Trump admits his son met Russians for dirt on Clinton
News & Trends •
reuters9 fake news reporting a complete fabrication that i am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son donald had in trump tower. this was a meeting to get information on an opponent totally legal and done all the time in politics and it went nowhere. i did not know about it1 one part of the inquiry has focused on a june 9 2016 meeting at trump tower in new york between donald jr. other campaign aides and a group of russians1 donald jr. said later he realized the meeting was primarily aimed at lobbying against the 2012 magnitsky sanctions law which led to moscow denying americans the right to adopt russian orphans1 president trump has repeatedly denied that his campaign worked with moscow saying no collusion last week however he adopted his lawyers tactics and insisted collusion is not a crime1 while collusion is not a technical legal charge mueller could bring conspiracy charges if he finds that any campaign member worked with russia to break u.s. law. working with a foreign national with the intent of influencing a u.s. election could violate multiple laws according to legal experts1 cnn reported last month that michael cohen the presidents longtime personal lawyer was willing to tell mueller that trump did know about the trump tower meeting in advance1 fake news reporting a complete fabrication that i am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son donald had in trump tower. this was a meeting to get information on an opponent totally legal and done all the time in politics and it went nowhere. i did not know about it trump said1 trump has stepped up his public attacks on the mueller probe since the first trial to arise from it began last week in alexandria virginia involving former trump campaign chairman paul manafort1 the federal tax and bank fraud charges manafort faces are not related to the trump campaign but manaforts close relations with russians and a kremlin-backed ukrainian politician are under scrutiny in the trial1 trumps attacks on the special counsels investigation have been rebuffed by republican leaders in congress who have expressed support for mueller1 the president should be straightforward with the american people about the threat to our election process that russia putin in particular is engaged in is ongoing representative ed royce chairman of the house foreign affairs committee said on cnns state of the union on sunday1 one of the presidents personal lawyers said on sunday that if trump is subpoenaed by the special counsel his lawyers will attempt to quash it in court. any legal battle over whether the president can be compelled to testify could go all the way to the u.s. supreme court the lawyer jay sekulow said on abcs this week1 u.s. intelligence agencies concluded last year that russia interfered in the 2016 u.s. election with a campaign of hacking into democratic party computer networks and spreading disinformation on social media. american intelligence officials say russia is targeting the november congressional elections which will determine whether or not republicans keep control of both chambers of the u.s. congress1 trumps lawyers and the white house have given conflicting accounts about whether trump was involved in crafting donald jr.s response to a new york times article last summer revealing the trump tower meeting with the adoptions rationale. trumps lawyers acknowledged in a letter to muellers team in january 2018 that trump dictated the response according to the times1

