroes."

As the death toll from the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka rose to 321 on Tuesday, the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, claimed responsibility and released images that purported to show the attackers, while the country’s prime minister warned that several suspects armed with explosives are still at large.

A top Sri Lanka government official said the suicide bombings were carried out by Islamic fundamentalists in apparent retaliation for the New Zealand mosque massacres last month that a white supremacist has been charged with carrying out.

Cohen said that ISIS militants "are masters in guerrilla warfare, people shouldn't take this lightly."

The security expert said that ISIS uses the Internet to recruit militants.

"They use...the dark web to build, plot, plan, and execute a wave of what we call nomad or solo terror attacks," Cohen said.

ISIS, which traces its roots back to the bloody emergence of Al Qaeda in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, has survived past defeats and is waging a low-level insurgency in areas it was driven from months or even years ago.

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The Islamic State group, which has lost all the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria, has made a series of unsupported claims of responsibility and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that investigators were still determining the extent of the bombers’ foreign links.

Sri Lankan authorities have blamed the attacks on National Towheed Jamaar, a little-known Islamic extremist group in the island nation. Its leader, alternately known as Mohammed Zahran or Zahran Hashmi, became known to Muslim leaders three years ago for his incendiary speeches online.

The IS group’s Aamaq news agency released an image purported to show the leader of the attackers, standing amid seven others whose faces are covered. The group did not provide any other evidence for its claim, and the identities of those depicted in the image were not independently verified.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Source: Fox News World

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Colombian Duque’s Venezuela stance avoids him lame duck status, for now

FILE PHOTO: Meeting of Lima Group in Bogota
FILE PHOTO: Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who many nations have recognized as the country's rightful interim ruler, and Colombia's President Ivan Duque gesture after a meeting of the Lima Group in Bogota, Colombia, Feb. 25, 2019. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez/File Photo

February 26, 2019

By Helen Murphy and Carlos Vargas

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombian President Ivan Duque’s tough stance on the crisis in neighboring Venezuela has helped boost his ratings from record lows, but sustaining his popularity and pushing through key legislation may prove elusive.

Since taking office in August with approval ratings in the mid-50s, the 42-year-old former senator saw his popularity dwindle during his first six months as a truculent Congress gutted his tax reform proposals and students filled the streets to protest a shortage of education funding.

Duque’s approval hit a low of 27.2 percent in November, according to an Invamer poll, plunging below even the levels reached by ex-presidents Ernesto Samper and Andres Pastrana, whose 1998 pledge to seek a peace accord with FARC rebels divided the nation.

Samper’s 1994 campaign received drug money from the Cali Cartel, but he has said he was unaware of the contributions and was cleared by Congress.

However, Duque’s strong public backing for removing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who he calls a dictator, helped to drive his ratings in January to 42.7 percent, Invamer said. Maduro has condemned meddling by foreign governments, especially the United States and Colombia, as an attempt to overthrow his socialist administration.

Duque also received a boost from his handling of a bomb attack by National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels that killed 22 police cadets in Bogota in January.

Now, a massive four-year $355 billion national development plan – which aims to lift 1.5 million Colombians out of poverty, reduce unemployment and boost growth – may test whether Duque has seen the worst or if he is on track to lead an early lame duck administration. Colombian presidents are limited to one term.

“The ratings boost is very short-term and external so if the government isn’t able to present a concrete social agenda with respect for human rights, then it’s very possible the trend will reverse again,” said opposition Green Party lower house representative Inti Asprilla, who sits on a commission debating the development plan.

‘MARMALADE’

Right-wing Duque has been hobbled by a razor-thin legislative majority since taking office, made worse by a cold shoulder from his own party as he has sought to show his independence from his powerful political mentor, former President Alvaro Uribe.

While Duque’s campaign pledge to stop special interest groups from trading support for favors was popular with voters – who call the practice “marmalade” because money and influence are spread around – it has left him struggling to exert influence.

His government shunned traditional deal-making that saw money and favors funneled to regional governments and lawmakers, and failed to foster political participation by awarding cabinet positions to other parties.

Poor communications resulted in his business-friendly tax reform proposal being diluted beyond recognition last year, with resistance including from his own Democratic Center party. His justice bill – which sought to make fixed terms for the attorney general among other things – was scrapped and his pension reform delayed until next year.

The national development plan is already being watered down. In response to widespread criticism, Duque last week ditched clauses that increased energy prices for the middle class and boosted health and pension costs for independent workers.

“Duque’s government hasn’t done what one would hope for, it has not had a good start,” said ruling coalition Senator Armando Benedetti of the U Party, adding that the “development plan” that was presented was a way to introduce taxes affecting the middle and lower classes.

