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Who's been charged by Mueller in the Russia probe so far?

Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, was sentenced by a federal judge on March 13 to an additional three and a half years in prison — the second sentencing the 69-year-old has received in recent days.

Previously, on March 7, Manafort was sentenced to 47 months in prison. He was convicted of eight bank and tax fraud charges last August, which made him the first campaign associate of Trump's to be found guilty by jury as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's long-running investigation.

The sentence on March 13 is on top of the roughly four-year prison sentence Manafort received on March 7 in a separate criminal case in Virginia.

Mueller is believed to be wrapping up his probe, which has been shrouded in secrecy, with a report to be finished sometime this year — although the exact time is open to speculation.

Dozens of people have been either indicted, convicted, or entered a guilty plea as part of the investigation, which began in May 2017. Several former Trump campaign associates – Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, Roger Stone and George Papadopoulos – are among the scalps via Mueller's team, while at least 25 are Russian officials.

Here's a closer look at those who have faced charges throughout Mueller's probe.

Roger Stone

Roger Stone, a longtime political adviser to Trump, was indicted on charges of obstruction, making false statements and witness tampering by Mueller's office.

Stone, 66, was arrested in Florida on Jan. 25, a spokesperson for Mueller's office confirmed. For months, Stone had warned he could be indicted, publicly saying he believed Mueller was investigating whether he had knowledge of WikiLeaks releasing hacked emails of Democrats during the 2016 campaign. Stone has repeatedly denied doing so, however.

The indictment alleges Stone worked to obstruct the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election by making false statements to the committee, denying he had records sought by the committee and persuading a witness to provide false testimony.

Michael Flynn

Michael Flynn, who served as Trump’s national security adviser for less than a month before resigning, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to making false statements to the FBI.

Flynn reportedly lied about his talks with Russia's ambassador to Washington. In late 2016, while former President Barack Obama was still in office, the two allegedly spoke about the U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia.

This raised concerns that Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, misled Trump officials about his conversations with Russian officials.

Paul Manafort

Paul Manafort turned himself in to authorities in October.

Paul Manafort turned himself in to authorities in October. (AP Photo)

The special counsel filed a 32-count indictment on Feb. 22, 2018, against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and aide Rick Gates, accusing the pair of tax evasion and bank fraud.

The indictment accused Manafort and Gates of doctoring documents to inflate the income of their businesses and then using those fraudulent documents to obtain loans. It also accused Manafort of evading taxes from 2010 through 2014 and, in some of the years, concealing his foreign bank accounts.

Manafort turned himself into federal authorities in the fall of 2018. The 69-year-old served as Trump’s campaign manager for a few months in 2016. Gates, Manafort's business associate, also turned himself in at the time.

On June 15, 2018, Manafort was jailed after a federal judge revoked his $10 million bail based on new witness tampering charges brought by Mueller.

Manafort was found guilty of eight financial crimes on Aug. 21, 2018, in the first trial victory of the special counsel investigation into the president's associates. He later pleaded guilty in a second case and agreed to cooperate with Mueller's team.

On March 7, he was sentenced to 47 months in prison. He was credited with the 9 months he had already spent in prison, so he will only have to serve 38 months or just more than 3 years.

Days later, on March 13, a federal judge sentenced Manafort to an additional three and a half years of prison. The sentence is on top of the roughly four-year prison sentence Manafort received last week in a separate criminal case in Virginia.

Richard Gates

Richard Gates pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Richard Gates pleaded not guilty to all charges. (The Associated Press)

Richard Gates was named alongside Manafort in the recent charges brought by the special counsel. He's accused of 11 counts related to filing false income tax returns and three counts of failure to report foreign bank and financial accounts.

Gates pleaded guilty in February 2018 to federal conspiracy and false-statements charges.

A superseding criminal complaint says Gates was charged with conspiracy against the United States between 2006 and 2017.

George Papadopoulos

George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to the charges against him. (Alexandria Sheriff's Office)

A former foreign policy adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign, George Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in 2017 to making false statements to the FBI regarding “the timing, extent and nature of his relationships and interactions with certain foreign nationals whom he understood to have close connections with senior Russian government officials,” according to court documents.

