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Chinese smartphone firms jazz up products, seize turf in home market from Apple

FILE PHOTO: Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun attends a launch ceremony of the new flagship phone Xiaomi Mi 9 in Beijing
FILE PHOTO: Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun attends a launch ceremony of the new flagship phone Xiaomi Mi 9 in Beijing, China February 20, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

March 22, 2019

By Josh Horwitz

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Smartphone retailers in China say it’s a tough sell of late with consumers reluctant to upgrade, put off by chill economic winds.

Even so domestic brands led by Huawei have made big strides, wooing consumers with top-notch hardware and innovative features as they move upmarket in the $500-$800 price range. The result: a loss of share in a key segment for Apple Inc and fresh price cuts for iPhones by Chinese retailers.

“Of those people who are upgrading, there are many switching from Apple to Chinese brands but very few switching from Chinese brands to Apple,” said Jiang Ning, who manages a Xiaomi store in the northern province of Shandong.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Xiaomi Corp, Oppo and Vivo once sought to grab share in the world’s biggest smartphone market with value-for-money devices, but consumer demand for better phones has prompted strategic rethinks.

“People are more attached to their phone than ever and have higher expectations for the function and experience it offers. The response has been constant upgrading of hardware specs,” Alen Wu, global vice president at Oppo, told Reuters.

He Fan, CEO of Huishoubao which buys and resells used phones, said he has seen a consumer shift to Huawei from Apple, driven by the Chinese love of selfies and emphasis on camera quality. Huawei has had a tie-up with German camera maker Leica since 2016.

“Huawei’s cameras have become noticeably better than Apple’s in that they suit the tastes of Chinese consumers more,” he said.

Compared to dual-cameras common in most smartphones, Huawei’s P20 Pro device boasts three rear-facing cameras, with the additional one improving zoom capabilities.

It is one of several new devices in its P20 and Mate 20 lines, which helped Huawei’s share of the $500-$800 segment in China surge to 26.6 percent last year from 8.8 percent, data from research firm Counterpoint shows.

Apple, by contrast, saw its share of the segment tumble to 54.6 percent from 81.2 percent, also hurt by its decision to move even further upmarket with the iPhone X series.

“Most Chinese smartphone buyers are not ready to shell out beyond $1,000 for a phone,” said Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint. “This left a gap in the below-$800 segment, which Chinese vendors grabbed with both hands.”

(For a graphic on ‘Chinese smartphones increase share of home market’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2HvsyQi)

Shipments of phones priced above $600 in China grew 10 percent in 2018, data from research firm Canalys shows. By contrast, the overall market shrunk 14 percent, marking a second year of contraction.

OVERSEAS GAINS

The weaker cachet for Apple in China was underscored this month when several major retailers simultaneously cut iPhone prices for a second time this year.

A 64GB iPhone 8 sold at Suning.com Co Ltd now costs 3,899 yuan ($580), roughly 25 percent less than it did in December. That’s also lower than its $599 price tag in the United States, where iPhones typically cost less to buy than in China. Most iPhone models through to the iPhone 8 series have seen prices in China cut, albeit not equally.

In earnings too, it seems to be a tale of divergent fortunes. Apple’s October-December revenue from the Greater China region fell by about a quarter from a year earlier. Greater China currently accounts for 15.6 percent of its overall revenue.

Huawei, the world’s No. 2 smartphone maker, has estimated revenue for 2018 rose 21 percent, which analysts attribute in large part to robust smartphone sales.

More broadly, fewer sales for Apple means fewer customers for its App Store and media streaming services. The shift to higher-end phones by Chinese brands has also meant greater inroads in overseas markets.

Huawei’s shipments in Europe jumped 55 percent in the latest quarter and it now has 23.6 percent market share, according to Canalys. That’s not far behind Samsung Electronics and Apple which saw small declines in shipments.

OPPO, VIVO

If Huawei is taking the lion’s share of turf that Apple once had in China, Oppo and Vivo – brands owned by electronics hardware conglomerate BBK – are the newest threats.

In June, Vivo launched the Nex which starts from 3,898 yuan ($610) and in July, Oppo launched the Find X, priced at 4,999 yuan ($755).

The models mark the first time the brands have priced a phone above $600, a sharp departure from their roots selling $300-$500 models to young consumers in second-tier cities.

The devices came with features unavailable in the iPhone, including under-the-glass fingerprint sensors and “notchless” displays, both of which increase the size of usable screen.

Xiaomi too is going upmarket, announcing in January it would split off its low-budget Redmi range of phones into a sub-brand. In doing so, it is taking a leaf out of Huawei’s book which has for years sold cheaper devices under the Honor brand, helping differentiate its products.

