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MLB spring training roundup: Cabrera continues torrid spring

MLB: Spring Training-Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers
Mar 24, 2019; Lakeland, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers designated hitter Miguel Cabrera (24) stretches prior to a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

March 25, 2019

Miguel Cabrera continued his resurgent spring Sunday, hitting a two-run homer and two-run double as the Detroit Tigers walloped the Toronto Blue Jays 18-6 in Lakeland, Fla.

Cabrera, who turns 36 on April 18, is coming off an injury-shortened 2018 season in which he hit .299 with only three home runs and 22 RBIs in 38 games. He has only 19 home runs and 82 RBIs in the last two seasons.

But Sunday’s performance now gives the two-time American League MVP five home runs and 15 RBIs this spring, while sporting a .348 batting average and 1.165 OPS.

Cardinals 2, Marlins 1

Paul Goldschmidt homered in the first inning and Evan Mendoza hit a walk-off single as St. Louis edged Miami in Jupiter, Fla. Jack Flaherty pitched four scoreless innings for the Cardinals, giving up only one hit and striking out three.

Mets 8, Nationals (ss) 4

Third baseman Jeff McNeil drove in four runs and Juan Lagares homered as New York topped its divisional rival’s split squad in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Matt Adams hit a three-run homer for Washington.

Astros 5, Nationals (ss) 3

After falling behind 3-0 in the second inning, Houston scored the game’s final five runs to top Washington’s split squad in West Palm Beach, Fla. Right-hander Gerrit Cole gave up three runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings for the Astros.

Yankees 5, Twins 3

Clint Frazier’s bases-clearing double capped a four-run sixth inning and propelled New York to a win over Minnesota at Fort Myers, Fla. Left-hander James Paxton gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings to get the win for the Yankees.

Phillies 11, Orioles (ss) 4

Philadelphia scored in each of the first seven innings, pounding out 18 hits to hammer a Baltimore split squad at Clearwater, Fla. Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr combined for six hits, six RBIs and five runs scored for the Phillies.

Pirates 1, Orioles (ss) 1

Pittsburgh’s Jung Ho Kang homered in the first, Baltimore’s Zach Vincej hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth, and the Pirates and Orioles played to a tie in Sarasota, Fla. Chance Sisco, who scored on the sac fly, was 3 for 3 for Baltimore.

Rockies 4, Reds 3

Second baseman Bret Boswell had three hits and drove in the deciding run as Colorado edged Cincinnati at Goodyear, Ariz. Taylor Sparks hit a two-run homer as the Reds made a game of it, but Cincinnati stranded a runner at third to end it.

White Sox 7, Indians 3

Adam Engel homered and drove in two and 11 different Chicago batters got a hit in a win over Cleveland in Phoenix. The Indians received a scare when All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez was carted off the field after fouling a pitch off his left knee, though the team labeled the injury a contusion.

Cubs 24, Padres 6

Designated hitter Phillip Evans led a Chicago hit parade with four hits (one a home run) and six RBIs as the Cubs blasted San Diego in Peoria, Ariz. David Bote added four hits and Cristhian Adames had three hits and five RBIs for the Cubs.

Brewers 3, Diamondbacks 2

Zack Godley pitched six strong innings but took the loss as Milwaukee topped Arizona in Maricopa County, Ariz. The Diamondbacks right-hander gave up two runs in six innings, giving up only three hits and striking out three with one walk.

Braves 4, Rays 2

Ozzie Albies had two hits and an RBI, and scored on Brian McCann’s two-run double as Atlanta doubled-up Tampa Bay in Kissimmee, Fla. Tampa Bay’s Carl Chester was thrown out at home on an eighth-inning double by Kean Wong to kill a potential Rays rally.

Athletics 5, Giants 0

Stephen Piscotty, Jurickson Profar and Ramon Laureano each homered to propel Oakland to a win over Bay Area neighbor San Francisco at the Oakland Coliseum. Lefty Brett Anderson threw six scoreless innings for the win.

Royals 3, Rangers (ss) 3

Kort Peterson’s solo home run in the top of the ninth off Jairo Beras allowed Kansas City to tie Texas’ split squad, and that is how the game ended in Surprise, Ariz. Cam Gallagher also homered for the Royals; Tyreque Reed homered for the Rangers.

Nashville Sounds 4, Rangers (ss) 3

Second baseman Chase d’Arnaud doubled and designated hitter Hunter Pence drove in a run as Texas’ split squad fell to its Triple-A affiliate at First Tennessee Park, the Sounders’ home field in Nashville.