He also reportedly tried to set up meetings between Russian and Trump campaign officials on various occasions.

Papadopoulos was sentenced in September 2018 to 14 days in prison, 13 months supervised release, 200 hours community service and a $9,500 fine for lying to the FBI during the Russia probe.

“My entire life has been turned upside down, I hope to have a second chance to redeem myself,” he said during his sentencing.

Michael Cohen

Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison on Dec. 12. 

Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison on Dec. 12.  (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Formerly Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges that arose from two separate investigations – one by federal prosecutors in New York, and the other by Mueller.

Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress about a Trump real estate project in Moscow. He was sentenced on Dec. 12, 2018.

Alex van der Zwaan

Attorney Alex van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his interactions with Gates.

Attorney Alex van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his interactions with Gates. (Reuters/Yuri Gripas)

Mueller's team charged Dutch attorney Alex van der Zwaan for lying to federal investigators in the Russia probe in federal court in February 2018. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in prison and given a $20,000 fine in April.

Van der Zwaan was released from prison in June and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

According to charging documents, a law firm hired by the Ukraine Ministry of Justice in 2012 employed van der Zwaan. He admitted to lying about his interactions with Gates.

The charge against van der Zwaan did not involve election meddling or the Trump campaign's operations. It stemmed from the special counsel's investigation into a covert Washington lobbying campaign Manafort and Gates are accused of directing on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian interests.

Richard Pinedo

Richard Pinedo, a California man who sold bank accounts to Russians meddling in the election, pleaded guilty in February 2018 to using stolen identities to set up the accounts. He was sentenced in October to six months in prison, six months in home confinement and two years of supervised release.

The U.S. government said Pinedo did not know that he was dealing with Russians when he sold the accounts. Since his arrest, Pinedo has provided investigators with "significant assistance" in identity theft probes, prosecutors said.

During his sentencing, Pinedo told the judge he took "full responsibility" and understood "there needs to be consequences" for his actions. Federal sentencing guidelines called for Pinedo to serve between 12 and 18 months behind bars, but prosecutors did not recommend a particular sentence, noting his cooperation with officials.

13 Russian nationals

A grand jury indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies in February 2018 for allegedly interfering in the 2016 election. In the case, Mueller detailed a sophisticated plot to wage “information warfare” on the U.S.

The indictment was the first to be brought against Russian nationals in Mueller's investigation.

However, the Justice Department said the indictment does not allege that the interference changed the outcome of the election.

"There is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity," said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees the special counsel probe.

12 Russian intelligence officers

The Justice Department in July 2018 announced that 12 Russian intelligence officers were indicted for allegedly hacking the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign during the 2016 election.

All 12 are members of GRU, the Russian intelligence agency.

Fox News' Ann Schmidt, Adam Shaw, Samuel Chamberlain, Jake Gibson, Alex Pappas, Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News Politics

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Daiichi Sankyo, AstraZeneca sign $6.9 billion cancer drug deal

FILE PHOTO: A sign is seen at an AstraZeneca site in Macclesfield
FILE PHOTO: A sign is seen at an AstraZeneca site in Macclesfield, central England May 19, 2014. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

March 29, 2019

(Reuters) – AstraZeneca Plc and Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd have signed a potential multibillion-dollar collaboration to develop and sell Daiichi’s cancer drug trastuzumab deruxtecan.

Under the deal, AstraZeneca will pay Daiichi up to $6.9 billion, including a $1.35 billion upfront payment. The two companies will share development and commercialization costs for the drug worldwide, with Daiichi retaining exclusive rights in Japan.

The news sent Daiichi’s shares up 16 percent, its daily limit, in morning Tokyo trading on Friday.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan “has the potential to redefine breast cancer treatment as the first therapy for HER2 low expressing tumors,” AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said in a statement, referring to a type of breast cancer fueled by a protein called HER2.

(Reporting by Sam Nussey in Tokyo and Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Source: OANN

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Seoul says some N. Korean officials back at liaison office

South Korea says some North Korean officials have returned to an inter-Korean liaison office three days after the North abruptly withdrew its entire staff citing unspecified instructions from "higher-level authorities."