Many fear the bill will be gutted like the tax reform.

TALL ORDER

“Duque has suffered from self-inflicted issues making mistake after mistake after mistake,” said Sergio Guzman, director of Colombia Risk Analysis, a Bogota-based political risk consultancy. “He has to tone down his ambitions and avoid congress turning on him.”

Duque’s supporters say that his first months in office have been marked by the inevitable cost of changing the way politics is conducted in a very divided nation.

“Duque hasn’t fallen into the trap of playing politics, of engaging in bribery, of negotiating posts or contracts to support initiatives,” said ruling coalition Senator Jhon Milton Rodriguez. “That’s obviously a complete change in the way of working and has created difficulties.”

If Maduro is ousted in the coming months and democracy returns to the OPEC nation, Duque will certainly benefit, but the outcome is mostly beyond his control, say observers.

Border troops loyal to Maduro fired rubber bullets and tear gas to block humanitarian aid from crossing into Venezuela at the weekend.

Even though the effort failed, it made Duque look strong, say analysts. But if Maduro remains firmly in office, Duque may suffer again.

Even with higher ratings, Duque faces a tall order. The massive exodus of migrants crossing into Colombia from crisis-wracked Venezuela has put huge strains on the economy, while a jump in cocaine output has boosted violence.

Limited to just one four-year term, Duque will need to maintain his poll numbers or risk seeing the right-wing coalition lose the presidency in 2022 to someone like hard-leftist Gustavo Petro, a close runner-up in the last election.

“Presidents usually start their term well, but Duque’s has been exceptionally bad,” said Diana Medina, analyst at political consultancy Seguimiento y Estrategia.

“He has a very big challenge ahead of him.”

(Reporting by Helen Murphy and Carlos Vargas; Editing by Daniel Flynn, Christian Plumb and Phil Berlowitz)

Source: OANN

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Norwegian Air sells two planes as it puts profitability over growth

FILE PHOTO: CEO of Norwegian Group speaks during the presentation of Norwegian Air first low cost transatlantic flight service from Argentina at Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina
FILE PHOTO: Bjorn Kjos, CEO of Norwegian Group, speaks during the presentation of Norwegian Air first low cost transatlantic flight service from Argentina at Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci/File Photo

April 3, 2019

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air has sold two of its Boeing 737-800 aircraft as part of its shift in emphasis from rapid growth toward profitability, the budget carrier said on Wednesday.

Norwegian last month said it would postpone sales of six other aircraft of the same model, however, to help offset the impact of the worldwide grounding of Boeing 737 MAX jets.

Under its fleet renewal program, loss-making Norwegian aims to sell older aircraft, often replacing them with new, more fuel-efficient models.

The carrier, which recently raised 3 billion Norwegian crowns ($351 million) in cash from shareholders, said on Wednesday the sale of the two planes would boost its liquidity by a further $21 million after debts are repaid.

“The sale is in line with the company’s strategy of capitalizing on the scale built up over the last few years and the changed focus from growth to profitability,” Norwegian said in a statement.

The company had 164 aircraft in its fleet at the end of 2018.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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OPEC, allies to maintain output cuts despite Trump’s criticism: source

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz
Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

February 26, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC and its allies will continue with their agreement to cut oil supply, pushing for more adherence despite a demand by U.S. President Donald Trump that the producer group ease its efforts to boost crude prices, a Gulf OPEC source told Reuters.

Based on current market data, the so-called OPEC+ group is “likely to continue with the production cuts until the end of the year”, the OPEC source said.

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Source: OANN

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Trump says China’s Xi will soon come to White House

U.S. President Trump speaks at the Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta, Georgia
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump departs after delivering remarks at the Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis

April 25, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will soon host Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House, setting the stage for a possible agreement on trade between the world’s two largest economies.

The White House said on Tuesday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will travel to Beijing for additional talks on a trade dispute that has led to tit-for-tat tariffs between the two countries.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Tim Ahmann)

Source: OANN

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Notre Dame Cathedral fire being investigated as accident for now, prosecutors say

Investigators are treating the fire that engulfed Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral as an accident for now, the local prosecutor's office said Monday evening.

Paris police will investigate the disaster as "involuntary destruction caused by fire" and have ruled out arson and potential terror-related motives for starting the blaze, officials said.

The prosecutors' statement came moments after a government official and the Paris fire chief said they were optimistic that the cathedral's world-famous bell towers had been saved from the fire, and that the main structure of the building remained intact. It was a rare piece of good news on a night that left thousands in the streets of the French capital and millions around the world looking on in shock as one of the world's great religious, cultural and historic landmarks was consumed by flames.

