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North Korean sham election had 99.99 percent turnout, state media says

North Korea’s state media claims the turnout in the country’s recent rubber-stamp election was 99.99 percent – up from 99.97 percent last time in 2014 – and said it would have been 100 percent if not for the citizens currently abroad.

Millions of North Korean voters went to the polling booths on Sunday to accept a new lineup of roughly 700 members for the next session of the national legislature, the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA).

The so-called voters had to pick from just one state-sanctioned candidate per seat and were able to cast their ballots only to show their support for the candidate rather than actually select a winner.

On the day of the election, in the fashion of totalitarian communist states, the turnout was reported just above 99 percent.

US SEEKS ACCESS TO INSPECT REBUILT NORTH KOREAN MISSILE LAUNCH-SITE

Yet North Korea things took a step further and declared on Tuesday that not only was turnout 99.99 percent, but it would have achieved total participation of the country if not for those North Koreans “abroad or working in oceans” who weren’t able to cast a ballot, AFP reported, citing North Korea's official KCNA news agency.

As expected, every single vote cast in the election – just like in the 2014 election – was said to be in support of the named candidates.

“All the electors participated as one in the election to cement our people's power as firm as a rock,” the state media report said.

“All the electors participated as one in the election to cement our people's power as firm as a rock.”

— North Korea's official KCNA news agency

“One hundred percent of them cast their ballots for the candidates for deputies to the SPA registered in relevant constituencies,” it added.

NORTH KOREA AIRS DOCUMENTARY GLORIFYING KIM-TRUMP SUMMIT -- BUT FAILS TO MENTION TALKS COLLAPSED

The election did have one surprise – unlike in previous years, the country’s leader Kim Jong Un didn’t appear on the ballot, raising questions what the regime is trying to symbolize, AFP reported.

People line up to vote during the election at a polling station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sunday, March 10, 2019. Millions of North Korean voters, including leader Kim Jong Un, are going to the polls to elect roughly 700 members to the national legislature. In typical North Korean style, voters are presented with just one state-sanctioned candidate per district and they cast ballots to show their approval or, very rarely, disapproval.

People line up to vote during the election at a polling station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sunday, March 10, 2019. Millions of North Korean voters, including leader Kim Jong Un, are going to the polls to elect roughly 700 members to the national legislature. In typical North Korean style, voters are presented with just one state-sanctioned candidate per district and they cast ballots to show their approval or, very rarely, disapproval. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Experts say that this doesn’t mean that the leader is losing his influence within the regime and it’s more likely that that Kim, who already holds multiple top positions in the country, may want to portray his country as more democratic and not take a seat at SPA.

The ruling party’s official daily also affirmed the control of Kim, saying: “The election will strikingly manifest the fixed will of our people to firmly trust and uphold to the last Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un despite storm and stress.”

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“All the people have to fully display through the election the invincibility and might of the DPRK advancing by dint of the single-minded unity.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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The Reasons Behind The Relentless Ideological Onslaught Against Free Markets

I sometimes think that the free market concept is treated like The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’s Quasimodo in the long novel of global economic history.

It is considered ugly and undesirable by most people who judge it at a mere glance without bothering to understand it. It is a bogeyman; a scapegoat for numerous societal problems that it has nothing to do with. In reality, the only time free markets do cause trouble is when they are manipulated or misused by elitists seeking to turn them into something other than free markets. And, even when free markets display their great value and internal beauty, many still prefer other systems that are intrinsically corrupt but flashier on the surface.

There are many reasons behind this persistent attitude. However, they are not coincidental or natural. Human beings actually tend to gravitate toward free markets over and over again in history, and away from centralized government interference and dominance in economic trade. But whenever they do, they get hammered down by the-powers-that-be. In our modern era, establishment elites have chosen to be more subtle (for now) and dissuade people from free markets through disinformation and propaganda.

To break it all down to a simple observation – Whenever disaster strikes economically, free markets are blamed. Whenever something is fixed, even if that fix is a temporary band-aid on a sucking chest wound, government involvement and socialism are applauded.And so the cycle continues until free markets become a pariah with no place in our world and centralization becomes the prevailing answer to everything.

Free market trade is ever present at a local level and always has been. But, those who favor globalism are hell-bent on putting an end to any and all private unregulated commerce forever.


From Sex Cults to public groping, the top levels of the US Government are infested with creeps and perverts. Tom Pappert breaks down how their deviancy runs deeper than you imagine.

