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Canada’s federal government wants cigarettes to self-extinguish when we stop smoking them, believing this will reduce incidents of death and injury from fires caused by careless smoking.
Thus, since 2005 the government has mandated the use of reduced ignition propensity (RIP) materials in the manufacture of all cigarettes. However, the government’s high cigarette taxes prompt many smokers to buy non-RIP contraband cigarettes, which, as it turns out, may actually be the safer product.
RIP Cigarettes Counterproductive?
Jack Burt, acting deputy chief of the London, Ontario Fire Department said , “In the 10 years after Canada enforced the rule on self-extinguishing cigarettes, there was a 30 per cent drop in fire deaths associated with cigarette smoke.” Curiously, the same figure was touted by the World Health Organization (WHO), which tells us: “A 2013 report by the United States National Fire Protection Association suggests that the adoption of the RIP standard by US states appears to be the “principal reason for a 30% decline in smoking material fire deaths from 2003 to 2011.”
However, results of a study by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission “suggest that it is premature to conclude that use of the RIP cigarette alone will greatly reduce the threat of unintentional fires ignited by cigarettes involving mattresses or soft furnishings …” Similarly, an analysis by Injury Prevention notes that “Technical tests show little to no difference between fire safe [RIP] or conventional cigarettes in realistic settings.”
In fact, RIP regulations may even be counterproductive due to side effects of the product, as well as how smokers use the product. In New York, where RIP laws took effect in 2004, smoking-related fire statistics show that “The frequency of a smoker’s home catching on fire has actually increased since the law went into effect.” But if RIP cigarettes increase the likelihood of a fire, why are there fewer fires? Simple. Fewer people are smoking.
From 2001 to 2015, the smoking rate in Canada dropped by 31.7% (see here and here ). Thus, the credit attributed to the government’s RIP regulation appears to be completely overstated. This is not surprising. Governments love to claim credit for events they had nothing to do with.
The Government’s Perspective
In Canada, the government apparently believes in the life saving benefits of its RIP regulation, which was enacted because the government says it “is responsible for helping the people of Canada maintain and improve their health.” But if the government is so concerned about our health, why does it impose onerous taxes on RIP cigarettes, thus pushing many smokers into the supposedly unhealthy non-RIP black market?
The stock answer from politicians and bureaucrats to such logical questions is that they are burdened by the thankless and daunting task of balancing priorities. The political rationale would go something like this: “RIP cigarettes are purchased by a majority of smokers, and high tobacco taxes are turning smokers into ex-smokers. Taxation and regulation have proven to be highly effective.” However, as with the RIP regulation, taxation also appears to be ineffective.
Tobacco Taxes do Not Achieve the Government’s Goal
The government says “Tobacco taxation is known to be one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking, and to keep tobacco products out of the hands of young people.” Wrong on both counts, as a Financial Post article explains :
Since the sale of contraband tobacco products is illegal, the vendors of such tobacco pay no heed to restrictions on the age of purchasers. So, unsurprisingly, contraband has become a popular source of tobacco consumption for minors.
According to Health Canada [a government agency], 35% of Canadians smoked in 1985. That fell to just over 30% by the early 1990s and has continued to fall almost every year since then regardless of the tobacco tax rate. In fact, the rate of decline in smoking in the eight years following the 1994 tax cut was greater than the decline in the eight years after taxes were raised in 2002.
The government’s own statistics refute its claim that tobacco taxation is an effective way to reduce smoking, yet the taxes remain as a smokescreen to raise revenue for the government.
Conclusion
The efficacy of RIP regulations is very much in doubt, with evidence suggesting they may even be counterproductive. Furthermore, aside from smoking-related-fires, the manner in which RIP cigarettes are manufactured and smoked may actually pose greater risks to the health of smokers as compared to non-RIP cigarettes.