Seoul's Unification Ministry says four to five North Korean officials showed up for work Monday at the liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong.

It wasn't immediately clear why North Korea sent some workers back to the office or whether it will restore a full staff.

The North's decision to withdraw its staff came a week after its vice foreign minister threatened to pull out of nuclear negotiations with the United States following the collapse of a nuclear summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.

Source: Fox News World

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American woman stuck in Saudi Arabia granted residency after years of repression

An American teacher who was trapped in Saudi Arabia after her marriage fell apart due to the country's draconian guardianship laws that give men power over women's movements has been granted residency in the kingdom and given access to her bank account.

Bethany Vierra, who is originally from Washington state and taught at a women’s university, said in a statement Sunday that Saudi officials had intervened in her case.

AMERICAN WOMAN STUCK IN SAUDI ARABIA NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE OVER KINGDOM'S GUARDIANSHIP LAWS

"I was never trying to escape Saudi Arabia," she told The New York Times, who first reported the story. "I have dedicated my life's work to this country and being a part of its growth, development and vision for its future."

In 2011, Vierra met a Saudi businessman. Two years later, they wed and had a daughter named Zaina. After the marriage went south, she had her rights stripped and got a taste at what life as a second-class citizen in the kingdom felt like.

Her cousin Nicole Carroll said the kingdom’s guardianship laws, which give men power over women, prevented Vierra from using her bank account, leaving the country, traveling with her daughter or even seeking legal help.

DEM REP CALLS TRUMP 'SAUDI ARABIA'S B----'

“She is completely stuck,” Carroll said at the time. “She is out of options.”

Saudi Arabia’s restrictions on women aren’t new – but they are severe.

Under the guardianship system, Saudi women are given a legal status similar to that of a child. Women must have a male “guardian” with them whose permission they need in order to obtain a passport or even receive certain medical procedures. Male guardians can grant or deny permission to travel through a government app and can even be notified when any woman they have oversight over passes through the airport.

Even though Vierra was granted residency as the mother of a Saudi citizen, her 4-year-old daughter is still under the legal guardianship of her father, Vierra's ex-husband. Zaina is forbidden to leave the country without his permission - something he has refused to grant.

Still, the new development in Vierra's case is seen as progress for women's rights in the notoriously male-dominated country.

“If it is true and this is a possibility, I suppose it means the country is actually moving forward in the right direction on this,” Carroll said of her cousin’s new ability to travel to see relatives in the United States.

JAILED SAUDI WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST SUBJECTED TO BRUTAL TORTURE AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT, BROTHER CLAIMS 

The kingdom’s restrictions on women were highlighted earlier this year when a Saudi teenager ran away from her vacationing family and barricaded herself in a Thai airport hotel. Her case grabbed global attention after she mounted a social media campaign via Twitter for asylum. Her efforts picked up enough public and diplomatic support to convince Thai officials to admit her temporarily under the protection of the United Nations. Eventually, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his country would allow the teen in as a refugee.

The case highlighted the plight of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. Several Saudi girls and women who have tried to flee alleged abuse by their families have been caught trying to seek asylum abroad and forced to return home.

Saudi Arabia has come under fire for its treatment of women. Last year, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman boasted the country had loosened some restrictions on women, letting them drive and allowing them into sports stadiums.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

During a “60 Minutes” interview, he said that men and women were equal. “We are all human beings, and there is no difference.” However, when asked about guardianship rules in a different interview, he said his country needed to “figure out a way to treat this that doesn’t harm families and doesn’t harm the culture.”

Source: Fox News World

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Video: Unhinged Leftist In Clown Makeup Melts Down Over Pepe the Frog

Video of a deranged leftist dolled up in clown makeup a la “Joker” ranting about Pepe the Frog has social media buzzing about the horrors of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

The sad clown woman, known as “Lil Lunchbox,” is seen unloading on 4chan users for putting clown makeup on the notorious Pepe the Frog meme, claiming it’s a new “racist” symbol for white supremacists.