Before the increased lockdown in the 20th century, domestic trade in the U.S. was loosely regulated, if at all. The income tax didn’t exist, except for a trial run during the Civil War which was eventually repealed. There was no permanent central bank managed by unaccountable elites arbitrarily dictating interest rates or inflating the economy through asset purchases. Businesses were formed around partnerships which were limited in their scope, and while government grants and aid were afforded to some of these partnerships (as during the construction of the transcontinental railroad), these grants or bonds had an expiration date set for the moment the job was completed. At that point, the partnerships were dissolved and the company heads were expected to pay back the government on the grants given.

This is not to say that corruption in business did not exist pre-20th century; it certainly did. And in most cases this corruption was fueled by collusion between business moguls and government officials. Without the aid of government (the opposite of free markets) such criminal companies and monopolies cannot exist.

The suppression of free markets began in the aftermath of the Civil War and the passage of the 14th Amendment, which was intended to protect the citizenship rights of former slaves, but was instead used as a legal loophole by the elite to establish what we now know as “corporations”.

Corporations are defined by their corporate charter, which is granted by the government, as well as their “corporate personhood” derived from the exploitation of the 14th Amendment. Corporate personhood allowed for limited liability as well as many other government protections. Unlike partnerships, leaders of corporations cannot in many cases be prosecuted criminally and their personal assets are protected if those crimes were executed by “the company”.  There are exceptions in history, but how often do you see corporate CEO’s prosecuted and suffer anything more than a slap on the wrist?

The company can be sued as a “legal person” in civil court, or fined by the government, but in general CEO’s and major shareholders are protected from any consequences, even if they were directly involved in the commission of a crime.

This relationship between government and corporations has become so egregious that today these monopolies receive special legal protections and immunity from some civil lawsuits, aid in the form of taxpayer funded welfare, massive tax cuts which smaller businesses and less connected corporations do not enjoy, and even central bank bailouts which keep them afloat. Major corporations are not allowed to fail, and no one is allowed to compete with them on a level playing field.

This is the exact antithesis to free markets. This is socialism. Yet many socialists point the finger at free market “capitalism” as the source of all our economic problems. This is impossible, because free markets on a level any higher than local trade do not exist today and have not existed for at least a century.

Another often misrepresented part of the free market mythos is that free markets are amoral creations that must be allowed to evolve without any oversight or conscience. This claim is sometimes made by a subset of people who say they are free market activists, but do not understand free markets in the slightest.

A soulless economic model is not what “Wealth of Nations” writer Adam Smith originally envisioned. Smith was a staunch advocate of an inherent moral compass as a guide for society. He was also highly distrustful of elitist philosophy, and saw it as a control mechanism designed to convince the public that their everyday experiences and instinctual judgments were “inadequate”; meaning, people should set aside their voice of conscience and let the system tell them what they should think and do.

What Smith asserted was that while people often act in their own best interest, they will generally do so while still adhering to a universal moral compass. They will seek success through hard work and endeavor (as they should be allowed to do), but the notion that people will naturally destroy everything and everyone around them in the process unless they are heavily governed is a propaganda argument with no basis in reality. This claim persists today and is still the primary argument used against freedom in trade.

There is a group of people that do behave in a destructive way automatically or instinctually when engaging in commerce without regulation, and these people have become a fascination of mine. They are narcissistic sociopaths; the defining characteristic of most financial and political elites.

I have outlined the facts surrounding narcissistic sociopaths in numerous articles, and I recommend readers study these for greater details. To summarize, full blown narcissistic sociopathy is a psychological aberration present in around 1% of any given population from birth. That is to say, in most cases these people are not created by their environment. Many of them come from very balanced and sheltered childhoods. They are born the way they are.

Narcissistic sociopaths are a tiny portion of the population, but lacking any sense of empathy or conscience, they account for a vast percentage of all crimes committed in society. They also gravitate to positions of power and influence from the business world to politics.

Most of the criticisms of Smith’s model for free markets revolve around the crimes of corporations (which are anti-free market) as well as the immoral behavior of narcissistic sociopaths. When one applies the free market idea to normal people, it works. When one applies it to narcissistic sociopaths, it doesn’t. My question is this – Is the best solution to remove free markets for everyone? Or, is the best solution to remove narcissistic sociopaths from positions of power and influence within free markets?

