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Japan says US serviceman kills woman, self in Okinawa

A U.S. serviceman fatally stabbed a Japanese woman and then killed himself in Okinawa on Saturday, Japan's Foreign Ministry said, amid growing resentment about American troops in southwestern Japan.

U.S. Forces Japan said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) was working with local police to look into the deaths of a Navy sailor assigned to a Marine unit and an Okinawa resident. "This is an absolute tragedy and we are fully committed to supporting the investigation," it said in a statement, according to the reporting on the crime from The Associated Press.

WRECKAGE OF MISSING JAPAN'S F-35 FIGHTER JET FOUND, PILOT REMAINS MISSING

AP said Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeo Akiba telephoned U.S. Ambassador William Hagerty, asking for cooperation with both the inquiry and efforts to prevent a recurrence.

Although Okinawa makes up less than 1 percent of Japan's land space, AP said, it hosts about half of the 54,000 American troops stationed in Japan, and is home to 64 percent of the land used by U.S. bases in the country.

JAPANESE WOMAN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION TO STABBING DEATH OF US AIRMAN

People there have long complained about crime, noise and the destruction of the environment as a consequence of the military presence.

A plan to relocate a Marine Corps air station called Futenma to a less populated part of Okinawa has also been contentious, AP said, and Denny Tamaki, Okinawa's governor, is pushing to have the base moved off the island altogether.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Explainer: For Fed’s trillions in bonds, size isn’t all that matters

FILE PHOTO: United States one dollar bills get rotated before being cut into individual pieces during production at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington
FILE PHOTO: United States one dollar bills get rotated before being cut into individual pieces during production at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington November 14, 2014. REUTERS/Gary Cameron/File Photo

April 8, 2019

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Ann Saphir

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – President Donald Trump last week called on the U.S. Federal Reserve to start building up its war chest of bonds again. He may get his wish – though not for the reason he wants.

The U.S. president on Friday said the Fed should cut rates and pursue an unconventional monetary policy called “quantitative easing” that was used to nurse the economy after the global financial crisis. The technique used from 2008 to 2014 involved buying trillions of government-sponsored bonds.

“It should actually now be quantitative easing,” said Trump, who has blasted the Fed for raising interest rates.

The Fed has been reducing its bond hoard as it works toward normalizing monetary policy. But later this year, it will stop shrinking the stockpile, leaving it holding more than $3.5 trillion in securities.

Before long the Fed will be considering when to start building up its bond holdings again, policymakers have said. Their goal at that point may not be to stimulate the economy but to keep enough money in the banking system so they can manage rates.

The balance sheet used to be much smaller – well below $1 trillion before the crisis. But changes since then to how banks manage their capital, how the Fed sets short-term interest rates, and the sheer growth in global demand for dollars have made a bigger balance sheet a necessity, Fed policymakers say.

Policymakers’ decisions on what the balance sheet will look like will have far-reaching impacts on the market and the economy. And views at the Fed are split on what is the right way to go.

Here are some facts about the balance sheet:

WHAT IS THE FED’S BALANCE SHEET?

At its simplest, it’s an accounting of the Fed’s assets and liabilities. Assets include bonds the Fed bought once it had cut interest rates to zero and needed still more firepower to stabilize the economy after the 2008 global financial crisis.

The Fed’s liabilities include funds the Fed created to buy the bonds, many of which now sit in banks’ reserve accounts at the central bank. The liabilities also include paper money and deposits from the Treasury.

The Fed controls interest rates using its balance sheet. It does that in part by paying banks an interest rate on their reserves to influence other short-term borrowing rates.

For a graphic on The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, see – https://tmsnrt.rs/2ULcay0

WHY IS THE BALANCE SHEET CONTROVERSIAL?

Once upon a time the Fed’s balance sheet was much smaller and minor tweaks in holdings could move the Fed’s target rate.