“I’m ready to go to war. I’m ready to go to motherf*cking war. You’re not gonna take a symbol of happiness and acceptance and multiculturalism and turn it into something racist and antisemitic and homophobic and transphobic. You’re not gonna do that on my watch,” the woman says.

“So Pepe, he belongs to me now. That is a symbol of the Resistance now. We are taking Pepe back, and that she’s “saving him from these freaks, these degenerates” in the right wing on 4chan.

The clown woman is referring to 4chan’s new Pepe meme, simply known as “Clown Pepe” or “Honk Honk,” believed by some to symbolize the current state of politics, culture, and entertainment in America, which has essentially been transformed into “Clown World.”

If clowns are indeed a symbol of “happiness” and “inclusion,” where’s Lil Lunchbox’s outrage at author Stephen King, who created the child-eating “Pennywise the Clown” character?

Or perhaps the several convicted pedophiles who used clown makeup to prey on children at “Drag Queen Story Hour?”


“Drag Queen Story Hour” is being pushed nationwide as an event that promotes “tolerance”, yet some of those involved are being exposed as child predators. Tracy Shannon joins Alex via Skype to discuss solutions for those who want to protect their children from these vile events.

Source: InfoWars

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French parliament adopts proposals for privatizations and ADP stake sale

FILE PHOTO: A logo of Groupe ADP (Aeroports de Paris) is seen during the company's Investor day in Paris
FILE PHOTO: A logo of Groupe ADP (Aeroports de Paris) is seen during the company's Investor day in Paris, France, April 5, 2019. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo

April 11, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – French lawmakers adopted on Thursday a government bill aimed at kickstarting a wave of privatizations, including a sale of the state’s stake in airports group ADP, to raise cash for a new innovation fund.

The Assemblee Nationale – in which President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist LREM party has a commanding majority – voted in favor of the so-called “Loi Pacte” legislation bill, with 147 votes in favor of the bill versus 50 against.

“This is a law which will help our economy and prepare us for the future,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters in the parliament.

“We want to make ADP a world champion in terms of airport traffic,” he added.

Macron’s government has consistently said it aims to start the ADP privatization process in 2019, but the plan has been criticized by some opposition parties over fears it could result in job cuts or a loss of control for a key national asset.

Those privatization proposals form part of a broader strategy to raise cash to boost the economy and finance technological innovations in France.

Le Maire had said last year that France would block any moves by a foreign power to gain control of ADP.

Based on current market prices, the French state’s 50.6 percent shareholding in ADP is worth around 8.8 billion euros ($9.92 billion).

Privatizations are only part of the wide-ranging law, which also reduces red tape for starting new firms and makes it easier to introduce employee profit-sharing schemes.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Leigh Thomas)

Source: OANN

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Yankees retain title of MLB’s most valuable team: Forbes

FILE PHOTO: MLB: New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles
FILE PHOTO: Apr 6, 2019; Baltimore, MD, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates with designated hitter Luke Voit (45) after hitting a solo home run during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

April 10, 2019

By Frank Pingue

(Reuters) – The New York Yankees are Major League Baseball’s most valuable team for a 22nd consecutive year, according to the annual list published by business magazine Forbes.

The 27-time World Series champion, which has held the top spot since Forbes began tracking MLB team finances in 1998, is worth $4.6 billion, the publisher said in a statement on Wednesday.

The figure is up 15 percent from a year ago and more than double the league’s average value.

The Los Angeles Dodgers ($3.3 billion), reigning World Series champion Boston Red Sox ($3.2 billion), Chicago Cubs ($3.1 billion) and San Francisco Giants ($3 billion) rounded out the top five.

The average MLB team is now worth $1.8 billion, an 8 percent increase from last year, due in large part to a continued escalation in the value of the sport’s media rights.

“The fact that Fox has agreed to pay almost 50 percent more for its national media deal with MLB beginning with the 2022 season shows that baseball content has significantly increased in value,” said Mike Ozanian, assistant managing editor at Forbes.

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Augusta, Georgia; editing Mike Harrison)

Source: OANN

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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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