Establishment elites want us to believe that the former solution is the only solution, and with good reason. All centralization starts with economic centralization. Trade is the lifeblood of civilization, and if you can control the mechanisms of trade, you can potentially control an entire nation, or even the entire world. Free markets are a cure for the cancer of corporatism and socialism, and all they require is that people start participating in commerce without the consent or oversight of government. This is a difficult thing to stop when it gets started.

This is why the establishment is so obsessed with converting to a cashless society in which every transaction no matter how small is tracked and vetted. This is why governments are enacting harsher and harsher penalties for anyone doing business without their explicit approval. This is why government taxation and regulation is making small business ventures more difficult. And, it is why law enforcement officers are being encouraged by bureaucrats to write tickets punishing children selling lemonade on street corners. We are being conditioned to avoid attempting free market trade.

The final and most prolific attack on free markets is the use of the “greater enemy” and the “greater good” as props to undermine positive views of free markets. For example, a common argument against free markets relies on the idea that if people are allowed to pursue commerce unregulated, they would devour the Earth’s resources and destroy it in the process. While we have already seen some of the environmental damage done by the corporatocracy and the sociopathic people that control it, most of these crimes go unpunished despite considerable regulation.

How long have companies like Monsanto operated with impunity under the protection of government? Only recently in civil courts has this company finally had to pay for some of its crimes. But will a single Monsanto CEO or major shareholder go to jail for poisoning the ecosystem or giving people cancer? I doubt it.

The claim of the socialists and environmentalists that more government will save us from bad corporate practices is observably not true. Government and corporations work together to protect their fellow narcissistic sociopaths. More government means more corporate and elitist power. There is not a socialist nation on the planet that has not suffered this outcome.

I agree with Adam Smith in the idea that normal citizens will act to pursue success, but also to pursue balance. When given the opportunity to actually function within a true free market, most people are not going to destroy their surrounding environment and resources in some mad dash for gain. Why? Because it is in their self-interest not to. They know that if they abuse the structures around them they will lose their source of commerce. They know that if they ruin the system for others they will be shunned in business. They also know that if they fail in such a spectacular manner and commit criminal sabotage of the free market system they will have to suffer the regret and shame that will follow.

The only factor that this does not apply to are the elites themselves; the narcissistic sociopaths devoid of conscience with whom we now contend for our freedoms. I would suggest that Smith’s free markets, unshackled from centralization and government interference, would function almost perfectly if these people were cut from the equation entirely.

Source: InfoWars

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NFL notebook: Colts reportedly sign LB Houston

FILE PHOTO: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick prepares to take the field before an NFL game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara
FILE PHOTO: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick prepares to take the field before an NFL game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, U.S. October 23, 2016. Picture taken October 23, 2016. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

March 22, 2019

The Indianapolis Colts have signed former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston to a two-year, $24 million contract, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Thursday.

Houston registered 78 1/2 sacks in 102 games with the Chiefs from 2011-18, including a league-high 22 sacks in 2014.

The Chiefs released the 30-year-old pass rusher earlier this month when they could not find a trading partner. The four-time Pro Bowl selection had been due $15.25 million in base salary in 2019.

Colts general manager Chris Ballard knows Houston from his time in Kansas City, where he served as director of player personnel (2013-14) and director of football operations (2015-16).

–Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid will share less than $10 million in the settlement of their collusion case against the NFL, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The settlement was announced last month, but financial terms were withheld due to a confidentiality agreement.

Kaepernick, the former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, opted out of his contract in March 2017 to pursue free agency. But when he found no takers, he filed a grievance against the league seven months later. Reid, the former 49ers safety who was the first player to join Kaepernick in 2016 by kneeling in protest during the national anthem, filed his own collusion case against the NFL in May 2018, and the grievances were later combined into a joint case.

–The Ravens have reached a two-year agreement to keep quarterback Robert Griffin III in Baltimore, pending the results of a physical. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 29-year-old former Rookie of the Year will continue his role as a backup and mentor to Lamar Jackson. Griffin played in three games for the Ravens in 2018 and completed 2 of 6 passes for 21 yards.

–The Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys will play a preseason game this summer in Hawaii.

The defending NFC West and NFC East champions will meet Aug. 17 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. It will be the second preseason game for both teams and the first NFL exhibition game played in Hawaii since 1976, when the San Francisco 49ers played the then-San Diego Chargers.

–Restricted free agent cornerback Darqueze Dennard re-signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, reportedly rejecting offers from the Chiefs and other teams, per NFL Network.