Bond-buying “quantitative easing” changed that. The programs were aimed at pushing down long-term borrowing costs so businesses would boost investment and hiring. Critics said the policies raised inflation and financial instability risks.

In 2017, the Fed began to let its balance sheet shrink in an effort to put policy back on normal footing. That too drew criticism, with Trump and investors accusing the Fed of tightening policy too far.

In March the Fed announced the runoff would likely end by September. Policymakers say ending the runoff will help them keep enough reserves in the system so they can manage rates. They rarely describe the policy change as an effort to stop tightening policy.

Yet many Fed policymakers say they will likely need to resort to bond buying to battle future economic downturns because, with interest rates between 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent, they have little room to cut before they get to zero.

HOW IS THE FED PREPARING FOR RECESSION?

Four top Federal Reserve officials speaking since the March meeting suggested the central bank could hold more short-term bonds than it does now.

Doing so would shore up its ability to fight the next recession, they say, because it could easily trade in its short-term bonds for longer-term ones, putting downward pressure on borrowing costs without having to bulk up the balance sheet.

It’s an approach called a maturity extension program, or “Operation Twist,” and the Fed did it 2011.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren and his counterpart in Chicago, Charles Evans, gave speeches suggesting that approach is being considered.

Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker went further, saying there is a “general consensus” to do so.

But two policymakers also noted a downside: Ditching long-term bonds could tighten financial conditions. To offset that problem the Fed might have to lower interest rates. That would make it more likely that rates would hit zero and then force the Fed to do more quantitative easing later.

And one policymaker, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, suggested that buying short-term notes could look like the Fed was overtly supporting the U.S. government’s debt issuance. “I want to make sure everyone is clear about the political independence of the Fed,” he told Reuters in an interview. “My gut tells me, just buying across the curve is a more neutral stance, which makes me more comfortable.”

The Fed also wants to get back to a portfolio of mostly Treasuries, much like it had before buying mortgage securities after the crisis. But they have not decided if selling the securities makes sense.

“Clearly, much work is needed to decide on the portfolio … that will best help the Fed meet our … objectives,” Evans said recently. “I am open-minded on this question.”

For a graphic on The Fed’s Treasury holdings by maturity, see – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Hv6Iwd

WHEN WILL THE FED CONSIDER BUYING BONDS AGAIN?

A central bank that has spent the last 18 months cutting back the bonds it holds will have to consider when to start buying again.

Bank reserves will fall over time, for instance as financial institutions exchange reserves for currency. Since the Fed controls rates by paying interest on reserves it needs ample reserves in the system. It can create them and buy more bonds as it did after the financial crisis, Rosengren wrote. He said when such purchases will resume is a “significant issue going forward” for policymakers. They also have to decide how many bank reserves they need to control rates.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Ann Saphir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Source: OANN

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Malinvestment: Have We Learned Anything Since the Last Recession?

A growing number of economists are predicting the current economic boom will turn to bust in 2019.

When recession does come, will economists simply call for more of the same — namely endless government spending?

After all, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, most economists told us the problem was the private sector was not spending and investing enough. So, we were told, government must step in and make up the difference with deficit spending to get “idle resources” — like capital goods and labor — back to work.

But what should the government be spending on? Apparently, anything.

This is not an exaggeration. For example, noted Cal-Berkeley economist Brad DeLong insisted in 2009 “At this point, anything that boosts the government’s deficit over the next two years passes the benefit-cost test — anything at all.”

Such thinking reveals one of fatal flaws of mainstream economics: the idea that all the economy is one big homogeneous blob. As Friedrich Hayek put it, “Mr. Keynes’ aggregates conceal the most fundamental mechanisms of change.”

The Problem of Malinvestment

During the 2002-2007 housing boom, significant amounts of capital and labor were organized in very specific locations, combinations and uses at multiple stages of production to produce more houses to satisfy consumer demands. This meant more construction workers employed building homes in growing communities, and more mortgage brokers and investment bankers to finance the boom. It also meant more inputs such as wood, nails, concrete and glass directed toward homebuilding; which in turn required more lumber processing, steel production, and so on.

