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Morocco looks to French as language of economic success

Students wearing mortar board hats wait to receive their degree diplomas, following a graduation ceremony for students at University of Rabat
Students wearing mortar board hats wait to receive their degree diplomas following a graduation ceremony for students at University of Rabat, Morocco, February 2, 2019. Picture taken February 2, 2019. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal

February 18, 2019

By Ahmed Eljechtimi

RABAT (Reuters) – Morocco’s economy is getting lost in translation.

With so many students dropping out of university because they don’t speak French, the government has proposed reintroducing it as the language for teaching science, maths and technical subjects such as computer science in high schools.

It also wants children to start learning French when they start school.

The country’s official languages are Arabic and Amazigh, or Berber. Most people speak Moroccan Arabic – a mixture of Arabic and Amazigh infused with French and Spanish influences.

In school, children are taught through Arabic although they don’t use it outside the classroom. When they get to university, lessons switch to French, the language of the urban elite and the country’s former colonial masters. Confused? Many are.

Two out of three people fail to complete their studies at public universities in Morocco, mainly because they don’t speak French.

The linguistic morass has stymied economic growth and exacerbated inequalities in the North African country, where one in four young people are unemployed and the average annual income runs at approximately $3,440 per person, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – less than a third of the world average.

The plans to broaden the teaching of French go to the heart of Morocco’s national identity.

They would overturn decades of Arabisation after independence from France in 1956 and have triggered a furor in parliament, where members of the Islamist PJD party, the senior partner in the coalition government, and the conservative Istiqlal party view them as a betrayal.

The disagreement has delayed a vote on the changes.

“Openness to the world should not be used as an excuse to impose the primacy of French,” said Hassan Adili, a PJD lawmaker.

Proponents say the changes reflect the reality that French reigns supreme in business, government and higher education, giving those who can afford to be privately schooled through French a huge advantage over the majority of the country’s students.

“In the Moroccan job market, mastery of French is indispensable. Those who do not have command of French are considered illiterate,” said Hamid El Otmani, head of talent and training at the Confederation of Moroccan Employers.

Even before parliament votes on the changes, Education Minister Said Amzazi has okayed the roll-out of French in some schools, declaring its use in teaching scientific subjects as an “irreversible choice”.

Like many Moroccan politicians, his children received a private education.

“When decision-makers start sending their children to public schools, only then can we say that we have a successful education system,” said Jamal Karimi Benchekroun of the co-ruling socialist PPS party.

Amzazi did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Frustration over jobs and poverty has fueled periodic protests in Morocco, but the country has avoided the sort of instability suffered by other North African states, where pent-up anger has triggered uprisings and provided fertile ground for Islamist extremism.

King Mohammed VI, the ultimate power in Morocco, has proven adept at introducing limited reforms in response to popular protest. He has spoken publicly about the need to teach foreign languages to students to reduce unemployment and has made the economy a top priority.

Last year, he sacked the minister for finance after calling on the government to do more to boost investment.

C’EST LA VIE

Problems with language are not unique to Morocco. In neighboring Algeria, another former French colony, students are also schooled in Arabic only to be greeted “en francais” in university and the workplace.

French’s pre-eminence reflects Paris’ continuing influence in the region. France is the biggest foreign direct investor in Morocco and large companies such as carmakers Renault and Peugeot employ tens of thousands of people.

Privately-run universities such as the International University of Rabat (UIR) have courses geared toward high-growth industries such as aerospace and renewable energy and offer tuition in French and English.

But a year at UIR can cost up to $10,000 in fees, way beyond the budget of most Moroccans. They go instead to non-fee paying public universities, where the abrupt transition to studying in French is frequently a burden for students and their lecturers.

“Sometimes we find ourselves giving French language courses during economy classes,” said Amine Dafir, economy professor at Hassan II University, a public institution in Mohamedia, near Casablanca.

Hamid Farricha, 37, dropped out of his applied physics and computer science degree at Hassan II University during the first year. He dreamed of becoming an engineer but the language barrier meant he struggled to keep up.

Trying to find Arabic translations for French scientific words was a drain on his time.

He switched instead to studying mechanics at a vocational school. He still had to master French to get hired.

“The biggest challenge after earning my diploma was writing a CV and sitting for job interviews in French,” Farricha told Reuters.

He got a job as a technician at a plant repairing car frames, paid below Morocco’s minimum monthly salary of 2570 dirhams, or $270.