A first-round pick in 2014 out of Michigan State, the 27-year-old Dennard has played in 68 games (19 starts) and registered 227 tackles, three interceptions and three sacks.

–Free agent tight end Jared Cook is close to a contract agreement with the New Orleans Saints, NFL Network reported.

Cook turns 32 next month but has been productive in stints with the Oakland Raiders, Green Bay Packers, then-St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans. He had 68 receptions for 896 yards and six touchdowns with the Raiders in 2018.

–Defensive end Vinny Curry is returning to the Philadelphia Eagles, agreeing to a deal after playing one season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Curry, 30, was released by the Bucs in March in a move that cleared $8 million in 2019 cap space. He won a Super Bowl with the Eagles two years ago and adds depth to a defensive line that has lost Michael Bennett and Haloti Ngata.

–New Orleans Saints wide receiver Cameron Meredith agreed to a pay cut that saves the team $2.3 million in cap space for the upcoming season. His cap hit is now $4.15 million, down from $6.45 million.

A knee injury limited Meredith, 26, to just six games in the 2018 season. He caught nine passes for 114 yards and a touchdown last season. He has 86 catches and five touchdowns in his three-year career.

–The Arizona Cardinals reached a two-year deal with defensive lineman Darius Philon, the NFL Network reported. The deal is worth $10 million — $12 million with incentives — with $5 million guaranteed, according to the report.

Philon, 25, played in all 16 games with the Chargers last season, starting 13. He recorded four sacks, 33 tackles and a forced fumble.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Asia shares steady after Fed minutes, Aussie rallies

Visitors look at a stock quotation board at Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo
Visitors look at a stock quotation board at Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo Japan, October 11, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo

February 21, 2019

By Daniel Leussink

TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian shares held near 4-1/2-month highs on Thursday after U.S. Federal Reserve minutes affirmed it would be “patient” on interest rate rises and risk assets got a lift from hopes of further progress in U.S.-China trade talks.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were steady in early trade, hovering just off their highest since early October.

Australian shares gave up early gains, last trading 0.1 percent lower, but the Australian dollar rallied in the wake of strong full-time jobs figure.

Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.3 percent after closing at a two-month high during the previous session.

Investors eyed signs of progress in the latest round of trade negotiations between the United States and China, amid expectations that U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping next month to strike a deal.

Trump said on Tuesday that trade negotiations were going well and suggested he was open to pushing off the deadline to complete negotiations, saying March 1 was not a “magical” date.

“We’ll see the Asian market start on the front foot, but we’ll need another catalyst, another driver, to take us to strong moves to the top side,” said Nick Twidale, chief operating officer at Rakuten Securities Australia in Sydney.

“We’ve got the Fed Minutes out of the way. They were a big event risk for a lot of (participants in) the market. They’ve come in largely in expectation with what the market was thinking.”

On Wall Street, all three major U.S. equity indexes ended in positive territory on Wednesday after minutes from the Fed’s Jan. 29-30 meeting indicated policymakers see little risk to leaving rates alone, for now.

“The bar to restarting rate hikes in the near term seems to be quite high, with several participants arguing that rate increases would be necessary “only if inflation outcomes were higher than in (the) baseline outlook”, Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.

“The upshot is we now expect the Fed to leave rates unchanged throughout this year, before a further deterioration in economic growth forces it to cut rates by a total of 75 basis points in 2020,” he said.

The Fed signaled it will soon lay out a plan to stop letting go of $4 trillion in bonds and other assets, though policymakers are still debating how long their newly adopted “patient” stance on U.S. rates policy will last.

AUSSIE JUMPS, EURO STEADY

In the currency market, the Australian dollar was in the spotlight after Australia added more full-time employment in January as expected.

The Aussie rallied more than half a percent to a two-week high of $0.72075 after the release of the figures, which showed Australia added 65,400 in full-time employment in January, with the unemployment rate steady at 5.0 percent.

The euro held steady at $1.1341. Purchasing manager indexes for the euro zone are due on Thursday and investors are also eying the release of minutes from the European Central Bank’s January meeting later in the day.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was about 0.1 percent lower at 110.70 yen, moving off a seven-week peak of 111.13 reached last week.

The offshore Chinese yuan was steady at 6.7174 per dollar after touching its highest in about three weeks during the previous session.