When the housing bubble burst, millions of these workers became unemployed, and significant portions of the structures of production that were expanded to support the bubble became idle as well. The bursting of the bubble then sent a ripple effect permeating through other sectors of the economy, creating yet more unemployed resources.

For the economy to recover, a major reallocation of these idle workers and resources needed to occur. Idle workers and capital goods needed to be reshuffled to those entrepreneurs ready and willing to employ them in an attempt to meet changing consumer demands.

But this process is not short nor easy. The unemployed workers have specific skills and experience, and many may need training to acquire new skills to meet the changing labor market. Some may be unwilling to move to take new opportunities. How is a laid off bricklayer supposed to find work in a market demanding graphic designers and coders?

The capital goods no longer being utilized likewise have specific uses, and often need specific complementary goods to fulfill their role in the production process. Some of them may end up being liquidated because no entrepreneurs have a need for them. There simply may be too many bulldozers and cement mixers needed given the now smaller, post-bubble construction industry.

Recession: A Process of Re-allocating Malinvested Resources

This process of reshuffling explains the strength and duration of the recession.

Keynesian-inspired economists and politicians, unfortunately, view the idle capital and labor only in the aggregate. Their grand “stimulus” plans involve nothing more nuanced than coaxing consumer spending and business investment into spending more money on anything, anytime, anywhere.

As economic historian Robert Higgs described , “If someone, whatever his skills, preferences, or location, is unemployed, then, in this framework of thought, we may expect to put him back to work by increasing aggregate demand, regardless of what we happen to spend the money for, whether it be cosmetics or computers.”

Simply force-feeding new money into the economy will be ineffective because it takes no account of the true reason why the resources are idle in the first place.

The billions of dollars worth of public works projects, for instance, will mostly draw from labor and capital actively engaged in the private sector and fail to employ idle resources. Say, for instance, Chicago receives millions to build a new road. Can anyone honestly say for certain that the road construction will only employ workers and other inputs sitting idle in the Chicago area due to the housing bust?

Unemployed bankers and carpenters won’t be of much help laying pavement. Rather, the road project will undoubtedly divert labor and machinery actively engaged in private sector projects in the region. In the end, fewer resources will be available for productive, private sector use because they are tied up in government stimulus projects.

Meanwhile, the majority of idle workers and equipment will continue to sit idle.

Moreover, billions of available funds in the capital investment markets will be tied up by government projects; further drying up private investment opportunities.

Government stimulus spending may also artificially inflate the prices of resources, pricing them out of reach for entrepreneurs needing low-priced inputs to attract their investment during uncertain recessionary conditions. The very resources needed to generate recovery will be unavailable, having been diverted to government projects.

The best policy is for government to get out of the way and allow the reallocation of resources to occur unhampered. Government spending can only distort and prolong this process, most likely producing harmful inflationary pressure on prices along the way.

Will next time be any different?



Top political cartoonist in the world, Ben Garrison, has been attacked by the left for being so effective in his support for liberty, capitalism and President Trump.

Source: InfoWars

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Marine veteran turned cop makes emotional final sign-off after 26 years on the force

A veteran of the U.S. Marines held back tears as he made an emotional final sign off after two decades with various Virginia police departments.

Robert Monk, who served in Operation Desert Storm, retired as a sergeant with the Bedford Police Department after 22 years of service. He previously worked for four years with the Bedford County Sheriff's Office, the Daily Mail reports.

His daughter Briana captured the emotional moment Robert made his final sign-off, as tributes from other officers poured in over his radio. His son Tyler also radioed in to speak to his father on his last shift, saying, "It's time to come home, pops."

Robert Monk enrolled in the U.S. Marine Corps straight out of high school, serving from April 1989 to April 1993, when he began his career with Bedford County law enforcement.