Vaping products are a much healthier alternative for smokers and far less likely to be the source of unintended fires, as compared to RIP and non-RIP cigarettes. However, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Canada’s Minister of Health, said “We’re .. placing restrictions on the promotion of vaping products while allowing adults to legally access them as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes …” So, having acknowledged that cigarettes are more harmful to our health than vaping, the government somehow feels it is prudent to prevent vendors of vaping products from persuading cigarette smokers to kick the habit.
Politicians and bureaucrats appear to be more dangerous to our health than smoking.
What can we learn from the ancient Greeks that we can apply today?
Source: InfoWars
When the Federal Reserve artificially manipulates interest rates, it’s messing with our minds by distorting important signals that prices provide in a free market. As investment guru Jim Grant put it in a recent article in Barron’s, central bank interest rates are nothing but crude price controls.
Like all price controls, the Fed’s interest rate mechanizations create some winners and some losers. But in the long run, the distortions caused by the central bank’s interventionist monetary policy makes us all losers.
Basic economic theory tells us price controls distort supply and demand curves. We see this in the housing shortages caused by government imposed rent controls. As Grant explains, Fed interest rate policies are nothing more than a mechanism to control the price of credit. And like all price controls, they create distortions.
“It’s a spotty form of control, granted—the bond market, where it’s allowed to function, still has a say in determining the price of credit. But central bankers’ thumbs press heavily on the scales.”
“So what?” you might say. Surely the central bankers know what they’re doing. But do they, really?
Mike Adams exposes the agenda of the private Fed as a war against the prosperity of Americans that simply want to make America great.
The biggest problem is that the constant tinkering with interest rates create massive distortions in the economy. And while they may help some people along the way, they hurt others. Grant points to the housing market. You’ll remember that distortions in the real estate market created low-interest rates coupled with government policy led to the 2007 crash and the ensuing Great Recession. Did the central bankers learn their lesson? Apparently not. In the wake of the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates even lower and left them there for nearly a decade.
As Grant points out, this has certainly been a positive development for homeowners – the winners in this scenario. The price of houses has increased by 52% in the last decade. But there are losers as well.
“That has been a boon for homeowners, and even for home flippers (they’re back), but no boon at all for the 35% of Americans who rent. Since March 2009, consumer-price-index-calculated rents are up by 32% (as much as the rise in medical costs), against a 26% rise in nominal hourly wages. Then, too, outside New York, the apartment-dwelling portion of the population tends not to be the most affluent one. It’s the same population that derives no immediate benefit from corporate share repurchases conducted with proceeds of borrowed money at near record highs in equity valuations.”
And while creditors have benefited from the central bank’s manipulation, savers have suffered. According to a Wells Fargo analyst, American depositors have forfeited $500 billion to $600 billion in interest income over the past 10 years. That’s just assuming deposit rates would have been at least one percentage point higher in the absence of central bank control.
Gerald Celente break down what’s ahead as the Federal Reserve is crashing the debt & real estate bubble it created worldwide.
This is the essence of the business cycle. Artificially low-interest rates incentivize speculative borrowing and discourage savings. This is meant to “stimulate” the economy by driving up demand. It works – in the short run. But the lack of savings hinders capital formation and you can’t have a healthy economy over the long-term without capital investment. Eventually, the stimulus wears off and the bubbles burst.
The housing market isn’t the only place we see these economic distortions today. Speculative-grade corporate debt has “shockingly deteriorated.” In January 2007 – on the cusp of the Great Recession – 19.7% of subinvestment-grade borrowers were rated on the bottom rungs of Moody’s scales. Today, 43.6% of these borrowers are within that designation.
As Grant explains, artificially low interest rates are “disinhibitors.”
“They stir the blood, liberate the imagination, and quiet the still small voice of reason that can’t seem to get a word in edgewise. That voice would like to remind us that tiny yields forever lead to ‘impulsivity, disregard for financial norms, and faulty risk assessment.’ They cause sober investors to behave as if a jigger of scotch had been poured down their throats and into their empty stomachs.”