The United States is seeking to secure a pledge from China it will not devalue its yuan as part of an agreement intended to end the countries’ trade war, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

In the commodity market, crude prices rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday to their highest in 2019 on hopes that oil markets will balance later this year. [O/R]

Oil prices were also helped by output cuts from top producers and U.S. sanctions on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members Iran and Venezuela.

U.S. crude was last up nearly 0.1 percent, or 5 cents, at $57.21 per barrel. Brent was steady at $67.08.

Gold rose 0.2 percent on the day to $1,341.20, crawling its way back up to a 10-month peak of $1,346.70 scaled on Wednesday.

(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: OANN

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U.S. says China steps up campaign to influence Taiwan, including vote

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during an event that marks the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, in Taipei
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during an event that marks the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, in Taipei, Taiwan April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

April 18, 2019

TAIPEI (Reuters) – China was stepping up a campaign to exert influence over Taiwan, including its upcoming presidential election, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday, at a time of heightened tension between the self-ruled island and Beijing.

China has increased military and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan, whose president, Tsai Ing-wen, Beijing suspects of pushing for the island’s formal independence, a red line for China which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.

The island is gearing up for a presidential election in January that could shake up the political landscape, with contenders including Terry Gou, chairman of Apple supplier Foxconn.

“They’ve obviously stepped up campaigns of disinformation and direct influence against Taiwan,” James Moriarty, chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, told Reuters.

Moriarty, the most senior U.S. official in charge of Taiwan relations, said Beijing’s attempts to influence Taiwan were a concern for the United States.

“I do worry greatly about attempts to influence Taiwan’s democratic processes and I believe many Taiwanese share that concern,” he said.

Tsai, whose pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party suffered a major poll defeat in November, warned last year that Beijing was exerting pressure on the island to influence its politics.

The United States has no formal ties with Taiwan but is bound by law to help provide the island with the means to defend itself and is its main source of arms.

Beijing regards Taiwan as its sacred territory and regularly calls it the most sensitive and important issue in ties with the United States.

Chinese bombers and warships again conducted drills around Taiwan on Monday. The United States denounced the exercises as “coercion” and a threat to stability in the region.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: OANN

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British foreign secretary urges Brexit solution

Britain's foreign secretary is telling a German audience that securing an orderly British departure from the European Union is "of paramount importance."

Jeremy Hunt was meeting officials in Berlin on Wednesday ahead of Prime Minister Theresa May's trip to Brussels later in the day to meet EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. May is seeking changes to the already-negotiated withdrawal agreement after British lawmakers rejected it — but the EU says it won't be reopened.

Hunt said in a speech to the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a think tank linked to Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, that failing to secure a ratified agreement "would be deeply damaging, economically and politically."

He said that "in the vital weeks ahead, standing back and hoping that Brexit solves itself will not be enough."

Source: Fox News World

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California teacher sues teachers' union, AG Becerra for deducting dues

A California special-education teacher filed suit earlier this week against the state teachers' union and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, saying she wasn't told she could opt out of paying union dues.

Bethany Mendez, a teacher in Northern California’s Freemont Unified School District and the lead plaintiff in the case, claimed she was never informed that she no longer was required to have $1,500 in annual dues deducted from her pay.

Mendez and five other California teachers named as plaintiffs want the California Teachers Association to be required to get the consent of educators before union fees are deducted -- and to refund fees because the union failed to inform them of the changes in the law.

NEW YORK, CALIFORNIA SUE TRUMP ADMIN IN 9TH CIRCUIT OVER NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARATION

In a court filing, lawyers representing the teachers argued that the unions “regularly divert a portion of wages to financially support the unions and their political activity,” and that the teachers “never gave legally valid consent for these deductions and have expressly objected to the deductions.”

The California Teachers Association did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

The lawsuit also said Becerra had failed to enforce a decision made last summer by the U.S. Supreme Court that found government workers couldn't be forced to contribute to labor unions representing them.

The landmark 5-4 decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees scrapped a 41-year-old decision that had allowed states to require public employees to pay some fees to unions that represent them.

The ruling fulfilled a longtime wish of President Trump and conservatives to do away with the fair share fees non-members pay to unions in 22 states; the court stated that the laws violated the First Amendment by compelling workers to support unions with which they may disagree.

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“Great news today for America’s public servants, like teachers, police officers, and firefighters, who will no longer be forced to join a union or political organization and financially support leadership they disagree with,” House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., tweeted on Wednesday. “This is a victory for free speech!”