Facebook shares crash as privacy rules bite
News & Trends •
reuters9 facebooks fortunes shifted in under two hours as the company first reported revenue and user growth that missed expectations and then issued warnings about future growth and expenses2 the company further warned that the toll would not be offset by revenue growth from emerging markets and facebooks instagram app which has been more immune from privacy concerns1 facebook incs shares lost as much as a quarter of their value on wednesday after executives said that profit margins would plummet for several years due to the costs of improving privacy safeguards and slowing usage in the biggest advertising markets1 operating profit margin which fell to 44 percent in the second quarter from 47 percent a year ago will sink to the mid-30s for more than two years chief financial officer david wehner said in investor guidance1 the plummeting stock price wiped out as much as 150 billion in market capitalization and erased the stocks gains since april when facebook announced a surprisingly strong 63 percent rise in profit and an increase in users1 if the share drop holds on thursday it would be facebooks largest single-day decline topping a 12 percent decrease in july 20121 nasdaq futures dropped 0.85 percent late on wednesday suggesting the technology-heavy nasdaq composite index would fall when trading opens on thursday morning. facebooks results prompted selling in other nasdaq listings including media and advertising rivals amazon.com inc netflix inc and alphabet inc1 entering a new period1 facebook had cautioned investors to expect a big jump in second-quarter costs because of efforts to address concerns about poor handling of users privacy and to better monitor what users post. total expenses in the second quarter surged to 7.4 billion up 50 percent compared with a year ago1 facebook forecast similar increases for the second half of the year also citing spending on video content and marketing1 its gloomy forecast for revenue growth surprised investors though and prompted many questions from financial analysts on a conference call with company executives on wednesday1 sales in the second quarter grew 42 percent its slowest pace in nearly three years to 13.2 billion compared with 9.3 billion a year ago1 wehner said quarterly revenue growth would be closer to 30 percent the rest of the year1 the second-quarter results were the first sign that a new european privacy law and a succession of privacy scandals involving cambridge analytica and other app developers have bit into facebooks business1 the general data protection regulation gdpr in the european union also will cause a revenue drop. the new privacy law forced several changes to facebooks privacy terms and sign-up process leading a minority of users to opt for non-personalized ads which tend to generate less revenue1 theyre talking about currency headwinds but more we think its due to slower user growth given gdpr and more focus on privacy morningstar analyst ali mogharabi said1 facebooks daily active users in europe declined by 3 million amid the new regulation. worldwide daily user growth for facebooks namesake service slid for its sixth straight quarter bringing it to nearly 1.5 billion users in the second quarter1 the company said for the first time that more than 2.5 billion users interact with at least one of its apps each month but analysts have said many of them are spending more time with messenger whatsapp and instagram. commercialization of those apps is nascent1 revenue from emerging markets has not picked up the slack either. sales from united states canada and europe fell 75 million in the second quarter compared with a year ago while revenue from other markets rose 51 million1 gene munster a venture capitalist at loup ventures said in an email that facebook is entering a new period where declining user growth will translate to slower revenue growth1 he added that facebook has a track record of resetting revenue growth and expense expectations only to turn around and exceed those expectations the following quarter1 facebook reported 5.1 billion in profit or 1.74 per share compared with the average estimates of 5.1 billion and 1.72 per share among research gathered by thomson reuters1 the threat of additional privacy regulatory setbacks remains a concern according to analysts1 facebook suffered a blow in china on wednesday when regulators there withdrew their approval of a company innovation hub to support local startups the new york times reported on wednesday citing a person familiar with the matter1 misinformation on whatsapp contributing to mob killings in india have added to the pressure on facebook to re-evaluate how its services maintain security and decorum1 nearly all social media services have received greater scrutiny since u.s. intelligence agencies in january 2017 revealed that organizations tied to the russian government had seeded content on the platform to shake up the 2016 u.s. presidential election1 he cited currency fluctuations and a shift in usage to features where facebook shows less advertising or charges less due to lower demand1

Photos: Trump, Kim finally meet face-to-face
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reuters9 after months of sabre-rattling that gave way to flirtation president trump finally met face-to-face with kim jong un at a hotel on sentosa island in singapore on tuesday morning1 while it remained unclear what sort of document the two men would sign trump added that the meeting had gone better than anybody could have expected1 their meeting began shortly after 9 a.m. local time with trump wearing a dark suit and red tie and kim dressed in a black suit. the two men walked along a white colonnade meeting in front of a bank of 12 alternating u.s. and north korean flags where they shook hands. the handshake lasted about 12 seconds1 according to the shanghai media group the 35-year-old kim arrived at the summit venue seven minutes earlier than trump 71 to show respect to his elder1 after their initial greeting trump and kim walked inside sat down and spoke briefly to reporters1 trump who had insisted he would know within the first minute if kim was serious about denuclearisation said he felt really great and that it was his honour to meet with the north korean leader1 were going to have a great discussion trump said. a tremendous success. we will have a great relationship1 it was not easy to get here kim said. there were obstacles but we overcame them to be here1 kim likened the meeting to something from a science fiction movie according to a translation of his remarks1 the pair then retreated to a private room where they met one-on-one with interpreters for about 35 minutes before an expanded bilateral meeting with both u.s. and north korean advisers1 hours into a working lunch at which the two leaders discussed a deal to denuclearise north korea trump and kim took a stroll together and the u.s. president declared were going right now for a signing1 at the top of the expanded meeting trump said he and kim will solve the problems presented by a nuclear north korea1 working together we will get it taken care of trump said1 we overcame all kinds of skepticism and speculations about this summit kim added and i believe that this is good for the peace1 trump arrived at the hotel after issuing a flurry of tweets dismissing skeptics of the meeting between u.s. leaders and the rogue nuclear nation as haters1 he also revealed that his economic adviser larry kudlow who was not part of the u.s. delegation in singapore had suffered a heart attack was being treated at walter reed medical center in maryland1 larry is currently in good condition white house press secretary sarah sanders said. and his doctors expect he will make a full and speedy recovery1 adding to the surreal nature of trump-kim spectacle former nba star dennis rodman appeared on cnn in a rambling emotional interview live from singapore where he broke into tears as he commented on his role in bringing kim and trump to the negotiating table1 rodman who first traveled to north korea in 2013 to meet with kim said he received death threats as a result of his outreach1 i believed in north korea rodman said. and when i went home i couldnt even go home. i couldnt go home. i had to hide out for 30 days. i couldnt even go home but i kept my head up high brother. i knew things were going to change. i knew it. i was the only one1 the flamboyant former basketball star added that the trump white house called him tuesday to thank him for his unlikely diplomacy1 the president was flanked by secretary of state mike pompeo chief of staff john kelly and national security adviser john bolton. kim was joined by vice chairman kim yong chol and foreign ministers ri yong ho and ri su yong. trump and kim sat across from each other near the center of a long table1