Redmi will target international markets and e-commerce sales, while the flagship Xiaomi brand will target China and offline retail markets, company founder Lei Jun told reporters.

Last month, Xiaomi unveiled the Mi 9, its latest flagship device with a price tag of 2,999 yuan ($450). But the company also said it might be the last time a Xiaomi flagship phone would be priced under 3,000 yuan.

“Xiaomi’s flagship series phones were once always set at 1,999 yuan,” said Lei. “This was a contributing factor to our rise, but it also became an obstacle to our growth,” he said.

(For a graphic on ‘Chinese smartphones increase share of home market’ click https://tmsnrt.rs/2Hx2KD4)

(Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Additional reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco, Paul Sandle in Barcelona and the Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Edwina Gibbs)

Source: OANN

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Newly found letter from ISIS operatives offers more clues to Baghdadi being alive

The status of the most wanted man in the world remains unknown, but authorities are continuing to piece together clues indicating that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is at least alive.

Documents revealed this month by The Sunday Times showed that ISIS leadership had not only tasked members with “bringing in migrants” as a means to funnel finances and fighters from the crumpled “caliphate” in Syria into Europe and orchestrate attacks, but one letter in-particular among the document trove was specifically addressed to Baghdadi.

The December-dated letter, reportedly signed by six leaders, detailed the terrorist outfit’s blueprint for operations in the wake of lost territory – ranging from bank robberies to computer hacking to vehicle rammings. Another letter to Baghdadi late last year, signed by ISIS commander Abu Taher al-Tajiki, lays out an array of potential target sites for striking in Europe.

NEW ZEALAND NURSE HELD CAPTIVE BY ISIS GROUP IN SYRIA FOR 6 YEARS MAY BE ALIVE: REPORT

The letters underscore that not only is ISIS seemingly devoted to overseeing global attacks, but that its shadowy commander still pulls rank.

“The latest information is that he is still in the Syrian desert, and could not enter into the Iraqi side because of concerns about evading the security measures on the borders,” Sabah al Namaan, Baghdadi’s spokesperson for the counterterrorism agency, told Fox News late last month, stressing that finding the shadowy figure remains of critical importance due to the “symbolic significance” Baghdadi holds in governing the brutal terrorist outfit.

Hisham al Hashimi, a member of the National Reconciliation Commission and a researcher in extremism and terrorism affairs in Iraq, who advises Baghdad and several foreign governments on terrorist activity, said the latest security analysis has pinpointed Baghdadi in “three possible locations.” Two of those are in the arid Syrian wasteland – Tadmur or Homs desert – and the third is just over the border, on the Iraq side.

“All these locations are very wide and very large with around 200 square miles,” Hashimi noted. “He is a specialist at knowing how to survive, using different disguises and only with two people – his brother and his driver – with him.”

Smoke rises from the last besieged neighborhood in the village of Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province, Syria, March 18, 2019.

Smoke rises from the last besieged neighborhood in the village of Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province, Syria, March 18, 2019. (Reuters)

He also pointed out that the assumption was that Baghdadi was never in Baghouz, the final Syrian battle zone which fell last month, during the fight, but is believed to have “motivated” his fighters prior to the last showdown.

Baghdadi remains the world’s most wanted man, with the United States continuing to offer up to $25 million for information leading to his location. While most of his closest aides and confidantes have been slaughtered in the years of intense fighting, the leader is broadly believed to be alive, and still very much in the sights of U.S., SDF and Iraq elite forces.

ISIS BRIDE CLAIMS SHE’D BE MODEL CITIZEN IF SHE'S ALLOWED TO RETURN TO US: ‘I DIDN’T HATE AMERICA’

He is also believed to have survived a coup effort from within his own ranks in January when several senior fighters attempted to oust him by leading him from his hideout into a firefight with foreign fighters. But he was reportedly whisked away by his security.

The elusive terror chieftain, who is around 47 years old, has only ever made one known public appearance. That was in July 2014 when he surfaced at the historic al-Nuri mosque in Mosul to declare himself the “caliph” in the weeks after the group took control of Iraq’s second-largest city.

GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Since then, unproven claims of Baghdadi’s death have run the discourse from time to time.

“Until a body is found,” one high-ranking Iraqi intel chief said. “We believe is alive.”

Source: Fox News World

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Trump: We'll Have a Better Plan Than Obamacare

President Donald Trump is vowing to have a plan “far better than Obamacare” if the Supreme Court eventually sides with his administration and tosses out the Affordable Care Act.

“It’s a disaster for our people,” Trump said of the healthcare law, according to Politico. ”If the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare is out, we will have a plan that is far better than Obamacare.”