During the video from his final shift in November which has since gone viral, Monk spoke inspiring words to his fellow officers about the trials and tribulations of being a police officer, but ultimately, the reward of doing a service for the American people.

"We all got into this job with the idea that we might be able to save the world. You may not change the world but you may change somebody's world," he said.

SAILOR IN ICONIC WORLD WAR II KISSING PHOTO IN TIMES SQUARE DIES AT 95

"As I used to tell younger officers, people don't call the police to tell you what a wonderful day they are having. They call because they are having the worst day of their life and what you do in that moment they will remember the rest of their life," he continued.

"There were times when I had to respond to a friend's house or arrest people that I knew personally, and times like that are a challenge to say the least. But I see situations like that as an opportunity to help and be a positive influence for someone. I've even had one person approach me years later and thank me for arresting him.

ARMY SOLDIER RETURNS HOME, SURPRISES MOTHER AT SACRAMENTO KINGS GAME

"In short, having served in the community I live in was both challenging and rewarding," he said.

His daughter, in the caption of the video, reflected on her father's lifetime of service and what it meant for him to be retiring.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

"Your kids, your family, your work brothers, and the rest of the town are so proud of you for your service to say the least," she said.

Source: Fox News National

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UK’s May to meet Labour leader to try to break Brexit stalemate

British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in London
British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home in London, Britain, April 3, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

April 3, 2019

By William Schomberg and James Davey

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn on Wednesday to thrash out a Brexit compromise, a gamble that could finally see a European Union divorce deal agreed but also tear her party apart.

After her EU withdrawal deal was rejected three times by lawmakers, with parliament and her Conservative Party hopelessly divided over Brexit, May said on Tuesday she would reach out to Corbyn in a bid to break the impasse.

The United Kingdom was supposed to leave the EU last Friday, but three years after Britons backed leaving the bloc in a referendum, it is still unclear how, when or even if it will do so.

May has been unable to persuade a hardcore eurosceptic group of own lawmakers to back the divorce agreement she struck with the EU because they argued it did not provide a decisive break with Europe.

Her decision to seek another short delay to the current Brexit date of April 12 and turn instead for support from Labour, which wants to stay in a customs union with the EU, may make a “soft” Brexit more likely – one that keeps Britain’s economy closely aligned to the world’s biggest trading bloc.

Sterling rose on Wednesday over hopes for a “softer” Brexit, hitting its highest level since March 28.

“I personally think a customs union is highly undesirable,” Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told BBC radio.

“It is regrettable that what we have been saying for several months now is coming to pass, but that is the remorseless logic of not backing the prime minister’s deal.”

May’s decision to approach Corbyn, a veteran socialist deeply disliked by many Conservatives and mocked by May herself as unfit to govern, still leaves many questions unanswered.

She did not spell out how long a delay to Brexit she wanted, merely saying it should be “as short as possible and which ends when we pass a deal”. She has repeatedly said she did not want an extension which would see Britain having to take part in elections to the European Parliament on May 23.

European Council President Donald Tusk said the bloc should be patient with Britain as May tries to find a way forward but it was not certain how European leaders would view her request.

As it stands, Britain will still leave the EU on April 12 without a deal, something many Conservative lawmakers would like to happen but a scenario businesses fear could wreak chaos and cause huge economic damage.

A cross-party group of British lawmakers will try on Wednesday try to rush through legislation in parliament to make such an outcome impossible.

WHAT DOES LABOUR WANT?

Ahead of their talks, May and Corbyn said there would be no preconditions, but the leaders might well struggle to find a compromise position that can satisfy their own parties.

“This isn’t a blank cheque,” Barclay said.

The Conservatives have been divided over Europe for three decades, leading to the demise of three former prime ministers, David Cameron, John Major and Margaret Thatcher.

But Labour is far from united itself. Corbyn, who voted against joining the bloc in 1975, has previously set out a series of demands he wanted May to agree to before he would back her deal.