Angels 8, Dodgers 4

Mike Trout doubled in a run, Albert Pujols homered and the Angels took the first game of the Freeway Series against their Los Angeles rivals. Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, working a non-save situation, gave up two hits and three runs (two earned) in 2/3 of an inning.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Injured LeBron to sit out rest of season

NBA: Washington Wizards at Los Angeles Lakers
Mar 26, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton and forward LeBron James (23) react in the second half against the Washington Wizards at Staples Center. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

March 30, 2019

By Rory Carroll

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James will sit out the remaining six games of the NBA season to nurse a lingering groin injury, the team said on Saturday.

“After consulting with our team doctors and medical staff, we have decided to hold LeBron out of games for the remainder of the season,” the team said in a statement.

“This decision will allow his groin to fully heal, and is best for the future success of both LeBron and the Lakers.”

LeBron’s first season with the Lakers was largely a disappointment.

The team was eliminated from playoff contention last week and the 34-year-old James missed 17 games during the season with the injured groin.

The Lakers will turn their attention this offseason to finding another player to complement James, with many expecting Lakers president Magic Johnson to target New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis.

LeBron joined in Lakers in July when he signed a four-year, $153 million deal as part of an effort to restore the storied franchise to relevance.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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Slower manufacturing likely drag on small business optimism

The growing evidence of a slowdown in manufacturing is likely contributing to the dip in small business optimism that began early in the year.

Reports this month from the government and an industry group point to a drop in manufacturing activity. While the manufacturing sector is a relatively small part of the gross domestic product — the government has estimated it at 11.4 percent in the third quarter of last year — most manufacturers are small businesses as are service companies that do business with them.

Last week the Commerce Department said factory orders rose 0.1 percent in January, a tiny increase that matched December's reading but fell short of many economists' forecasts. Shipments of manufactured goods fell 0.4 percent, the fourth straight month of declines.

The factory orders report came several days after the Federal Reserve said production at the nation's factories fell 0.4 percent in February following a 0.5 percent drop in January. Meanwhile, wholesale inventories, the good manufacturers have produced but not yet sold, rose 1.2 percent, a sign that production may weaken in the coming months; factories won't manufacture products if it has unsold inventories in their warehouses.

The slowing activity was also reflected in the survey of manufacturers taken by the Institute for Supply Management in February and the index tied to the survey; the index fell 2.4 percentage points to 54.2 from January's 56.6.

The National Association of Manufacturers has estimated that over 98 percent of U.S. manufacturing companies are small businesses with fewer than 500 workers, so the slowdown affects them.

Meanwhile, surveys released this year, by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife; by researchers at Pepperdine University's Graziadio Business School and Dun & Bradstreet Corp. and by Wells Fargo and Gallup, have all shown weakening confidence in the economy among small business owners since the start of 2019.

Owners tend to have more faith in their own companies than the economy. However, some owners say they expect their own revenue to decline in the year ahead — a common prediction when there are signs of an economic slowdown. Many private economists as well as the Congressional Budget Office are forecasting slower growth this year.

Scott Anderson, chief economist with Bank of the West, is among those predicting a weaker economy, and basing it on a slowdown in manufacturing.

"Historically, the manufacturing sector weakens ahead of the overall economy due to its cyclical nature. But eventually the weakness spreads from manufacturing to the services side of the economy, triggering a more general economic slowdown," Anderson said in a note to clients released last week.

_____

Follow Joyce Rosenberg at www.twitter.com/JoyceMRosenberg . Her work can be found here: https://apnews.com

Source: Fox News National

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Swampy: Ocasio-Cortez Reportedly Used PAC To Funnel Cash To Boyfriend

Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) used a political action committee (PAC) to funnel campaign funds back to her boyfriend, according to reports.

Republican strategist Luke Thompson first made known on Twitter last week that Ocasio-Cortez’s boyfriend Riley Roberts had a house.gov email address and was designated as one of her “Staff,” therefore “drawing a salary on the taxpayer’s dime.”

The revelation was met with fierce opposition by Ocasio-Cortez and her Chief of Staff Saikat Chakrabarti, who accused Thompson of “doxxing” Roberts despite the information being publicly available, and failed to explain why Roberts would need such access.

Per the House Admin office, a family member can, in special circumstances, get a house.gov email address,” Thompson reported Wednesday.

“But Roberts is not a family member, and although AOC referred to him as her partner in November of last year, she omitted him from her mandatory candidate financial disclosures for 2017 and 2018. Perhaps they’ve gotten married since. If so — if he is her spouse now — we should see his finances disclosed along with hers in her 2019 disclosure form due in May. But to be clear, AOC did not disclose Roberts’s finances as a spouse during her campaign.”