The ruling, however, was immediately slammed by union leaders as a blow to working-class Americans.

“In this case, a bare majority of the court, over the vigorous dissent of four justices, has conceded to the dark web of corporations and wealthy donors who wish to take away the freedoms of working people,” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a statement. “[I]t will further empower the corporate elites in their efforts to thwart the aspirations of millions of working people standing together for a better life.”

Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of the OPEC is seen at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 5, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo

April 26, 2019

JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he called the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and told the cartel to lower oil prices.

“Gasoline prices are coming down. I called up OPEC, I said you’ve got to bring them down. You’ve got to bring them down,” Trump told reporters.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Makini Brice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy near Lyon
Sonia Bompastor, director of the Olympique Lyonnais womenÕs Youth Academy, leads a training at the OL Academy in Meyzieu near Lyon, France, April 16, 2019. REUTERS/Emmanuel Foudrot

April 26, 2019

By Julien Pretot

MEYZIEU, France (Reuters) – Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas was wringing out his women’s team shirts in the locker room on a rainy London day eight years ago when he decided it was time to take gender equality more seriously.

It was halftime in their Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal at Meadow Park with 507 fans watching and Aulas realized that his players did not have a another kit for the second half.

“Next time, there will be a second set just like for the men, that’s how it’s going to work from now on,” he said.

Lyon have since won five Champions League titles to become the most successful women’s team in Europe and recently claimed a 13th consecutive domestic crown.

They visit Chelsea on Sunday in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, with a fourth straight title in their sights.

At the heart of their achievements is a pervasive ethos that promotes gender equality throughout the club, starting in the youth academy.

In 2013, Aulas appointed former Lyon and France player Sonia Bompastor as head of the Women’s Academy — the female equivalent of one of France’s top youth set-ups that has produced players such as Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette and Hatem Ben Arfa.

At the Youth Academy, girls and boys share the same facilities.

“Pitches, physiotherapy rooms are the same for all,” the 38-year-old Bompastor told Reuters.

As the girls train under the watch of former Lyon and France international Camille Abily, the screams of the boys practicing can be heard nearby.

The boys and girls also benefit from the same psychological support that includes hypnosis sessions and yoga.

“We have a ‘mental ability’ cell and the hypnotist acts on the girls’ subconscious, on their deeply held beliefs after observing them on and off the pitch,” Bompastor added.

SAME TREATMENT

One message the Academy staff are trying to convey is that girls are as good as boys.

“Women’s nature is such that we have low self-esteem. So self-esteem is a big topic for our girls,” said Bompastor.

This is not the case with the boys, she added.

“Some 14, 15-year-old boys still think they would beat our professional players, we tell them this would not be happening. We still need to work on those beliefs,” she said.

Female players also have to face questions that their male counterparts do not, Bompastor explained.

“In France there is a problem with the way women are considered, there are high aesthetic expectations. So we get heavy questions on femininity, intimate questions that men don’t get,” she said.

OL’s Academy has been held up as a shining example for others to follow, even in the U.S., where women’s soccer has a wider audience than in Europe.

“About one third of the (senior women’s) squad comes from the Academy, we have a good balance,” said Bompastor.

“I’m getting tons of requests from American universities and foreign clubs, who want to come and visit our facilities.”

‘ONE CLUB’

The salaries of the senior players is one area where there remains a large discrepancy between Lyon’s men’s and women’s teams.

While the three best-paid women players in the world are at Lyon with Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg earning 400,000 euros ($445,520) a year, this figure is dwarfed by the around 4 million euros earned annually by men’s player Memphis Depay.

There is, however, a level of interaction between the men’s and women’s players that is not present at many other clubs.

“When you talk about OL you talk about women and men, you talk about one club and you feel it when you are here or outside in the city,” Germany defender Carolin Simon told Reuters.

“We see it when we play in the big stadium. It’s not ‘normal’ for women’s football,” the 26-year-old, who joined the club last year, added.

Lyon’s female players also enjoy respect from their male counterparts, Simon said.

“It’s very cool, it’s a big honor to feel that it doesn’t matter if you are a professional man or woman. We talk with the men, there are handshakes, it’s a good atmosphere and it’s also why we are successful,” said Simon.

“The men respect us and it’s not just for the cameras.”

Her team mate, England’s Lucy Bronze, sees the men’s respect as key to improving women’s football.