Farricha was one of the lucky ones. Morocco’s economy cannot absorb all the young people looking for work. Around 280,000 graduates entered the labor force last year but only 112,000 jobs were created.

The unemployment rate for graduates is 17 percent, above the national rate of 9.8 percent, according to data from Morocco’s planning agency.

Morocco’s reliance on small and medium-sized companies which do not typically employ graduates, and austerity drives which have cut public sector jobs are part of the reason for the high rate of graduate unemployment.

The education system is also failing to prepare students for work.

In addition to high dropout rates, Moroccan students score badly compared to peers on international tests, and at university level, students oversubscribe to social science fields at the expense of technical subjects, according to an IMF report in late 2017. That means many don’t have the skills employers are looking for when they graduate.

Even for roles not requiring a degree, French is a must. On the French website of Morocco’s job promotion agency, almost all employers were looking for French speakers, including for jobs as guards, waiters, cooks and drivers.

Determined to get ahead, Farricha worked on his French while employed at the plant. He read newspapers and books in his spare time and gave himself a daily list of new expressions and vocabulary to learn.

He went back to university in 2014 for a degree in French law and is studying for a masters in diplomacy and international arbitration.

To meet his living costs, he teaches French to other students.

(Editing by Ulf Laessing and Carmel Crimmins)

Source: OANN

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Clashes break out between police and some yellow vest rioters in Paris

French
A protester carries a banner in front of a fire at a demonstration during Act XXIII (the 23rd consecutive national protest on Saturday) of the yellow vests movement in Paris, France, April 20, 2019. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

April 20, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – Clashes broke out between some demonstrators and police in Paris on the 23rd Saturday of yellow-vest protests after authorities warned that rioters could return to the French capital to spark a new wave of violence.

Dozens of black-hooded demonstrators threw rocks at police forces in the center of French capital, according to Reuters TV footage. Trash cans and a several scooters were also set ablaze.

Police responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades. Some officers also marched toward demonstrators to control the crowd and funnel it to Paris’ Place de la Republique, where they were authorized to demonstrate.

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain Caroline Paillez, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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Ukrainian presidential candidates trade insults in final debate

Ukraine's presidential candidates Petro Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a debate in Kiev
Ukraine's President and presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko attends a policy debate with his rival, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at the National Sports Complex Olimpiyskiy stadium in Kiev, Ukraine April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

April 19, 2019

By Polina Ivanova and Pavel Polityuk

KIEV (Reuters) – The two men vying to be Ukraine’s next president traded insults and accusations in a final raucous debate on Friday in front of thousands of supporters ahead of a decisive run-off vote this weekend.

The debate, held in a hulking football stadium, was one of the last opportunities for incumbent President Petro Poroshenko to try to overhaul a significant lead in the opinion polls enjoyed by his challenger Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian with no prior political experience.

The event was light on policy and heavy on theatrics with supporters cheering and booing their respective candidates and shouting “Shame” and “Go away” in a gladiatorial atmosphere.

In a rare break from mutual mud-slinging, both men briefly knelt on stage at one point to honor the memory of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the country’s simmering 5-year war with Russian-backed separatists.

Zelenskiy, who plays a fictional president in a popular TV series, tried to cast Poroshenko as a rich out-of-touch leader who has overseen corruption and failed to end the war.

“I’m not a politician,” Zelenskiy told Poroshenko. “I’m just an ordinary person who has come to break the system. I’m the result of your mistakes and promises.”

He also questioned why living standards were in decline.

“How is it that Ukraine is the poorest country with the richest president?”

Standing in front of a Ukrainian flag surrounded by army veterans, Poroshenko tried to portray Zelenskiy as an inept draft-dodger who would be unable to defend the country against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“You’d be a weak head of state who would be unable to defend yourself from Putin’s blows. I don’t believe that Mr Volodymyr (Zelenskiy) dreams of handing over Ukraine, of dragging Ukraine back into the Russian empire, but Putin has such a dream.”

Zelenskiy was a front for other people, said Poroshenko, accusing him of wanting to further Russian interests and those of Ihor Kolomoisky, one of Ukraine’s richest businessmen.

He also levelled accusations of financial wrongdoing against Zelenskiy to which the comedian hit back:

“I’m not at the prosecutor’s office, I haven’t done anything to find myself there, but maybe you’ll have to meet with the prosecutor.”