As Chakrabarti noted, Roberts also isn’t an unpaid volunteer and “isn’t doing any government work.”

Additionally, instead of producing the appropriate evidence to refute Thompson’s claims, the mainstream media attempted to provide cover for Ocasio-Cortez using their own talking points.

Instead of asking if Roberts had been supplied with the badge and pin appropriate to a Congressional spouse, evidence of which her office should have been able to produce easily, AOC’s worshipful stenographers in the press went into overdrive witlessly repeating her talking-points,” Thompson wrote.

Former chairman of the House Oversight Committee Jason Chaffetz said Friday that such an arrangement was “inappropriate.”

“It’s totally naïve and inappropriate – you wouldn’t allow it in most companies, let alone the House of Representatives. There should be real consequences,” he told Fox News.

“When I was in the House, my scheduler would forward my wife my schedule once a week. But you’re not allowed unfettered access. And he isn’t even her spouse…It should be referred to the ethics committee for further investigation,” he added.

It gets deeper: Chakrabarti co-founded a PAC called Brand New Congress LLC in 2017, which Ocasio-Cortez paid for “strategic consulting” for her campaign.

Brand New Congress LLC then hired Roberts as a “marketing consultant” for AOC’s campaign, paying him approximately $6,000.

Why would Chakrabarti, a founding engineer at Stripe and a wealthy veteran of Silicon Valley, be hiring a no-name ‘UX Experience’ guy with little discernible marketing experience to serve as Brand New Congress PAC’s sole marketing consultant?” Thompson asked.

The answer seems to be that Chakrabarti was funneling money paid to him by AOC’s campaign back to Roberts and by extension to AOC,” Thompson wrote.

In effect, Chakrabarti likely reimbursed AOC through Brand New Congress LLC to mitigate her campaign’s mounting debt, he says.

Regardless of whether or not Roberts was officially AOC’s spouse at that time, it seems probable Chakrabarti was reimbursing her for her campaign expenses off-books. Brand New Congress PAC simply served as a pass-through to do so,” Thompson continued.

After Ocasio-Cortez won in the 2018 midterms, she then hired Chakrabarti as her Chief of Staff.

That’s definitely unethical and potentially illegal,” Thompson wrote. “Chakrabarti may have made an illegal campaign contribution in excess of federal limits. Regardless, it raises questions about Chakrabarti’s hiring as AOC’s Chief of Staff after her election.”

A shocking aspect of this is that the mainstream media failed to uncover (or simply ignored) any of this information despite the fact it was publicly available for scrutiny.

For now, it appears AOC is adjusting to the swamp just fine.


Twitter: 

Democrats continue the calls to remove President Trump even citing the 25th Amendment as reason for his removal. Owen Shroyer exposes their motive is to cover their own criminality.

Source: InfoWars

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Iraq parliament votes to sack official after ferry sinking

Iraq's parliament deputy speaker says the house's majority has voted to sack a provincial official following the tragic sinking of a ferry in the Tigris River that killed nearly 100 people.

Hassan al-Kaabi told The Associated Press Sunday that the majority of the house's 329 members voted to sack the governor of Nineveh province and his two deputies.

Angry residents of Mosul have protested against Nofal al-Akoub, demanding his firing. The ferry loaded with holidaymakers celebrating the Kurdish and Persian new year, sank on Thursday.

Police official Mazen Abdullah said 97 were killed and 67 remain missing. Abdullah said 55 were rescued.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi ordered an investigation into the incident, which residents blamed on corruption and lack of rescue means. He also called for the governor's sacking.

Source: Fox News World

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Ukrainian leader’s re-election drive to win the army vote stutters

FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Poroshenko, speaks after a failed attempt to hold a debate with his opponent comedian Zelenskiy in Kiev
FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's president and candidate in a presidential election next week, Petro Poroshenko, speaks after a failed attempt to hold a debate with his opponent comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine April 14, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo

April 17, 2019

By Gleb Garanich and Serhiy Takhmazov

NOVOLUHANSKE, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko thought he could rely for his re-election in part on the votes of soldiers who have spent years fighting pro-Russian separatists. But a visit to the frontline found low morale and little enthusiasm for him.

Such views go some way to explaining why Poroshenko’s attempt is faltering to cast himself as the defender of Ukraine against what he calls Russian aggression.

Polls show Poroshenko is on course to lose in a second round landslide on Sunday to Volodomyr Zelenskiy, a comedian who plays a president on a TV show and who led convincingly in a first round on March 31.

Poroshenko, who placed a distant second overall among 39 candidates in the first round, beat Zelenskiy among soldiers stationed at the front, but only barely: by less than 200 votes in the Donetsk region and just 55 votes in neighboring Luhansk.