Egyptian Nufal begins bike trip to Russia World Cup
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reuters9 a 24 year-old egyptian mohamed ibn nufal nufal has set off from cairos tahrir square for the world cup in russia on a bicycle1 after about 5000 km 3000 miles and 65 days on the road nufal hopes to reach moscow to see egypt make its first appearance in the world cup for 28 years1 nufal plans to get there via jordan bulgaria romania moldova and ukraine. he will fly over syria due to the civil war there and will also give iraq a miss for security reasons1 on his bike nufal has packed spare parts an extra phone batteries and camping gear. in addition to his tent nufal will put up in hostels where he can find them as well as relying on the kindness of strangers for a bed for the night1 it is about the road more than the arrival he told reuters television. if it were just about the world cup i would take a plane. it is a great chance for me to see new things1 a group of cyclists and friends escorted nufal as he started his trip on saturday and he hopes many more will offer him help along the way1 after clinching its world cup spot in october egypt will compete on footballs ultimate stage for the first time since 19901

Man Citys Aguero missing in Liverpool
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reuters9 manchester city striker sergio aguero did not make the trip to liverpools anfield and has been ruled out of todays champions league quarter-final first leg tie after failing to recover in time from a thigh injury1 he has stayed in manchester he didnt come city manager pep guardiola told a news conference ahead of training on tuesday1 hes been injured for the last two weeks and he still isnt fit added the spanish manager who was unable to say if aguero will be fit for saturdays premier league derby clash with manchester united at the etihad stadium1 agueros absence means a likely start for brazilian gabriel jesus in attack1 the argentine is citys all-time top scorer having notched 199 goals in all competitions for the club1 the liverpool-city clash will be the fifth at this stage of the competition between two english clubs and the third involving liverpool1 liverpool have played in six of the ten previous all-english encounters in the european cup including the only one in the pre-uefa champions league era and seven of the 14 in uefa club competition overall1 only one has previously featured manchester city beaten in both legs by chelsea in the 197071 european cup winners cup semi-finals with most involving arsenal chelsea liverpool and manchester united1 that quartet as the premier leagues big four helped england dominate the knockout rounds of the uefa champions league between 2004 and 20111 there was some good news on the injury front for city with left back fabian delph who has been out since february fit again and in contention for a place in the starting lineup1

Porn actress Daniels sues Trump
News & Trends •
reuters9 adult-film actress stormy daniels has sued president donald trump alleging he never signed a nondisclosure agreement to keep her quiet about an intimate relationship between them1 daniels whose real name is stephanie clifford filed the lawsuit in los angeles claiming the agreement is invalid and she is free to publicly discuss her relationship with trump1 the lawsuit which cliffords attorney michael avenatti published in a tweet says that she signed both the agreement and a side letter using her stage name on october 28 2016 days before the 2016 u.s. presidential election1 trumps attorney michael cohen signed the document the same day but trump never signed the document the lawsuit claims1 the hush agreement as it is called in the lawsuit refers to trump as david dennison and clifford as peggy peterson. the side letter agreement reveals the true identities of the parties as clifford and trump according to the lawsuit1 clifford asks in the lawsuit for the los angeles county superior court to declare the agreement and side agreement invalid and unenforceable1 trump has denied having an affair with daniels1 according to the lawsuit clifford and trump had an intimate relationship that lasted from the summer of 2006 well into 2007 including meetings in lake tahoe and at the beverly hills hotel1 daniels was quoted in a 2011 interview with in touch weekly magazine that she had an affair with trump after they met at a lake tahoe golf tournament in 2006 not long after trumps wife melania had given birth to their son barron1 cohen has said he paid clifford 130000 of his own money in 2016 the year trump was elected president but said neither the trump organization nor trumps campaign was a party to the transaction though he declined to say publicly what it was for1 the lawsuit said the 2016 hush agreement called for 130000 to be paid into the trust account of cliffords then-attorney. in return clifford was not to disclose any confidential information about trump1 the suit alleges cohen has tried to keep clifford from talking about the relationship as recently as feb. 27 20181 the attempts to intimidate ms. clifford into silence and shut her up in order to protect mr. trump continue unabated the lawsuit said1 adult-film actress stephanie clifford also known as stormy daniels poses for pictures at the end of her striptease show in gossip gentleman club in long island new york u.s. february 23 2018. reuterseduardo munoz the white house did not immediately respond to a request for comment. avenatti was not immediately available for comment.1