The thrust of Grant’s argument is that the Federal Reserve creates winners and losers. But in the long run, we all come out on the losing end of the bargain.
“Radical monetary policy, and the interest rates that go with it, advantage some, punish others. Speculators gain, savers lose. The rich do better than the poor. On balance, has the decade-long experiment in interest-rate suppression yielded the expected net benefit? The answer—no’—is best explained by the first economist who uttered the five wise words, ‘There ain’t no free lunch.’”
Alex Jones and a caller discuss how President Trump must now go on the offense.
Source: InfoWars
FILE PHOTO: A logo of French retailer Casino is pictured outside a Casino supermarket in Nantes, France, July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo
April 22, 2019
PARIS (Reuters) – French retailer Casino said on Monday it agreed to sell a portfolio of 12 Casino hypermarkets and 20 supermarkets to U.S. asset management firm Apollo Global Management in a deal worth up to 470 million euros ($529.03 million).
Casino said the proposed transaction was to take place by the end of July, with 80 percent of the value of the assets expected to be paid for by then.
The company is in the process of selling assets in order to help cut its debts and ease concerns over the financial position of both Casino and its parent holding company Rallye.
Along with domestic peers such as Carrefour and Auchan, Casino faces intense price competition in its home market as well as challenges from online players such as Amazon.
Last month Casino raised its goal for the disposal of non-strategic assets to at least 2.5 billion euros by the first quarter of 2020.
(Reporting by Matthias Blamont, editing by Louise Heavens)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Workers construct a new home in Leyden Rock in Arvada, Colorado, U.S. August 30, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo
April 22, 2019
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. home sales fell more than expected in March, pointing to continued weakness in the housing market despite declining mortgage rates and slowing house price gains.
The sharp drop in home sales reported by the National Association of Realtors on Monday came ahead of the busy spring selling season. The housing market continues to buck the broader economy, which has shown signs of gaining momentum after stumbling at the turn of the year.
Existing home sales dropped 4.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.21 million units last month. February’s sales pace was revised down to 5.48 million units from the previously reported 5.51 million units.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast existing home sales would fall 3.8 percent to a rate of 5.30 million units last month. Existing home sales, which make up about 90 percent of U.S. home sales, declined 5.4 percent from a year ago. That was the 13th straight year-on-year decrease in home sales.
LAND SHORTAGES
Falling mortgage rates, strengthening wage growth and slowing house price inflation have improved affordability, but housing supply remains tight, especially at the lower end of the market as land and labor shortages are making it difficult for builders to ramp up construction in this market segment.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has dropped from a peak of about 4.94 percent in November to around 4.12 percent, according to data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac. Wage growth is also strengthening.
A survey last week showed that while builders reported strong demand for new homes in April, they also complained about “affordability concerns stemming from a chronic shortage of construction workers and buildable lots.”
There were steep declines in sales in the lower and upper ends of the housing market last month.
The dollar slipped against a basket of currencies after the release of the existing home sales data. Stocks on Wall Street were trading lower and U.S. Treasury prices fell.
Last month, existing home sales fell in all four regions. There were 1.68 million previously owned homes on the market in March, up from 1.63 million in February. At March’s sales pace, it would take 3.9 months to exhaust the current inventory, up from 3.6 months in February.
A six-to-seven-month supply is viewed as a healthy balance between supply and demand. The median existing house price increased 3.8 percent from a year ago to $259,400 in March.
The Commerce Department reported last Friday that housing starts dropped to a rate of 1.139 million units in March, the lowest level since May 2017.
That was the second straight monthly drop in homebuilding and pushed starts substantially below the 1.5 million to 1.6 million units per month range that realtors estimate is needed to alleviate the shortage.
Houses for sale typically stayed on the market for 36 days in March, down from 44 days in February but up from 30 days a year ago. About 47 percent of homes sold in March were on the market for less than a month.