Such a tight race among the troops was a setback for a president who often shows up at the front line in combat fatigues and promised to rebuild the armed forces.

“If there’s a new face, that’s no bad thing,” said Yevhen, a 22-year-old Ukrainian serviceman whose job is to keep tanks in a state of readiness in case a ceasefire breaks down.

Fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014 when Russian-backed rebels rejected Kiev’s rule. They now control large swathes of territory. A shaky ceasefire ended major combat in 2015, but deadly clashes still take place regularly. Around 13,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations.

Interviews with other soldiers in front line areas in eastern Ukraine indicated that troops were disappointed at what they saw as a failure under Poroshenko to invest properly in military hardware, and suspected that money meant for defense was being siphoned off through corruption.

CHANGE NEEDED

“We see how money is being stolen from the military budget, from the army,” said a member of the Azov battalion which comes under the command of Ukraine’s National Guard. He declined to be identified, only giving his nom-de-guerre, Eydar.

Speaking in another part of Donetsk region, near Novoluhanske, he did not name his preferred candidate, but said it should be someone who fights for his country, “and not for personal interests or the interests of some clan or other”.

Such criticism shows how badly Poroshenko has been hurt by a corruption scandal involving the son of an ally accused of smuggling military equipment from Russia and selling it to the local armed forces at inflated prices.

A fellow Azov battalion fighter said he wanted to see radical changes after the election, though he too did not say which candidate he favored. He said he wanted to see a new government, and a new defense minister who would give the military the equipment and troops that it needed.

“Because if the government continues at the same pace it has been moving, we cannot say how long this war is going to last,” said the serviceman, who asked to be identified by his nom de guerre, Takho.

(Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Christian Lowe/Andrew Osborn; Editing by Peter Graff)

Source: OANN

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Court ruling in Puerto Rico bankruptcy fans revenue bond fears

FILE PHOTO - A night view of the middle-upper class residential sector of Miramar in San Juan
FILE PHOTO - A night view of the middle-upper class residential sector of Miramar in San Juan, March 11, 2014. REUTERS/Ana Martinez

March 28, 2019

By Karen Pierog

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A decision this week by a U.S. Appeals Court in a lawsuit related to Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy raises concerns over the payment of municipal bonds backed by specific revenues during future Chapter 9 cases, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday.

The Boston-based First Circuit court on Tuesday determined that municipalities are not required to make payments on debt secured by special revenues while bankruptcy proceedings are ongoing, although municipalities can voluntarily opt to do so.

“The ruling, by stating such payments are optional,

creates uncertainty about full and timely payment of special revenue obligations during bankruptcy of the related municipality,” Fitch said.

The credit rating agency added that if the ruling stands, it could negatively affect ratings on certain bonds secured by utility, transportation and tax revenue.

The appeals court affirmed a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who is overseeing the island’s bankruptcy, which was filed in 2017 in an effort to restructure about $120 billion of the U.S. commonwealth’s debt and pension obligations.

Swain had dismissed a lawsuit by insurance companies guaranteeing payments on defaulted Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority bonds. The bond insurers claimed that payments on the debt from pledged toll and other revenue should not be halted during the bankruptcy.

Assured Guaranty Corporation, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said on Thursday it is assessing options, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We disagree with the court’s ruling, which is at odds with prior court decisions and the legislative history relating to special revenue bonds and has potential negative implications for revenue bonds throughout the municipal bond market,” Assured said in a statement. 

Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy expert James Spiotto, managing director of Chapman Strategic Advisors, said the appeals court decision came as a surprise to the municipal bond market, which had assumed Swain’s ruling would be reversed.

“This could have a very adverse effect on the use of special revenues all over,” he said.

Revenue bonds accounted for an average of 64 percent of annual issuance in the $3.8 trillion municipal market since 1990, according to Refinitiv data. Not all revenue bonds qualify as being backed by special revenues under the bankruptcy code, which specifies special excise taxes or revenue derived from governmental projects or systems providing transportation, utilities or other services.

(Reporting by Karen Pierog in Chicago; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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

April 26, 2019

By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Donald Trump hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up to his audience as he hosts Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

April 26, 2019

By Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan

(Reuters) – The “i word” – impeachment – is swirling around the U.S. Congress since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted Russia report, which painted a picture of lies, threats and confusion in Donald Trump’s White House.

Some Democrats say trying to remove Trump from office would be a waste of time because his fellow Republicans still have majority control of the Senate. Other Democrats argue they have a moral obligation at least to try to impeach, even though Mueller did not charge Trump with conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election or with obstruction of justice.