Fire chief Jean-Claude Gallet confirmed that firefighters had managed to stop the fire spreading to the northern belfry, the stomping ground of the fictional hunchback Quasimodo in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." He added that two-thirds of the cathedral's roof "has been ravaged" and confirmed that one firefighter was injured, the only known injury from the fire.

Late Monday, signs pointed to the fire nearing an end as lights could be seen through the windows moving around the front of the cathedral, apparently investigators inspecting the scene. Gallet said firefighters would keep working overnight to cool down the building.

CENTRAL SPIRE, ROOF OF HISTORIC CATHEDRAL COLLAPSE IN MASSIVE BLAZE

The blaze collapsed the cathedral's spire, which had been shrouded in scaffolding as part of a 6 million-euro ($6.8 million) renovation project on the spire and its 250 tons of lead. French media quoted the Paris fire brigade as saying the fire was "potentially linked" to that construction. As the spire fell, the sky lit up orange and flames shot out of the roof behind the nave of the cathedral, among the most visited landmarks in the world. Hundreds of people lined up bridges around the island that houses the church, watching in shock as acrid smoke rose in plumes

The fire came less than a week before Easter amid Holy Week commemorations. As the cathedral burned, Parisians gathered to pray and sing hymns outside the church of Saint Julien Les Pauvres across the river from Notre Dame while the flames lit the sky behind them.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who canceled a planned address to the nation about the ongoing "yellow vest" crisis, rushed to the scene and straight into meetings at the Paris police headquarters nearby. After emerging to face a throng of reporters, Marcon vowed the cathedral would be rebuilt and announced the launch of an international fundraising drive to begin raising the millions of dollars necessary to restore the building to its former glory.

NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL FIRE WITNESSES: 'IT KEEPS GETTING BIGGER AND BIGGER'

"We will rebuild this cathedral," said Macron, who added that "The worst has been avoided although the battle is not yet totally won." The French leader also praised the "courage" and "great professionalism" of firefighters who battled the blaze for approximately four hours.

Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit invited priests across France to ring church bells in a call for prayers for the beloved Paris cathedral.

Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, Notre Dame is the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages as well as one of the most beloved structures in the world. Situated on the Ile de la Cite, an island in the Seine river, its architecture is famous for, among other things, its many gargoyles and its iconic flying buttresses.

Among its most celebrated art: three stained-glass rose windows, placed high up on the west, north and south faces of the cathedral. Its priceless treasures also include a Catholic relic, the crown of thorns, which is only occasionally displayed, including on Fridays during Lent. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said late Monday that the collection of artwork and holy objects kept inside the church had been recovered, though it was not clear if any items were damaged.

French historian Camille Pascal told the BFM broadcast channel the fire marked "the destruction of invaluable heritage."

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"It's been 800 years that the Cathedral watches over Paris", Pascal said. "Happy and unfortunate events for centuries have been marked by the bells of Notre Dame."

He added: "We can be only horrified by what we see."

Fox News' Lucia Suarez Sang and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: An aerial photo looking north shows shipping containers at the Port of Seattle and the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle
FILE PHOTO: An aerial photo looking north shows shipping containers at the Port of Seattle and the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, U.S. March 21, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo

April 26, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. economic growth is running at a 1.1% pace in the second quarter as the gains in exports and inventories recorded in the first quarter are expected to reverse, Morgan Stanley economists said on Friday.

“Our preliminary expectations for growth in the second quarter sees large drags from net exports and inventories after their contributions in 1Q,” they wrote in a research note.

Gross domestic product increased at a 3.2% annualized rate in the first three months of the year, driven by a smaller trade deficit and the largest accumulation of unsold merchandise since 2015, the Commerce Department said earlier Friday.

(Reporting by Richard Leong)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The Deutsche Bank headquarters are pictured in Frankfurt
FILE PHOTO: The Deutsche Bank headquarters are pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Sims

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Within hours of the collapse of merger talks with Commerzbank, Christian Sewing scrambled to convince investors and employees that Deutsche Bank can stand on its own two feet.

The Deutsche Bank chief executive told staff, many of whom opposed a merger because of significant job losses, that while he had not been “skeptical” about the Commerzbank talks, he was cautious about the chances of success from the start.

And another top Deutsche Bank executive said on Friday that it had been Commerzbank that initiated the talks, suggesting there was no desperation on their part for a deal.

Commerzbank denied that version of events, ending the apparent truce between the normally highly competitive cross-town Frankfurt rivals over the past six weeks.