Zelenskiy has put Poroshenko on the backfoot by running an unorthodox campaign that eschewed traditional rallies and relied on quirky social media videos and comedy gigs.

The hour-long debate in the stadium, an unprecedented spectacle in Ukraine’s modern history, came after Zelenskiy challenged Poroshenko to meet him there.

“I think this is the first and last time it’ll be this way in the history of such debates. For them to be in a stadium? Never again. The atmosphere is just super,” said Anya, a 25-year-old Zelenskiy supporter from the Poltava region.

“I loved it.”

(Reporting by Polina Ivanova, Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets; Writing by Matthias Williams and Andrew Osborn; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

Source: OANN

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Corey Lewandowski involved in GOP 2020 campaign to dethrone Ocasio-Cortez

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is working with a Republican candidate in a longshot bid to dethrone U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

The freshman congresswoman’s approval rating has dwindled since her election win in November thanks to numerous controversies and a firebrand style that tends to turn off many voters, sparking efforts by both Democrats and Republicans to oust the card-carrying Democratic socialist.

In New York City, Ocasio-Cortez’s favorability rating took a dive after she led an effort to block a deal that would have brought thousands of Amazon jobs to the borough of Queens. Her use of misleading information painted the plan as a massive government giveaway, even though it would have generated billions in tax revenue and 25,000 jobs.

OCASIO-CORTEZ SLAMMED AS 'FINANCIALLY ILLITERATE' AT SHARPTON EVENT OVER AMAZON, FACES CALLS TO BE OUSTED FROM OFFICE

Republican candidate Donald Trump and campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in a 2015 file photo. (Associated Press)

Republican candidate Donald Trump and campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in a 2015 file photo. (Associated Press)

Lewandowski has apparently agreed to serve as an unofficial adviser to Ruth Papazian, a medical journalist, and her campaign to unseat Ocasio-Cortez, New York magazine reported.

Lewandowski was instrumental in helping get then-GOP candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 bid off the ground and into the mainstream -- even as polls and critics deemed his candidacy unlikely.

Papazian told Fox News that her bid to run for Congress against Ocasio-Cortez partly stems from the fiasco over the Amazon deal.

“She parachuted into a congressional district she doesn’t even represent and led the parade of grandstanding politicians to tank the deal,” Papazian said. “Instead of fighting to keep Amazon out of Queens, she should have been fighting to bring Amazon to the Bronx.”

“She parachuted into a congressional district she doesn’t even represent and led the parade of grandstanding politicians to tank the deal. Instead of fighting to keep Amazon out of Queens, she should have been fighting to bring Amazon to the Bronx.”

— Ruth Papazian

AOC FACES BACKLASH FOR USING 'FIRST THEY CAME ... ' HOLOCAUST POEM IN DEFENSE OF OMAR

That appears to be an issue that could resonate with voters in the district, as 58 percent of the residents there said they actually supported the Amazon deal, according to a Siena College poll.

At the same time, many residents remain supportive of their representative, with the poll finding Ocasio-Cortez has a 52 percent favorability rating among her district's voters and that 48 percent of all voters would vote to re-elect her in 2020.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

More importantly, a Republican is likely to struggle in the district as it has historically voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, with the majority of politically active residents being registered Democrats.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Cops Called After Enraged Man Makes Own Pizza at Taco Bell

A disgruntled drive-thru customer shocked Taco Bell employees when he stormed into the South Carolina restaurant's kitchen and started making his own pizza after complaining there was "there was not enough meat on his Mexican pizza," The Smoking Gun reported.

According to an incident report, the ordeal took place Wednesday at a Spartanburg Taco Bell. The unidentified suspect ordered a Mexican pizza from the drive-thru but later returned complaining about the meager serving of meat on his order.

Taco Bell employee Crystal Smith told police she re-made the pizza but the suspect was still not satisfied and demanded he be given a refund. When staff told him this was not possible, the enraged man stormed into the Taco Bell's kitchen, made his own pizza then subsequently left the premises.

According to the incident report, the suspect "did not follow proper health/safety guidelines" by not wearing "protective gloves while making his food."

Smith described the suspect as "angry and upset" and said he used foul language in response to her offers to re-make his pizza.

The suspect has not been apprehended but police said they are on the lookout for him. According to the incident report, the disgruntled customer was driving a Dodge Challenger allegedly driven by a woman who never entered the restaurant. According to Fox News, he could potentially face charges of theft of property and trespassing.