Trump gave no indication what the plan could look like, Politico noted.

The Justice Department is asking an appeals court to affirm a lower court’s ruling that the healthcare law is unconstitutional. The administration had initially argued that the courts should only strike down portions of the law.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. noted on Wednesday: “The Republicans here in the Senate tried over and over and over again to deal with repeal and replace. They couldn't – because they have no replacement (for Obamacare).”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Rep. Ro Khanna Endorses Sanders for President

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., announced he is endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for president.

Khanna’s announcement means Sanders is the first 2020 candidate to pick up an endorsement from a member of Congress outside their home state, Roll Call noted.

Khanna made the announcement on Twitter.

He wrote on Thursday: “I am excited to endorse @BernieSanders for our next President of the United States. Bernie has spent his career fighting for working people and standing up to corporations and special interests. He has the grassroots energy and the vision to inspire voters across America.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Khanna will serve as one of the national co-chairs for the Sanders’ campaign.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Saudi Arabia proposes extending oil output cut until year-end – Russian agencies

FILE PHOTO: General view of Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia
FILE PHOTO: General view of Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia May 21, 2018. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah/File Photo

March 12, 2019

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is proposing that a global deal to cut oil output be extended until the year-end, Russian news agencies TASS and Interfax reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified source close to OPEC.

TASS reported that Saudi Arabia favored the same or more relaxed production quotas under the deal.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Source: OANN

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Is Harvard Taking the Bench in the “Varsity Blues” Scandal?

Which seems more likely, that there was nothing at Harvard for the “Varsity Blues” investigators to find OR that the Harvard alums who are known to dominate the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston chose not to look there?

After all, the same list of schools has been repeated ad nauseam on the airwaves ever since news of the scandal broke: USC, UCLA, Yale, Wake Forest, Stanford, Georgetown University of San Diego, and the University of Texas at Austin. However, Harvard, which is arguably the most competitive and hardest university in the nation to get into, has been conspicuously absent without so much as an obviously-forged note bearing a lame excuse as to why.

When pondering this odd phenomenon, it might be worth remembering that in 2017-2018 a pair of stories surfaced about potential favoritism sparing Harvard from the DOJ’s wrath.

First, over at WND this reporter picked up on an ongoing drama where an anesthesiologist named Dr. Lisa Wollman at Harvard’s largest teaching hospital, Massachusetts General, blew the whistle on alleged “double booking” by orthopedic surgeons, who are said to have scheduled multiple surgeries at overlapping times and to have left trainees to close surgical incisions, unbeknownst to patients, while billing the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs full price for both operations. The scandal reportedly affected former Red Sox pitcher Bobby Jenks, who had surgery at Mass. General prior to ending his major-league career. The Boston U.S. attorney’s office had about 2 years to join Wollman’s suit on behalf of federal taxpayers, but multiple heads of that office, each with strong ties to Harvard, declined to do so.

Later, a newly-hired member of the Trump DOJ apparently uncovered that federal prosecutors had been leery of pressing a civil rights suit against Harvard regarding alleged discrimination against Asian applicants. That case was brought by private plaintiffs, Students For Fair Admissions, Inc., and a ruling by U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs, rather than a jury, is expected within the next few months. There is no clear consensus on who is expected to prevail, but both sides are expected to appeal.

And then there’s Justina Pelletier. She and her family have sued Harvard’s primary pediatric research and teaching facility, Boston Children’s Hospital, for medical malpractice and civil rights violations (which many people consider to have been torture). On top of the Pelletier family’s claims under the U.S. Constitution, an unspecified but large amount of federal Medicaid money was reportedly involved, yet once again, the DOJ has declined to take a Harvard entity to federal court.

Thus, though it’s entirely possible that Harvard was uninvolved in this latest scandal, this apparent pattern of behavior in the DOJ nonetheless raises critical questions regarding the “Varsity Blues” investigation and why Harvard – whose school color is crimson red by the way – hasn’t been named.

Like, did “Varsity Blues” investigators look into America’s “most elite” university? And, as the other schools which have thus far been named reel from the fallout, was reputation-obsessed Harvard given special treatment and spared from the headlines? Further, are cheaters safe from law enforcement so long as they cheat their family’s way into Harvard?

These are good questions for Andrew Lelling, who is the current top federal prosecutor in Boston. Now, Lelling went to Binghamton University and the University of Pennsylvania. However, the rest of his office is still dominated by Harvard grads and Lelling has only held the top post for about 15 months. So, it’s likely that the “Varsity Blues” investigation actually began and took shape under his predecessors.