“Labour has put forward our proposals to ensure there is a customs union with the EU, access to vital markets and protections of our standards of consumer, environmental and workers’ rights,” he said on Tuesday.

However, many Labour supporters want the party to throw its weight behind a second referendum, while some Labour lawmakers, who represent areas that voted strongly to leave the EU, are fearful that they will be viewed as betraying such traditional voters if they do not strongly back Brexit.

IT’S A TRAP

“I thought momentarily last night May’s ‘offer’ might be genuine,” said one pro-EU Labour lawmaker Bradshaw.

“Having heard Barclay…it is clearly a trap designed to try to get May’s terrible deal through, which some people have fallen for, but Labour mustn’t,” he wrote on Twitter.

It is also unclear where May’s last-ditch attempt to get a Brexit deal through will ultimately leave her minority government.

She had already promised to step down if her withdrawal agreement was passed by parliament, although that failed to persuade all her lawmakers to back her, and her overture to Corbyn has alienated some Conservatives still further.

“She needs to take a long look in the mirror and for the good of our country, our democracy and the Conservative Party she needs to go now,” lawmaker Andrew Bridgen told Sky News.

The Democratic Unionist Party, the small Northern Irish party on whose support May relies on to govern, were also wary of her plans.

“It remains to be seen if sub-contracting out the future of Brexit to Jeremy Corbyn, someone whom the Conservatives have demonised for four years, will end happily,” the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said in a statement following May’s change of strategy.

(Additional reporting by Elisabeth O’Leary and David Milliken; Writing by Michael Holden; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: OANN

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Veteran US firefighter, an ‘American hero,’ identified as one of three Marines killed in Afghan bomb blast

One of the three U.S. service members who died this week following a suicide bombing in Afghanistan – each of whom officials revealed to Fox News on Tuesday were Marines – is a longtime New York City and volunteer firefighter known by his superiors for his “courage and conviction to serve his fellow Americans, both at home and abroad.”

Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman was identified Tuesday as one of those killed in yesterday’s Taliban-claimed attack near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. He is survived by his wife and three young daughters.

“Through this trying time, we will remember Chris for the father, husband, brother, son, and friend that he was, the moral character he displayed daily, and the courage and conviction to serve his fellow Americans, both at home and abroad,” Chief Oleg Pelekhaty of Landover, Maryland’s Kentland Volunteer Fire Department – where Slutman also served for 19 years – posted on Facebook.

“We ask for your thoughts and prayers for his firehouse brothers, his fellow Marines, his friends – but most of all, his family,” Pelekhaty added, noting that Slutman first joined the department in 2000 and rose through its ranks to become a captain and life member.

VIDEO: MOTHER OF NAVY SEAL KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN SHARES HER SON’S STORY

Christopher Slutman was hailed by his colleagues during his career with the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, left, and the New York City Fire Department, right. (Courtesy Kentland Volunteer Fire Department/FDNY)

Christopher Slutman was hailed by his colleagues during his career with the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department, left, and the New York City Fire Department, right. (Courtesy Kentland Volunteer Fire Department/FDNY)

During his 15-year career in New York City, Slutman was honored for bravery after pulling an unconscious woman out of a burning apartment in the Bronx borough, the FDNY said Tuesday in a statement obtained by Fox News.

“This unquestionably is an example of the measure of this man,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “Christopher Slutman is an American hero, a New York hero, and we mourn his loss today.”

Slutman is the 1,152nd member of the department to “make the Supreme Sacrifice in the line-of-duty,” the FDNY added, and the fourth to die while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan since U.S. military operations began there in 2003.

“Firefighter Slutman bravely wore two uniforms and committed his life to public service both as a New York City Firefighter and as a member of the United States Marine Corps,” added Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro.

Union president Gerard Fitzgerald also called Slutman a “distinguished firefighter who had a profound impact on both of his firehouses, Ladder Companies 27 and 17.”

“Together, all firefighters grieve the loss of our brother, Christopher, who dedicated his life to protecting the people of this city, and our nation,” the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York leader said.