Whether or not the Democrats decide to go down this risky path, here is how the impeachment process works.

WHAT ARE GROUNDS FOR IMPEACHMENT?

The U.S. Constitution says the president can be removed from office by Congress for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Exactly what that means is unclear.

Before he became president in 1974, replacing Republican Richard Nixon who resigned over the Watergate scandal, Gerald Ford said: “An impeachable offense is whatever a majority of the House of Representatives considers it to be at a given moment in history.”

Frank Bowman, a University of Missouri law professor and author of a forthcoming book on the history of impeachment, said Congress could look beyond criminal laws in defining “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Historically, it can encompass corruption and other abuses, including trying to obstruct judicial proceedings.

HOW DOES IMPEACHMENT PLAY OUT?

The term impeachment is often interpreted as simply removing a president from office, but that is not strictly accurate.

Impeachment technically refers to the 435-member House of Representatives approving formal charges against a president.

The House effectively acts as accuser – voting on whether to bring specific charges. An impeachment resolution, known as “articles of impeachment,” is like an indictment in a criminal case. A simple majority vote is needed in the House to impeach.

The Senate then conducts a trial. House members act as the prosecutors, with senators as the jurors. The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presides over the trial. A two-thirds majority vote is required in the 100-member Senate to convict and remove a president from office.

No president has ever been removed from office as a direct result of an impeachment and conviction by Congress.

Nixon quit in 1974 rather than face impeachment. Presidents Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998 were impeached by the House, but both stayed in office after the Senate acquitted them.

Obstruction of justice was one charge against Clinton, who faced allegations of lying under oath about his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Obstruction was also included in the articles of impeachment against Nixon.

CAN THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN?

No.

Trump said on Twitter on Wednesday that he would ask the Supreme Court to intervene if Democrats tried to impeach him. But America’s founders explicitly rejected making a Senate conviction appealable to the federal judiciary, Bowman said.

“They quite plainly decided this is a political process and it is ultimately a political judgment,” Bowman said.

“So when Trump suggests there is any judicial remedy for impeachment, he is just wrong.”

PROOF OF WRONGDOING?

In a typical criminal court case, jurors are told to convict only if there is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” a fairly stringent standard.

Impeachment proceedings are different. The House and Senate “can decide on whatever burden of proof they want,” Bowman said. “There is no agreement on what the burden should be.”

PARTY BREAKDOWN IN CONGRESS?

Right now, there are 235 Democrats, 197 Republicans and three vacancies in the House. As a result, the Democratic majority could vote to impeach Trump without any Republican votes.

In 1998, when Republicans had a House majority, the chamber voted largely along party lines to impeach Clinton, a Democrat.

The Senate now has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who usually vote with Democrats. Conviction and removal of a president would requires 67 votes. So that means for Trump to be impeached, at least 20 Republicans and all the Democrats and independents would have to vote against him.

WHO BECOMES PRESIDENT IF TRUMP IS REMOVED?

A Senate conviction removing Trump from office would elevate Vice President Mike Pence to the presidency to fill out Trump’s term, which ends on Jan. 20, 2021.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe and Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes
FILE PHOTO: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft attends a conference at the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s lawyers on Friday are set to ask a Florida judge to toss out hidden-camera videos that prosecutors say show the 77-year-old billionaire receiving sexual favors for money inside a Florida massage parlor.

The owner of the reigning Super Bowl champions plans wants the video to not be used as evidence against him as he contests two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Spa in Jupiter, Florida, along with some two dozen other men.

His legal team is fresh off a win on Tuesday, when they successfully persuaded Palm Beach County Judge Leonard Hanser to block prosecutors from releasing the hidden-camera footage to media outlets, which had requested copies under the state’s robust open records law.

Kraft, who has owned the franchise since 1994, pleaded not guilty, but has issued a public apology for his actions.

His attorneys have argued in court papers that the surreptitious videotaping of customers, including Kraft, inside a massage parlor was governmental overreach and the result of an illegally obtained search warrant.

The warrant, Kraft’s lawyers claim, was secured under false pretenses because police officers cited human trafficking as a potential crime in their application. Prosecutors have since acknowledged that the investigation yielded no evidence of trafficking.

Palm Beach County prosecutors in a court filing on Wednesday said Kraft’s motion should be rejected because he could not have had any expectation of privacy while visiting a commercial establishment to engage in criminal activity.

That prompted an indignant response from Kraft’s attorneys, who said the prosecution’s position on privacy was “unhinged.”

“It should go without saying that Mr. Kraft and everyone else in the United States have a reasonable expectation that the government will not secretly spy on them while they undress behind closed doors,” they wrote.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by G Crosse)

Source: OANN

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