Earlier this year another enraged Taco Bell customer made headlines when he fired his gun out of a drive-thru window during a confrontation with an employee over taco sauce, KOCOreported.

Sgt. Gary Knight told the news outlet the "man was complaining about not getting enough sauce, or not getting any taco sauce and was very upset."

According to the report, the unidentified man pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and fired it through the drive-thru window before driving off. No one was injured but police were unable to apprehend the suspect.

Source: NewsMax America

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Amazon to close domestic marketplace business in China: sources

FILE PHOTO: File photo of Amazon.com's logo at Amazon Japan's office building in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO: Amazon.com's logo is seen at Amazon Japan's office building in Tokyo, Japan, August 8, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

April 17, 2019

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc plans to close its domestic marketplace business in China by mid-July, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, focusing efforts on its more lucrative businesses selling overseas goods and cloud services in the world’s most populous country.

Shoppers in China will no longer be able to buy goods from other third-party merchants in the country, but they still will be able to order from the United States, United Kingdom, Denmark and Japan via Amazon’s global store. Amazon expects to close fulfillment centers and wind down its support for domestic-selling merchants in China in the next 90 days, one of the people said. Consumers in China will still be able to purchase Kindle e-readers and online content, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin, Brenda Goh, Cate Cadell, Pei Li and Josh Horwitz; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Poland leader vows more social benefits ahead of elections

Poland's ruling party leader has pledged more social benefits for families with children as he opened the party's campaign ahead of key elections this year.

Speaking at a party convention Saturday, Jaroslaw Kaczynski announced upgrading the generous social program of his right-wing Law and Justice party, which is enjoying the highest social backing ever since it won power in 2015.

But opinion polls show the party could lose to a united opposition in European Parliament elections in May and to the national parliament in the fall.

Poland's most powerful politician, Kaczynski is also facing allegations of soliciting a bribe and unlawful participation in business negotiations.

He promised expanding family benefits to cover every child, abolishing tax for young employees and more payouts for retired people.

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei's factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province
FILE PHOTO: The Huawei logo is pictured outside its Huawei’s factory campus in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) – Britain must get to the bottom of the leak of confidential discussions during a top-level security meeting about the role of China’s Huawei Technologies in 5G network supply chains, British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday.

News that Britain’s National Security Council, attended by senior ministers and spy chiefs, had agreed on Tuesday to bar Huawei from all core parts of the country’s 5G network and restrict its access to non-core elements was leaked to a national newspaper.

The leak of secret discussions has sparked anger in parliament and amongst Britain’s intelligence community. Britain’s most senior civil servant Mark Sedwill has launched an inquiry and written to ministers who were at the meeting.

“My understanding from London (is) that an investigation has been announced into apparent leaks from the NSC meeting earlier this week,” said Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing.

“To my knowledge there has never been a leak from a National Security Council meeting before and therefore I think it is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened here,” he told Reuters in a pooled interview.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday he could not rule out a criminal investigation. The majority of the ministers at the NSC meeting have said they were not involved, according to media reports.

Hammond said he was unaware of any previous leak from a meeting of the NSC.

“It’s not about the substance of what was apparently leaked. It’s not earth-shattering information. But it is important that we protect the principle that nothing that goes on in national security council meetings must ever be repeated outside the room.”

Allowing Huawei a reduced role in building its 5G network puts Britain at odds with the United States which has told allies not to use its technology at all because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

There have been concerns that the NSC’s conclusion, which sources confirmed to Reuters, could upset other allies in the world’s leading intelligence-sharing network – the Five Eyes alliance of the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

However, British ministers and intelligence officials have said any final decision on 5G would not put critical national infrastructure at risk. Ciaran Martin, head of the cyber center of Britain’s main eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, played down any threat of a rift in the Five Eyes alliance.

(Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: OANN

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President Trump on Friday said “no money” was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, after reports that the U.S. received a $2 million hospital bill from Pyongyang for the late American prisoner’s care.

“No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terroist[sic] hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!” Trump tweeted Friday.

NORTH KOREA GAVE US $2M HOSPITAL BILL OVER CARE OF AMERICAN OTTO WARMBIER, SOURCES SAY

The Washington Post first reported that North Korean authorities insisted the U.S. envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier, 21, who was a student of the University of Virginia, sign a pledge to pay the bill before allowing Warmbier’s comatose body to return to the United States. Sources confirmed the bill and the amount to Fox News on Thursday.