“We might not be paid the same but they are just normal with us, they see us as footballers the same as they are,” Bronze told Reuters.

“Being at Lyon has really opened my eyes. To improve women’s football, it starts with having the respect of your male counterparts. It’s the biggest thing because they can influence so many people.”

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen
FILE PHOTO: Ethiopian migrants, stranded in war-torn Yemen, sit on the ground of a detention site pending repatriation to their home country, in Aden, Yemen April 24, 2019. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo

April 26, 2019

GENEVA (Reuters) – Yemeni authorities have rounded up about 3,000 irregular migrants, predominantly Ethiopians, in the south of the country, “creating an acute humanitarian situation,” the U.N. migration agency said on Friday.

“IOM is deeply concerned about the conditions in which the migrants are being held and is engaging with the authorities to ensure access to the detained migrants,” the International Organization for Migration said.

The migrants are held in open-air football stadiums and in a military camp, it said in a statement.

The detentions began on Sunday in the city of Aden and the neighboring province of Lahj, which are under the control of the internationally recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Iran-aligned Houthi rebels control Sanaa, the capital, and other major urban centers.

Both sides are under international diplomatic pressure to implement a United Nations-sponsored ceasefire deal agreed last year in Sweden and to prepare for a wider political dialogue that would end the four-year-old war.

Thousands of migrants arrive in Yemen every year, mostly from the Horn of Africa, driven by drought and unemployment at home and lured by the wages available in the Gulf.

(Writing by Maher Chmaytelli, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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U.S. dollar notes are seen in this picture illustration
U.S. dollar notes are seen in this November 7, 2016 picture illustration. Picture taken November 7. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in the coming week and the Reuters stories related to them.

1/DOLLAR JUGGERNAUT

The dollar has zipped to near two-year highs, leaving many scratching their heads. To many, it’s down to signs the U.S. economy is chugging ahead while the rest of the world loses steam. After all, Wall Street is busily scaling new peaks day after day.

Never mind the cause, the effect is stark. The euro has tumbled to 22-month lows against the dollar and investors are preparing for more, buying options to shield against further downside. Emerging-market currencies are also in pain, with Turkish lira and Argentine peso both sharply weaker.

Now U.S. data need to keep surprising on the upside or even just meet expectations. The International Monetary Fund sees U.S. growth at 2.3 percent this year. For Germany, the forecast is 0.8 percent. The U.S. economy’s rude health has given rise to speculation the Fed might resume raising interest rates. Unlikely. But as other countries — Canada, Sweden and Australia are the latest — hint at more policy easing, there seems to be one way the dollar can go. Up.

(GRAPHIC: Dollar outperforms G10 FX – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dz17S5)

2/FED: UP OR DOWN?

Wall Street is near record highs and recession worries are receding, so as we mentioned above, investors might wonder if the Federal Reserve will start raising rates again.

Such a pivot is unlikely after the Fed killed off rate-rise expectations at its March meeting. And the latest Reuters poll all but puts to bed any risk of rates will go up this economic cycle, given inflation remains below the Fed’s alarm threshold and unemployment is the lowest in generations.

Before the March rate-pause announcement, a preponderance of economists penciled in one or more increases this year. But that has flipped. A majority of those surveyed April 22-24 see no further tightening through December and more are leaning toward a cut by the end of next year.

Indeed, interest rate futures imply Fed Funds will be below the current 2.25-2.50 percent target range by this December.

Recent positive consumer spending and exports data have eased market concerns of a sharp economic slowdown. But inflation probably needs to run hot for a long period to panic policymakers off their wait-and-see course.     

(GRAPHIC: Federal funds and the economy – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DzjTZz)

3/HEISEI TO REIWA

Next week ends three decades of Japan’s Heisei era. Heisei, or Achieving Peace, began in 1989 near the peak of a massive stock market bubble and closes with the country trapped in low growth, no inflation, and negative interest rates.

The new era that dawns on May 1 is called Reiwa, meaning Beautiful Harmony. It begins when Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne. But do investors really want harmony? What they want to see is a bit of economic growth and inflation to shake up the status quo.

The Bank of Japan’s stimulus toolkit to revive a long-suffering economy is anything but harmonious and yet it’s set to stay. The central bank confirmed recently rates will stay near zero for a long time. But the coming days may not be harmonious or peaceful for currency markets. A 10-day Golden Week holiday kicks off on April 29 and investors are fretting over the risk of a “flash crash” – a violent currency spasm that can occur in times of thin trading turnover.