German hopes of creating a national banking champion able to challenge global competitors were finally dashed on Thursday when Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank ended their talks due to the risks of doing a deal, restructuring costs and capital demands.

For Sewing, the failure to clinch a deal has left the 49-year-old chief executive of Germany’s largest bank, who took over just over a year ago, with his back to the wall.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, which downgraded Deutsche Bank last year, said on Friday that Deutsche Bank “will remain under strain”, adding that it “seems to have acknowledged the need to adjust its strategy”.

Under Sewing, a new leadership has tried to revive Deutsche Bank’s fortunes, but it has faced money laundering allegations and failed stress tests, as well as ratings downgrades.

At the heart of the debate over its future is whether it should focus its business on Germany and draw a line under its costly global ambitions to take on Wall Street’s big guns.

“MARKET PLAY”

Without a deal, Deutsche Bank now finds itself back at the mercy of equity and debt markets, with UBS analysts warning that in a “stress scenario” it could again “be forced into a ‘debt-driven capital increase’ even with solid capital ratios”.

“Deutsche remains a levered market play vulnerable to external events,” the UBS analysts said in a note.

Sewing, along with many analysts, believes Deutsche Bank can go it alone in the short-term, but will be counting on a turnaround in market conditions to do so in the long-run given its dependence on volatile investment bank earnings.

“To reach our return objective, we also need to see a revenue recovery in our more market-sensitive business,” Sewing said on Friday after reporting results.

“These revenues are available to us in better market conditions given our leading positions in many of these businesses, but we need to capture them,” he added.

Revenue at Deutsche Bank’s bond trading division fell 19 percent in the first quarter, it said on Friday, underscoring weakness at its investment bank.

If those earnings do not improve, Berlin’s desire to keep its biggest bank out of foreign hands may start to wane.

“Germany’s globally active companies need competitive financial institutions that can support them around the world,” German finance minister Olaf Scholz said on Thursday.

(Writing by Alexander Smith; Editing by Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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Panama's former president Ricardo Martinelli yells to the media while arriving to the Electoral Court in Panama City
Panama’s former president Ricardo Martinelli reacts to the media while arriving to the Electoral Court in Panama City, Panama April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Erick Marciscano

April 26, 2019

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Panama’s electoral tribunal has ruled that former President Ricardo Martinelli, who is awaiting trial on wiretapping charges, cannot take part in elections on May 5 in which he was running for mayor of Panama City and a seat in Congress, a spokesman for Martinelli said on Friday.

“The ruling of the electoral tribunal has disqualified him as candidate,” said the spokesman, Eduardo Camacho, calling the court’s ruling a “political decision.”

Officials at the tribunal did not immediately confirm the ruling, which also was reported in local media in Panama.

Martinelli, a supermarket tycoon who ran the Central American country from 2009 to 2014, was extradited to Panama last June from the United States and charged with spying on 150 people, including politicians, union leaders and journalists.

A judge had previously cleared Martinelli to run for mayor of the capital. His critics vowed to appeal that decision.

(Reporting by Elida Moreno and Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Amazon boxes are seen stacked for delivery in the Manhattan borough of New York City
FILE PHOTO: Amazon boxes are seen stacked for delivery in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Shares of Walmart, Target and other U.S. retailers fell on Friday as Amazon.com Inc unveiled a one-day delivery plan for its Prime members in a move to further disrupt the fiercely competitive retail landscape.

The e-commerce giant’s announcement on Thursday could cause other brands, manufacturers, retailers, and logistics companies to have to invest more aggressively to compete with Amazon and its delivery, analysts said.

Retailers in recent years have poured billions into ecommerce and faster shipping options and are trying to close the gap with Amazon.

“This is about making it more expensive to catch up and affirms our world view that only the largest and smartest will survive,” Bernstein analyst Brandon Fletcher said.

The move is expected to heighten consumer expectations on e-commerce delivery just like Amazon did with its two-day shipping option for members of its loyalty club Prime, noted analysts.

“The faster you ship, the more people buy,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney said.

The challenge for non-Amazon players was that very few of the existing logistics and parcel delivery players now have the ability to do nationwide one-day delivery, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak said.

“And even fewer can do it at the vast scale and reasonable cost that AMZN would need for Prime delivery,” Nowak said in a note.

Walmart Inc’s shares fell about 3 percent, while Target Corp dropped about 5 percent in morning trade.

Shares of Kohl’s Corp, Macy’s Inc and Nordstrom Inc fell about 1 percent. Grocer Kroger Co was nearly 3 percent lower, while consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Inc dropped 2.1 percent.

(Reporting by Soundarya J and Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By April Joyner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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