Sources told the post that the envoy signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions from the president, but a source told Fox News that the U.S. did not ever pay money to North Korea.

The White House declined to comment when asked on the bill, with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders saying in a statement that: “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration.”

Meanwhile, the president added: “’President[sic] Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.’ Cheif[sic] Hostage Negotiator, USA!”

Warmbier was on tour in North Korea when he allegedly stole a propaganda sign from a hotel. He was arrested in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March 2016. Warmbier, for unknown reasons, fell into a coma while in custody and was held in that condition for an additional 17 months.

North Korean officials did not tell American officials until June 2017 that Warmbier had been unconscious the entire time. He died less than a week after he returned to the U.S. North Korean officials, though, have repeatedly denied accusations that Warmbier was tortured, instead claiming that he had suffered from botulism and then slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

AMERICAN PRISONERS HELD IN NORTH KOREA ON THEIR WAY HOME AFTER POMPEO VISIT, TRUMP SAYS

Fred and Cindy Warmbier sued North Korea over their son’s death and in December were awarded $501 million in damages – money that the Hermit Kingdom will probably never pay.

While the Warmbiers blamed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump has said he believes Kim’s claims that he did not know about the student’s treatment.

Trump and Kim have met in two separate summits. The most recent, held in February, ended without an agreement on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told Fox News: “Otto Warmbier was mistreated by North Korea in so many ways, including his wrongful conviction and harsh sentence, and the fact that for 16 months they refused to tell his family or our country about his dire condition they caused.  No, the United States owes them nothing. They owe the Warmbier family everything.”

Last year, the Trump administration was also able to save three American prisoners held by North Korea. Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim, and Kim Hak Song were all detained in North Korea. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brought the three Americans home last May, and said they were all in “good health.”

Fox News’ John Roberts, Rich Edson, Nicholas Kalman, and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon
Park Yoo-chun, a K-pop idol singer, arrives at the Suwon district court in Suwon, South Korea, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

April 26, 2019

SEOUL (Reuters) – K-pop and drama star Park Yu-chun was arrested on Friday on charges of buying and using illegal drugs, a court said, the latest in a series of scandals to hit the South Korean entertainment business.

Suwon District Court approved the arrest warrant for Park, 32, due to concerns over possible destruction of evidence and flight risk, a court spokesman told Reuters.

Park is suspected of having bought about 1.5 grams of methamphetamine with his former girlfriend earlier this year and using the drug around five times, an official at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said.

Park has denied wrongdoing, saying he had never taken drugs, and he again denied the charges in court, Yonhap news agency said.

Park’s contract with his management agency had been canceled and he would leave the entertainment industry, Park’s management agency, C-JeS Entertainment, said on Wednesday.

Park was a member of boyband TVXQ between 2003 and 2009 before leaving the group with two other members, forming the group JYJ.

A scandal involving sex tapes, prostitutes and secret chat about rape led at least four other K-pop stars to quit the industry earlier this year.

The cases sparked a nationwide drugs bust and investigations into tax evasion and police collusion at night clubs and other nightlife spots.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight taxis after landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington
FILE PHOTO: An American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 flight from Los Angeles taxis after landing at Reagan National Airport shortly after an announcement was made by the FAA that the planes were being grounded by the United States over safety issues in Washington, U.S. March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – American Airlines Group Inc cut its 2019 profit forecast on Friday, saying it expected to take a $350 million hit from the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX planes after cancelling 1,200 flights in the first quarter.

The company said it now expects its 2019 adjusted profit to be between $4.00 per share and $6.00 per share.

Analysts on average had expected 2019 earnings of $5.63 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

The No. 1 U.S. airline by passenger traffic said net income rose to $185 million, or 41 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $159 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier.

Total operating revenue rose 2 percent to $10.58 billion.

(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

April 26, 2019

By James Oliphant

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Reuters) – Four years ago, Donald Trump campaigned in small towns like Marshalltown, Iowa, vowing to restore economic prosperity to the U.S. heartland.

In his bid to replace Trump in the White House, Pete Buttigieg is taking a similar tack. The difference, he says, is that he can point to a model of success: South Bend, Indiana, the revitalized city where he has been mayor since 2012.