For instance, in the year or so before Lelling took over, then-acting-U.S.-Attorney William Weinreb was in charge of federal prosecutors in the Bay State, which on top of Harvard has more colleges and university students per capita (7.32%) than any other large metropolitan city (one million+ people) in the country except Los Angeles, which leads with an additional 0.02%. And it would be hard to find more of a “Harvard man” than Weinreb, who graduated from Harvard Law School.

In fact, Weinreb was the editor and treasurer of the Harvard Law Review, as well as college chums with soon-to-be-former-Deputy-AG Rod Rosenstein during their glory days in Cambridge, MA. Then Weinreb cut a $1,000 check and maxed out his personal donation limit to the political campaigns of his fellow Harvard folks, Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama, respectively, before his predecessor, Carmen Ortiz, officially handed him the reigns in January 2017.

During her time in power, former U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz was a lightning rod of controversy and criticism, but not for going after Harvard. She had been recommended for the top law enforcement job in Boston by Ted Kennedy – of the Harvard Kennedy School Kennedys.

Ortiz also mentored under longtime Harvard Law professor Philip Heymann, whose son, former Harvard lecturer Stephen Heymann, occupied the sought-after likely-stepping-stone post of cybercrime division chief under her.

Perhaps it’s no surprise then, that after Ortiz left office, Harvard was one of the first places where she reportedly explored career opportunities. However, in what may have been a well-deserved cosmic irony, the Ivy League university didn’t hire her. It appears that despite her significant efforts, Ortiz had still ruffled too many sensitive feathers on campus and like so many before her, she apparently had to settle for her safety school, Boston College, before taking a job at a small local law firm.

The FreeMartyG team inquired with a top Justice Department official in Washington DC, asking whether the DOJ’s leadership had any concerns that Harvard might have experienced preferential treatment during the “Varsity Blues” investigation, not all that unlike some of the students who now find their admission to other top universities in question. U.S. Department of Justice Spokesperson Kelly Laco declined to comment.

Anyone with further information is encouraged to contact the FreeMartyG team on Facebook or Twitter.

The author, Marty Gottesfeld, is an Obama-era political prisoner. To learn more about his case or donate to support him, please go to FreeMartyG.com.

Source: InfoWars

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BOJ signals readiness to combine steps if more stimulus needed

FILE PHOTO: A security guard walks past in front of the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
FILE PHOTO: A security guard walks past in front of the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo, Japan January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato

April 23, 2019

By Leika Kihara

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan is ready to ramp up stimulus, including through a combination of various steps, if the economy loses momentum for hitting its 2 percent inflation target, a senior central bank official said on Tuesday.

Eiji Maeda, the BOJ’s executive director overseeing monetary policy, added that any further step must take into account the impact it has not just on the economy but on the banking system.

“If the economy’s momentum for achieving our price target is threatened, we are ready to ease monetary policy as necessary,” Maeda told parliament.

The BOJ has various means available to ease, such as cutting interest rates, boosting asset purchases and accelerating the pace of money printing, he said.

“The BOJ has actively taken various unconventional steps. We’ll continue to take steps as needed, including a combination of them, with an eye on their effects and side-effects,” Maeda said.

At a two-day rate review ending on Thursday, the BOJ is widely expected to keep monetary policy steady even as its latest prediction will likely show inflation missing its target through the fiscal year that ends in March 2022.

The BOJ is in a bind. Years of heavy money printing have failed to fire up inflation to its 2 percent target and left it with little ammunition to fight the next recession.

Prolonged easing has also added to pains for regional banks, already facing slumping profits due to an ageing population and an exodus of borrowers to big cities.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chris Gallagher & Kim Coghill)

Source: OANN

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Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond looks on during an interview with Reuters at the British Ambassador's residence in Beijing
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond looks on during an interview with Reuters at the British Ambassador’s residence in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool

April 26, 2019

BEIJING (Reuters) – British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday that he had a “very constructive meeting” with his counterpart in the opposition Labour Party before leaving for Beijing and that he was optimistic about finding common ground.

Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing, said talks with Labour aimed at finding a way forward on Brexit had not stalled.

“I’m optimistic that we will find common ground,” he said. “Both sides have got clear positions and both sides will have to compromise in order to reach an agreement.”

Hammond added that he absolutely did not favor a no deal exit from the European Union.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta
Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta, Cyprus, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Stefanos Kouratzis

April 26, 2019

NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cypriot police searched on Friday for more victims of a suspected serial killer, in a case which has shocked the Mediterranean island and exposed the authorities to charges of “criminal indifference” because the dead women were foreigners.

The main opposition party, the left-wing AKEL, called for the resignation of Cyprus’s justice minister and police chief.