First-time buyers accounted for a third of sales last month, little changed from February and up from 30 percent a year ago. Economists and realtors say a 40 percent share of first-time buyers is needed for a robust housing market.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: A new apartment building housing construction site is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S. July 30, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
April 22, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. home sales fell more than expected in March, pointing to continued weakness in the housing market despite declining mortgage rates and slowing house price gains.
The National Association of Realtors said on Monday existing home sales dropped 4.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.21 million units last month. February’s sales pace was revised down to 5.48 million units from the previously reported 5.51 million units.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast existing home sales would fall 3.8 percent to a rate of 5.30 million units last month. Existing home sales, which make up about 90 percent of U.S. home sales, declined 5.4 percent from a year ago. That was the 13th straight year-on-year decrease in home sales.
Falling mortgage rates, strengthening wage growth and slowing house price inflation have improved affordability, but housing supply remains tight, especially at the lower end of the market as land and labor shortages are making it difficult for builders to ramp up construction in this market segment.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has dropped from a peak of about 4.94 percent in November to around 4.12 percent, according to data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac. Wage growth is also strengthening.
A survey last week showed that while builders reported strong demand for new homes in April, they also complained about “affordability concerns stemming from a chronic shortage of construction workers and buildable lots.”
Last month, existing home sales fell in all four regions. There were 1.68 million previously owned homes on the market in March, up from 1.63 million in February. At March’s sales pace, it would take 3.9 months to exhaust the current inventory, up from 3.6 months in February.
A six-to-seven-month supply is viewed as a healthy balance between supply and demand. The median existing house price increased 3.8 percent from a year ago to $259,400 in March.
The Commerce Department reported last Friday that housing starts dropped to a rate of 1.139 million units in March, the lowest level since May 2017.
That was the second straight monthly drop in homebuilding and pushed starts substantially below the 1.5 million to 1.6 million units per month range that realtors estimate is needed to alleviate the shortage.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: A street sign for Wall Street hangs in front of the New York Stock Exchange May 8, 2013. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
April 22, 2019
By Sruthi Shankar
(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures dipped on Monday as investors returned from their Easter break and took a cautious stance at the beginning of what is expected to be the busiest week of the first-quarter earnings season.
The S&P 500 closed slightly lower last week, ending its three-week winning streak, but hovered about 1% away from a record high hit in September on U.S.-China trade hopes and a largely upbeat earnings season.
More than a third of the S&P 500 companies, including Boeing Co, Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc, will report this week determining whether investors should be concerned about the start of an earnings recession or whether back-to-back quarters of negative growth can be avoided.
S&P 500 profits are expected to drop 1.7% year-over-year, according to Refinitiv data in what could be the first earnings contraction since 2016.
Halliburton Co was up 3.8% in premarket trading after the oilfield services provider reported a surge in quarterly profit driven by a recovery in demand from its international customers.
Also helping was a surge in oil prices, with the United States set to announce a further clampdown on Iranian oil exports, tightening global supplies.
Exxon Mobil Corp was up 0.6% and Schlumberger NV gained 1.5%.
At 7:21 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 60 points, or 0.23%. S&P 500 e-minis were down 7.75 points, or 0.27% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 23.75 points, or 0.31%.
Boeing Co was down 1.2% following a New York Times report over the weekend that the company’s factory in South Carolina, which makes the 787 Dreamliner, has been plagued by shoddy production and weak oversight that have threatened to compromise safety. Another report on Sunday said the planemaker rejected the allegations.
Tesla Inc fell 2.4% after the electric car company said it has sent a team to investigate a video on Chinese social media which showed a parked Tesla Model S car exploding. Chinese rival Nio Inc’s shares were down 3.1%.
Pinterest Inc shares dipped 1.9% after closing up more than 30% in their market debut on Thursday. Brokerage Zephirin Group started coverage with a “sell” rating, citing a very competitive market for visual sharing.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Idle oil production equipment is seen in a Halliburton yard in Williston, North Dakota April 30, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Cullen/File Photo
April 22, 2019
(Reuters) – Halliburton Co on Monday called the bottom of a pricing downturn that has plagued oilfield services companies and surprised on expectations saying first-quarter activity levels in North America were modestly higher from a year earlier.