The year has already seen two yen spikes and many, including Japan’s housewife-trader brigade – so-called Mrs Watanabes – appear to have bought yen as the holiday approaches. Their short dollar/long yen positions recently reached record highs, stock exchange data showed.

(GRAPHIC: Japan stocks: from Hensei to Reiwa – https://tmsnrt.rs/2W6a7Fe)

4/EARNING TURNING

Quarterly earnings were supposed to be the worst in Europe in almost three years, but with a third of results in, things are looking a little rosier.

Two-thirds of companies’ results have beat expectations, and they point to earnings growth of 4.5 percent year-on-year. Financials have delivered the biggest surprises, according to analysis by Barclays.

That might just show how low expectations were. In fact, analysts are still taking a red pen to their estimates.

The latest I/B/E/S data from Refinitiv shows analysts on average expect first-quarter earnings-per-share for STOXX 600-listed companies to fall 4.2 percent. That would be their worst quarter since 2016 and down sharply from an estimated 3.4 percent just a week earlier.

Those estimates may end up being a little too bearish as earnings season goes on, quelling worries that Europe is heading toward a corporate recession.

GSK and Reckitt Benckiser will give the market a glimpse of the health of the consumer products market and spending on everything from toothpaste, washing powder and paracetamol.

(GRAPHIC: Earnings forecasts – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DuO2ZF)

5/WAITING FOR THE OLD LADY

Sterling has gone into the doldrums amid the Brexit delay and unproductive talks between the UK government and the opposition Labour party on a EU withdrawal deal. The resurgent dollar, meanwhile, has taken 2 percent off the pound in April. It is unlikely the Bank of England will be able to rouse it at its May 2 meeting.

Despite robust retail and jobs data of late, the economic picture is gloomy – 2019 growth is likely to be around 1.2 percent, the weakest since 2009, investment is down and Governor Mark Carney says business uncertainty is “through the roof”.

Indeed, expectations for an interest rate increase have been whittled down; Reuters polls forecast rates will not move until early 2020, a calendar quarter later than was forecast a month ago. The hunt for a new governor to replace Carney in October adds more uncertainty to the mix.

The recent run of UK data has fueled hopes of economic rebound. That’s put net hedge fund positions in the pound into positive territory for the first time in nearly a year. The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street might temper some of that optimism.

(GRAPHIC: Sterling positions – https://tmsnrt.rs/2XJwUXX)

(Reporting by Alden Bentley in New York, Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore; Karin Strohecker, Josephine Mason and Saikat Chatterjee in London; compiled by Sujata Rao; edited by Larry King)

Source: OANN

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Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren suggested that doctors and nurses don’t treat African American women the same way they do white women.

Warren appeared on Wednesday together with a number of other 2020 Democratic candidates at the She The People Forum in Houston, discussing issues concerning women of color.

WARREN’S $1.25T EDUCATION PLAN ‘SWEEPING’ GIVEAWAY TO THE WEALTHY AT EXPENSE OF THE POOR, WAPO EDITORIAL BOARD SAYS

The Massachusetts senator announced on stage a plan to decrease the childbirth mortality rate among black women while identifying a systematic problem with how they are treated.

“And there is a specific problem, as you rightly identified, for women of color who are three, four times more likely to die in childbirth,” Warren said.

“And here’s the thing, even after we do the adjustments for income, for education, this is true across the board. This is true for well-educated African American women, for wealthy African American women, and the best studies that I’m seeing put it down to just one thing, prejudice,” she added.

“That doctors and nurses don’t hear African American women’s medical issues the same way that they hear the same things from white women.”

“That doctors and nurses don’t hear African American women’s medical issues the same way that they hear the same things from white women.”

— Elizabeth Warren

CHARLIE KIRK: WARREN AND OTHER DEMS OFFER FREE MONEY – BUT DON’T TELL YOU PRICE WILL BE YOUR FREEDOM

Warren went on to get into details of her plan, noting that hospitals will be given bonuses if they manage to reduce the childbirth mortality rate among black women in an effort to give financial incentives for those doctors and nurses to provide better care.

“And if they don’t, then they’re going to have money taken away from them,” Warren added.

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“I want to see the hospitals see it as their responsibility to address this problem head-on and make it a first priority. The best way to do that is to use the money to make it happen because we gotta have change, and we gotta have change now.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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