Police were combing three different locations west of the capital Nicosia for victims of the suspected killer, a 35-year-old army officer who has been in detention for a week.

The bodies of three women, including two thought to be from the Philippines, have been recovered. Police sources said the suspect had indicated the location of the third body, found on Thursday, and had said the person was “either Indian or Nepali”.

Police said they were searching for a further four people, including two children, based on the suspect’s testimony.

“These women came here to earn a living, to help their families. They lived away from their families. And the earth swallowed them, nobody was interested,” AKEL lawmaker Irene Charalambides told Reuters.

“This killer will be judged by the court but the other big question is the criminal indifference shown by the others when the reports first surfaced. I believe, as does my party, that the justice minister and the police chief should resign. They are irrevocably exposed.”

Police have said they will investigate any perceived shortcomings in their handling of the case.

One person who did attempt to alert the authorities over the disappearances, a 70-year-old Cypriot citizen, said his motives were questioned by police.

The bodies of the two Filipino women reported missing in May and August 2018 were found in an abandoned mine shaft this month. Police discovered the body of the third woman at an army firing range about 14 km (9 miles) from the mine shaft.

Police are now searching for the six-year-old daughter of the first victim found, a Romanian mother who disappeared with her eight-year-old child in 2016, and a woman from the Phillipines who vanished in Dec. 2017.

The suspect has not been publicly named, in line with Cypriot legal practice.

A public vigil for the missing was planned later on Friday.

(Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard
FILE PHOTO: An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard, Britain December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson

April 26, 2019

LONDON, April 26 – British factories stockpiled raw materials and goods ahead of Brexit at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s, and they were increasingly downbeat about their prospects, a survey showed on Friday.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly survey of the manufacturing industry showed expectations for export orders in the next three months fell to their lowest level since mid-2009, when Britain was reeling from the global financial crisis.

The record pace of stockpiling recorded by the CBI was mirrored by the closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index published earlier this month.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

Source: OANN

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo

April 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.

The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.

Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.

But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.

Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.

High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.

It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.

Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.

“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.

The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.

Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.

Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.

Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.

Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.

This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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The German share price index DAX graph at the stock exchange in Frankfurt
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Staff

April 26, 2019

By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh

(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Friday after losses in heavyweight banks and Glencore outweighed gains in healthcare and auto stocks, while investors remained on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data for the first quarter.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent by 0935 GMT, eyeing a modest loss at the end of a holiday-shortened week. Banks-heavy Italian and Spanish indices were laggards.

The banking index fell for a fourth day, at the end of a heavy earnings week for lenders.

Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after posting lower first quarter profit, hurt by intensifying competition and Brexit uncertainty, while its investment bank also registered poor returns.

Weakness in investment banking also dented Deutsche Bank’s quarterly trading revenue and sent its shares lower a day after the German bank abandoned merger talks with smaller rival Commerzbank.

“The current interest rate environment makes it challenging for banks to make proper earnings because of their intermediary function,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist eurozone, at Rabobank.

Since the start of April, all country indexes were on pace to rise between 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, their fourth month of gains, while Germany was strongly outperforming with 6 percent growth.

“For now the current sentiment is very cautious as markets wait for the first estimates of the U.S. GDP growth which could see a surprise,” Mevissen said.

U.S. economic data for the first-quarter is due at 1230 GMT. Growth worries outside the United States resurfaced this week after South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted at the start of the year and weak German business sentiment data for April also disappointed.

Among the biggest drags on the benchmark index in Europe were the basic resources sector and the oil and gas sector, weighed down by Britain’s Glencore and France’s Total, respectively.

Glencore dropped after reports that U.S authorities were investigating whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the commodity exchange act.

Energy major Total said its net profit for the first three months of the year fell compared with a year ago due to volatile oil prices and debt costs.

Chip stocks in the region including Siltronic, Ams and STMicroelectronics lost more than 1 percent after Intel Corp reduced its full-year revenue forecast, adding to concerns that an industry-wide slowdown could persist until the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, healthcare, which is also seen as a defensive sector, was a bright spot. It was helped by French drugmaker Sanofi after it returned to growth with higher profits and revenues for the first-quarter.

Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES led media stocks higher after it maintained its full-year outlook on the back of the company’s Networks division.

Automakers in the region rose 0.4 percent, led by Valeo’s 6 percent jump as the French parts maker said its performance would improve in the second half of the year.

Continental AG advanced after it backed its outlook for the year despite reporting a fall in first-quarter earnings.

Renault rose more than 3 percent as it clung to full-year targets and pursues merger talks with its Japanese partner Nissan.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones and Elaine Hardcastle)

Source: OANN

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