Oilfield services providers have been struggling with a tightening of spending by oil producers looking to rein in new drilling in response to shareholder pressure for greater returns after a period of heavy investment.
In contrast to the sector’s other major player Schlumberger NV last week, Halliburton said activity in its largest market in North America was modestly higher.
“We believe the worst in the pricing deterioration is now behind us,” Halliburton’s Chief Executive Officer Jeff Miller said, adding that it experienced pricing headwinds throughout the quarter. The company also said it expects demand for its services to progress modestly for the next couple of quarters.
Revenue from North America, Halliburton’s biggest market, fell 7 percent to $3.3 billion in the three months ended Mar. 31 but came in above the 3.13 billion that 5 analysts had estimated, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Total revenue was largely flat at $5.74 billion.
Net income attributable to Halliburton rose to $152 million, or 17 cents per share, in the first quarter, from $46 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, the Houston-based company earned 23 cents per share, above analysts’ average estimates of 22 cents.
(Reporting by Arathy S Nair and Debroop Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: A woman shops in a wet market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Olivia Harris
April 22, 2019
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s consumer prices are expected to edge higher in March, rebounding after two months in deflationary territory, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.
The consumer price index in March was forecast to rise 0.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the median estimate among 13 economists surveyed.
The index turned negative in January for the first time since November 2009, declining 0.7 percent year-on-year. In February, it dropped 0.4 percent.
Price pressures have been mild since the government scrapped an unpopular consumption tax in June 2018 and reinstated a narrower sales and services tax (SST) three months later.
The central bank has said, however, that Malaysia did not face serious deflationary pressures. Headline inflation, which came in at 1 percent in 2018, was likely to average higher this year, Bank Negara Malaysia said.
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Visitors attend the China Import and Export Fair, also known as Canton Fair, in the southern city of Guangzhou, China April 16, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
April 22, 2019
By John Ruwitch
GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) – Manufacturers in China facing trade barriers are deploying an array of moves to try to keep foreign customers – giving discounts, tapping tax breaks, trimming workforces and, occasionally, shifting production overseas to skirt tariffs.
Tit-for-tat tariffs from the China-United States trade war have been costly for many. Adding to the strain on Chinese manufacturers have been European Union duties on Chinese products ranging from electric bikes to solar panels.
March brought some encouraging news for manufacturers. Industrial output rose at its fastest rate since mid-2014 and exports rebounded more than expected, while first-quarter growth was better than expected.
Still, some manufacturers who depend on U.S. sales are struggling. At the Canton Fair in southern China this past week, they put on a brave face, but feared they will need to take more measures to survive if Beijing and Washington fail to seal a trade deal.
Botou Golden Integrity Roll Forming Machine Co lost some U.S. customers when tariffs pushed up prices for its machines making light steel girders and bars for building frames, according to Hope Ha, a saleswoman.
It now offers an 8 percent discount as a sweetener.
“We have to give discounts because they pay high tariffs,” said Ha.
Ball bearing maker Cixi Fushi Machinery Co gave long-term customers a 3-5 percent discount, according to representative Jane Wang.
But that was not enough, so the company suspended a product line generating $30,000 monthly revenue, she said.
“We will wait for the agreement and then we will see again,” she said. Now, the focus is on its main market, the Middle East.
Some have been able to pass along increased costs.
UNAVOIDABLE PRICE HIKES
California-based ACOPower has increased prices about 10-15 percent on some of its made-in-China, solar-powered refrigerators, said founder Jeffrey Tang.
“We have no choice,” he said. “We must increase the price.”
Tang says his portable fridges cannot be made affordably in other countries. But if there’s no trade agreement, and tariffs rise, the equation could change.
“Maybe I’ll just ship all the components to Vietnam to do the assembly.”