The Kentland Volunteer Fire Department says Slutman rose through the ranks during his 19-year career "to become a Wagon Driver, Captain, but most of all – he was a fireman."

The Kentland Volunteer Fire Department says Slutman rose through the ranks during his 19-year career "to become a Wagon Driver, Captain, but most of all – he was a fireman." (Courtesy Kentland Volunteer Fire Department)

U.S. officials told Fox News on Tuesday that all three servicemembers who died in the attack and all three that were wounded were Marines. An Afghan contractor previously believed to have been killed in the same blast is actually alive, they added, and has been undergoing treatment at Bagram Airfield.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the suicide bombing Monday as a “disgusting terrorist act.

“U.S. service members have sacrificed their lives in Afghanistan to keep us safe and no cowardly act of terror will impede our efforts to achieve peace,” he said in a tweet.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The identities of the other two deceased Marines, as of midday Tuesday, have not yet been released.

There are an estimated 14,000 American troops currently serving in Afghanistan.

Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Amazon to crunch data for Chilean stargazers amid Latam push

FILE PHOTO: Amazon logo is pictured in Mexico City
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the web service Amazon is pictured in this June 8, 2017 illustration photo. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso/Illustration/File Photo

April 16, 2019

By Dave Sherwood

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Amazon Web Services, a unit of Amazon.com Inc, said it will help astronomers in Chile crunch huge troves of data using its cloud computing services, a symbolically important step for the retail-to-entertainment giant as it looks to expand in Latin America.

Amazon will store data and night-sky images gleaned from telescopes in Chile’s nearly cloudless Atacama desert, then offer researchers the tools to access them anywhere, said Jeffrey Kratz, General Manager for Public Sector Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Latin American, Caribbean and Canada.

“Chile has over 70 percent of telescopes researching … the night sky, yet 83 percent of the data they cannot keep because they don’t have the storage capacity at many of these sites,” Kratz told Reuters.

“They were frustrated because they weren’t able to maximize the amazing research that was going on.”

Amazon’s role as a founding member in the public-private research project, called the Chilean Data Observatory, gives it a key entry into a market where it is seeking to expand. Amazon – which controls nearly one-third of the global cloud computing business, ahead of rivals Microsoft Corp and Google – has until recently struggled to lure public institutions in Latin America to store their data online instead of on physical machines.

Chilean officials have previously told Reuters tools developed for the astrodata project would also be applicable for a wide variety of other uses, such as tracking potential shop-lifters, fare-evaders on public transport or spotting anomalies in banking or medical datasets.

Kratz said Amazon, which has invested “millions of dollars” in the project, would itself not have access to the data, which will remain encrypted. Access will be granted only to participants selected by the non-profit Chilean Data Observatory.

The deal also comes amid speculation about where in the region the tech giant will install its next data center, which would allow local firms and government to store information on the cloud. Chile and Argentina are both vying for Amazon’s investment.

Kratz said the company was constantly reevaluating its options for new investments but had no further announcements.

“We’re doing a lot of listening right now,” he said.

AWS is a lucrative and fast-growing part of Amazon’s overall business. The company said in January that fourth-quarter revenue for the unit had surged 45 percent to $7.43 billion.

(Reporting by Dave Sherwood, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

Source: OANN

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Logo of the Exxon Mobil Corp is seen at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference in Rio de Janeiro
FILE PHOTO: A logo of the Exxon Mobil Corp is seen at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil September 24, 2018. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp on Friday reported first-quarter profit fell sharply on lower oil and gas prices and weakness in its refining and chemicals businesses that offset modest production gains.

The largest U.S. oil producer’s first quarter earnings fell to $2.35 billion, or 55 cents a share, from $4.65 billion, or $1.09 a share, a year ago.

Analysts had expected Exxon to earn 70 cents per share, according to Refinitiv Eikon estimates.

Shares were trading down about 2.7 percent in premarket trading on Friday.