The Democratic presidential contender has vaulted to the congested field’s top tier in recent weeks, drawing media and donor attention for his youth, history-making status as the first openly gay major presidential candidate and a resume that includes military service in Afghanistan.

But Buttigieg’s main argument for his candidacy is that he is a turnaround artist in the mold of Trump, although the Democrat does not expressly invoke the comparison with the Republican president.

“I’m not going around saying we’ve fixed every problem we’ve got,” Buttigieg, 37, said after a house party with voters in Marshalltown. “But I’m proud of what we have done together, and I think it’s a very powerful story.”

Critics argue improving the fortunes of a Midwestern city of 100,000 people does not qualify Buttigieg, who has never held national office, for the presidency of a country of 330 million. Others say South Bend still has pockets of despair and that minorities, in particular, have failed to benefit from its growth.

Buttigieg has told crowds in Iowa and elsewhere that his experience in reviving a struggling Rust Belt community allows him to make a case to voters that other Democratic candidates cannot. That may give him the means to win back some of the disaffected Democratic voters who turned their backs on Hillary Clinton in 2016 to vote for Trump.

Watching Buttigieg at a union hall in Des Moines last week, Rick Ryan, 45, a member of the United Steelworkers, lamented how many of his fellow union workers voted for Trump. The president turned in the best performance by a Republican among union households since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Ryan said he hoped someone like Buttigieg could return them to the Democratic fold.

“He’s aware of the decline in the labor force in America, not just in Indiana or Des Moines or anywhere else,” Ryan said. “Jobs are going overseas. We need a find to way to bring that back.”

Randy Tucker, 56, of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said Trump appealed to union members “desperate for somebody to reach out to them, to help them, to listen to their voice.”

Buttigieg could do the same, he said. “In my heart right now, he’s No. 1.”

PAST VS. FUTURE

Buttigieg stresses a key difference in his and Trump’s approaches.

Trump, he tells crowds, is mired in the past, promising to rebuild the 20th century industrial economy. Buttigieg argues the pledge is misleading and unrealistic.

Buttigieg says his focus is on the future, and he often talks about what the country might look like decades from now.

“The only way that we can cultivate what makes America great is to look to the future and not be afraid of it,” Buttigieg said in Marshalltown.

Buttigieg knows his sexual preference may be a barrier to winning some blue-collar voters. But he notes that after he came out as gay in 2015, he won a second term as mayor with 80 percent of the vote in conservative Indiana.

Earlier this month, he announced his presidential bid at the hulking plant in South Bend that stopped making Studebaker autos more than 50 years ago. After lying dormant for decades, the building is being transformed into a high-tech hub after Buttigieg and other city leaders realized it would never again attract a large-scale industrial company.

“That building sat as a powerful reminder. We hoped we would get back that major employer that would fix our economy,” said Jeff Rea, president of the regional Chamber of Commerce.

Buttigieg is praised locally for spurring more than $100 million in downtown investment. During his two terms, unemployment has fallen to 4.1 percent from 11.8 percent.

But a study released in 2017 by the nonprofit group Prosperity Now said not all of the city’s residents had shared in its rebound. The median income for African-Americans remained half that of whites, while the unemployment rate for blacks was double.

Regina Williams-Preston, a city councilor running to replace Buttigieg as mayor, credits him for the revitalized downtown. But she said he had a “blind spot” when it came to focusing on troubled neighborhoods like the one she represents and only grew more engaged after community pressure.

“He understands it now,” she said. “The next step is figuring out how to open the doors of opportunity for everyone.”

‘ONE OF US’

Trump touts the fact that the United States added almost 300,000 manufacturing jobs last year as evidence he made good on his promise to restore the industrial sector. But that growth still left the country with fewer manufacturing jobs than in 2008.

The robust U.S. economy is likely the president’s greatest asset in his re-election bid, particularly in states he carried in 2016 such as Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He won Buttigieg’s home state by 19 points over Clinton in 2016.

Sean Bagniewski, chairman of the Democratic Party in Polk County, Iowa, said Buttigieg would be well positioned to compete with Trump in the Midwest.

“People love the fact that he’s a mayor,” said Bagniewski, who has not endorsed a candidate in the nominating contest. “If you can talk about a positive future, and if you actually have experience that can do it, that’s a compelling vision in Iowa.”

Nan Whaley, the mayor of Dayton, Ohio, which faces many of the same challenges as South Bend, agreed.

“He’s one of us,” Whaley said. “That helps.”

(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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