Aufine Tyre rented and filled a warehouse last year in California in anticipation of anti-dumping duties, which were later imposed. In another move to circumvent tariffs, it will soon open a plant in Thailand to make tires.
Jane Liu, a sales manager, said Aufine plans to send 50 containers a month from Thailand, with 220-240 tires in each, and later expand.
Some companies at the fair cheered Beijing’s move to trim China’s value-added tax to 13 percent from 16 percent at the start of April, and its pledge of tax rebates for exports.
“Things like this give us some protection or else we would suffer losses,” said Wills Yuan, a salesman at Ningbo Yourlite Import & Export Co in Shenzhen, which produces LED lights.
Shenzhen Smarteye Digital Electronics Co, a maker of surveillance cameras, which are not on the U.S. tariff list, was able to drop prices because of the tax break, according to sales manager Simple Yu.
“We save a lot on costs, so we can sell at a low price,” he said.
EXCHANGE RATE CONCERN
But Smarteye has worries, including increasing rent and labor costs that led it to trim its workforce.
Yu said he’s also concerned about the trade war’s potential effect on the yuan-dollar exchange rate. “Before it was 6.9 per dollar, now it’s 6.7 per dollar. We worry that it will go to 6.5.”
Electric bike makers have reacted nimbly to European anti-dumping duties of between 18.8 and 79.3 percent imposed in January. Many have started assembling some bikes in Europe; Zhejiang Enze Vehicle Co does so in Poland and Finland.
“We take the battery, frame, and the other parts, package them up separately and send them over to be assembled by partners,” said sales rep Dylan Di.
Anhui Light Industries International Co, which makes products ranging from plastic protractors for math to movie theater popcorn cups, says it has lost more than 1 billion yuan $149.2 million) after U.S. President Donald Trump raised import taxes.
Still, company representative Han Geng is optimistic the trade war will get resolved.
“It’s not good for America, not good for China,” he said, expressing the view that Trump knows the trade war is hurting business and “he will end it”.
When that day comes, Han said, “we will sell to America again… We need to make money. Everybody loves money.”
($1 = 6.7024 Chinese yuan)
(Editing by Simon Webb and Richard Borsuk)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a sign board of Huawei at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Asia 2018 in Shanghai, China June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song
April 22, 2019
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Huawei Technologies said on Monday its first-quarter revenue jumped 39 percent to 179.7 billion yuan ($26.81 billion), in the Chinese technology firm’s first-ever quarterly results.
The Shenzhen-based firm, the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker, also said its net profit margin was around 8 percent for the quarter, which it added was slightly higher than the same period last year. Huawei did not disclose its actual net profit.
The limited results announcement comes at a time when Washington has intensified a campaign against unlisted Huawei, alleging its equipment could be used for espionage and urging U.S. allies to ban it from building next-generation 5G mobile networks.
Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations and launched an unprecedented media blitz by opening up its campus to journalists and making its typically low-key founder, Ren Zhengfei, available for media interviews.
The Chinese firm, which is also the world’s No. 3 smartphone maker, said last week the number of contracts it has won to provide 5G telecoms gear increased further despite the U.S. campaign.
By the end of March, Huawei said it had signed 40 commercial 5G contracts with carriers, shipped more than 70,000 5G base stations to markets around the world and expects to have shipped 100,000 by May.
Huawei’s network business saw its first drop in revenue in two years in 2018. But Ren Zhengfei said in an interview with CNBC earlier this month that network equipment sales rose 15 percent while sales of the consumer business increased by more than 70 percent in the first quarter.
“These figures show that we are still growing, not declining,” Ren said.
Guo Ping, rotating chairman of the company, has said he expects all three business groups – consumer, carrier and enterprise – to post double-digit growth this year.
Huawei also said on Monday it had shipped 59 million smartphones in the first quarter. It did not disclose year-ago comparable figures, but according to market research firm Strategy Analytics, Huawei shipped 39.3 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2018.
(Reporting by Sijia Jiang and Julia Fioretti; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Source: OANN
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