Oldman, McDormand best actors, Shape of Water best movie at Oscar
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reuters9 fantastical romancethe shape of water won best picture u.s. hollywood film industrys most prestigious honor at sundays oscar ceremony1 the fox searchlight movies mexican filmmaker guillermo del toro took home the best director oscar dashing the hopes of a rare win by a woman or a black filmmaker1 the movie about a mute cleaning woman who falls in love with a strange river creature had gone into the ceremony with a leading 13 nominations and won a total of four academy awards1 as expected britains gary oldman was named best actor for playing world war two leader winston churchill in warner bros.darkest hour while frances mcdormands woman in a fury was a popular best actress winner for fox searchlights dark comedythree billboards outside ebbing missouri1 elsewhere awards were spread around recognizing first-timers lgbt movies and films inspired by other cultures1 oscars host jimmy kimmel tackled hollywoods sexual misconduct scandal with jokes on a night heavy with nods to activism on issues ranging from lgbt issues and school shootings to sexism and racism1 gay romancecall me by your name won best adapted screenplay and racial satireget out won best original screenplay1 a fantastic woman chiles groundbreaking story about a transgender woman played by transgender actress daniela vega won best foreign language film and mexican-inspiredcoco was named best animated feature1 sam rockwell and allison janney took home their first oscars for their supporting rolesthree billboards and independent ice-skating moviei tonya respectively1

Barclays Africa eyes Nigerian market
Sports •
reuters9 barclays africa group south africas no.2 lender by market value plans to extend its reach throughout the continent its ceo maria ramos said on thursday after posting annual profit up nearly 4 percent1 finance director jason quinn told reuters that nigeria has been in its sights for some time1 we would have to think carefully about how and when to enter the nigerian market and that is what we are going to start doing he said1 we have to decide how we enter whether we acquire or build1 the bank had earlier reported normalised diluted headline earnings per share the primary measure of profit in south africa stripping out one-off items up 3.9 pct at 1837.7 cents for the year to dec. 31 helped by a 20 percent drop in credit impairments1 ramos said the bank which is changing its name back to south african brand absa after its split from former parent barclays aims to enter nigeria as it seeks to lift its share of the african market to 12 percent from 6 percent over the medium term1 growth in the united states was the positive surprise in the second half even as europe japan and china grew at or above consensus expectations the bank said1 this more than made up for slow economic expansion in its main markets which account for about 80 percent of group income1 barclays africa and its rivals have struggled to increase lending as slowing economic growth in many african markets tempers demand from corporate clients while retail clients in its home south african market feel the squeeze from rising interest rates1 however confidence in its domestic market has been buoyed by the cyril ramaphosas elevation to the south african presidency last month pledging to revitalise the economy1 barclays africa said it expects growth in loans and deposits to improve in 2018 and forecast stronger loan growth from the rest of africa. it also forecast stronger loan growth in corporate and investment banking in south africa. 1 11.9025 rand1 net interest income a gauge of lending profitability rose by 1 percent to 42.32 billion rand 3.56 billion while its net interest margin was unchanged at 4.95 percent1

Toyota plans to sell more hybrid cars
Autos •
reuters9 more3 toyota2 cars2 hybrid1 sell1 hybrid cars1 toyota cars in nigeria1 camry hybrid in india1 plans1 overall cost of manufacturing hybrids1 the number of toyota vehicles sold for that period1 toyotas camry hybrid1 indias first-time car buyers1 society of indian automobile manufacturers1 akito tachibana1 daihatsu1 the japanese carmaker1