Exxon’s oil equivalent production rose 2 percent to 4 million barrels per day, up from 3.9 million bpd in the same period the year prior. The company said its output in the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. shale basin, rose 140 percent over a year ago.

(Reporting by Jennifer Hiller; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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A Baha’i advocacy group has expressed concerns over the fate of minority Baha’is at the hands of Yemen’s Houthi rebels ahead of the appeals hearing for one of the community leaders sentenced to death.

The Baha’i International Community said in a statement Friday that the hearing for Hamed bin Haydara, detained in 2013 and sentenced to death last year on espionage and apostasy charges, is due on Tuesday.

The statement quotes Bani Dugal, the Baha’i community representative at the United Nations, as saying the prosecution hasn’t addressed Haydara’s appeal but is instead making “absurd, wide-ranging accusations.”

International rights groups have decried the prosecution of Yemeni Baha’is by the Iran-backed Houthis.

Iran has banned the Baha’i religion, which was founded in 1844 by a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by followers.

Source: Fox News World

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during the inauguration of the newly-elected parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

April 26, 2019

By Rupam Jain and Hameed Farzad

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani encouraged newly-elected lawmakers to participate in the peace process with the Taliban as he opened on Friday the first session of parliament since a controversial election.

Ghani has invited thousands of politicians, religious scholars and rights activists to an assembly known as a loya jirga next week to discuss ways to end the 17-year war.

Several opposition leaders have said they will boycott the four-day assembly in Kabul, saying it was pulled together without their input and is being used by Ghani as he seeks a second term in a September presidential election.

“We have presented the peace plan on a regular basis and we are committed to it,” Ghani said in the first session since parliamentary elections marred by technical problems, militant attacks and accusations of voting fraud last year.

“Based on this plan, there will be no peace deal and negotiation that does not have the green card of the parliament,” he added.

Officials from the United States and the Taliban have held several rounds of talks to end the Afghan war.

U.S. negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, has reported some progress toward an accord on a U.S. troop withdrawal and on how the Taliban would prevent extremists from using Afghanistan to launch attacks as al Qaeda did on Sept. 11, 2001.

The insurgents have so far rejected U.S. demands for a ceasefire and talks on the country’s political future that would include Afghan government officials.

The loya jirga, a centuries-old institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups, is an attempt by Ghani to influence the peace talks and cement his position for a second term, Afghan politicians and Western diplomats say.

Amid growing political divisions in Kabul, opposition politicians have demanded that Ghani step down when his mandate ends next month, and give way to an interim government to oversee peace talks with the Taliban. Ghani has ruled that out.

The country’s top court said last week Ghani can stay in office until the presidential election in September.

(Reporting by Hameed Farzad, Rupam Jain, Editing by Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Thursday defended special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation while slamming former President Barack Obama’s administration for being slow to take action on Russian interference in U.S. elections and ex-FBI Director James Comey for telling Congress the agency was investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

“Our nation is safer, elections are more secure, and citizens are better informed about covert foreign influence schemes,” Rosenstein said in a speech to the Armenian Bar Association, marking his first public remarks after the Mueller report was released, reports CBS News.

He also pointed out that the investigation revealed a pattern of computer hacking and the use of social media to undermine elections as “only the tip of the iceberg of a comprehensive Russian strategy to influence elections, promote social discord, and undermine America, just like they do in many other countries,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration also made “critical decisions,” including choosing not to publicize the full story about Russian hackers and social media trolling, “and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” said Rosenstein.

He noted that the Mueller probe began after Comey disclosed during a hearing before Congress that President Donald Trump “pressured him to close the investigation and the president denied that the conversation occurred.”

Rosenstein said two years ago, when he was confirmed, he was told by a Republican senator that he would be in charge of the probe and that he’d report the results to the American people.

However, he said he didn’t promise to do that, because it is “not our job to render conclusive factual findings. We just decide whether it is appropriate to file criminal charges.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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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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