U.S. House approves tighter North Korea sanctions

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Thursday to tighten sanctions on North Korea by targeting its shipping industry and companies that do business with the reclusive state.
The vote was 419 to 1.
Supporters said the legislation was intended to send a strong message to North Korea, amid international concern over the escalation of its nuclear program.
The measure would have to be approved by the Senate before it could be sent to the White House for President Donald Trump to sign into law.
Although legislation addressing North Korea has been introduced in the Senate, there was no immediate word on when or if the Senate might take up a bill.
Any new U.S. sanctions against North Korea would likely affect China, the North’s most important trade partner.
While China has been angered by North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests, it has signed up for increasingly tough U.N. sanctions against it, and says it is committed to enforcing them.
Asked about the latest U.S. legislation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang reiterated that China opposed other countries using their own domestic law to impose unilateral sanctions.
With the situation tense on the Korean Peninsula, all sides need to exercise restraint and not irritate each other to avoid the situation worsening, he said.

Report: Russia says Syria safe zones will be shut for US warplanes

Russian news agencies reported on Friday that U.S. and coalition warplanes will not be allowed to fly over safe zones in Syria.
Putin on Wednesday said he had a “very good” conversation over the phone with Trump, and that his U.S. counterpart agreed to a proposal to establish Syrian safe zones to protect civilians in the war-torn country.
But the White House only confirmed that the two leaders discussed the safe zones, not that there were any agreements.
It is unclear how Russia would enforce this reported no-fly zone for coalition forces.
Reuters reported that countries like Iran and Turkey have agreed on Moscow’s proposal for the “de-escalation zones.” The United Nations also reportedly welcomed the plan.
The proposal presented to the rebels in Astana delineates four zones in Syria where front lines between the government and rebels would be frozen and fighting halted, according to a statement made by rebels. The four include areas in the provinces of Idlib and Homs, the eastern Ghouta suburbs outside Damascus, and an area in the south of the country.
The zones, according to the document received by rebels, would be monitored by international observers and allow for the voluntary return of refugees.
Late Wednesday, Syria's Foreign Ministry said Damascus is "fully backing" the Russian initiative on the four cease-fire areas, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
But Ahmed Ramadan, an opposition representative, told The Associated Press that rebels requested a written answer on a number of questions, including why the cease-fire would only be in effect in the four areas instead of a nationwide truce.

Congress Passes Bill to Repeal and Replace Obamacare

Congress voted to make sweeping changes to the American health care system Thursday. Republicans passed the American Health Care Act to repeal and replace Obamacare with 217 yea votes and 213 no votes.
Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) , one of the few Republicans who voted no to the bill, said, “I don’t think this bill lowers premiums” and he added he would have liked to see a CBO score. The bill still has not been scored. Lance also said he’d like to “see the parties coming together and see cooperation from our Democratic colleagues” in a more bipartisan bill.
Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, said it was a series of discussions that brought him and other Caucus members from a ‘no’ to ‘yes’ vote.
In an last minute switch, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rep. Billy Long (R- MO) told President Trump, they had decided to vote ‘yes’, giving Republicans the final count they needed to go forward with the vote.
After the vote, House Democrats sang “Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye”, a song by Steam, on the House floor to Republicans.
A few major main provisions of the bill include:

• Obamacare subsidies for lower income Americans are repealed.
• The bill offers yearly tax credits ($2,000-$4,000 a year) to those without insurance based on age.
• A complete Medicaid funding overhaul. A fixed amount of funding is provided by the federal government. The bill ends open-ended entitlement and puts the program on a budget, cutting $880 billion dollars over 10 years.
• The bill cuts taxes on high income people by taking out a tax that previously charged an additional 3.6%

The bill could still see some major changes when it hits the Senate. However, after it passed Republicans headed to the White House Rose Garden for a celebratory press conference. President Trump said, “premiums will be coming down did will be coming down but very importantly its a great plan and that’s what it’s all about.”

Borrowing from the Bank Cartoons

Changes at helm of U.S. bank agency signal new Trump era

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Wednesday took its first step in replacing Obama-era banking regulators, naming a veteran financial lawyer as interim head of the watchdog for federally chartered banks.
Keith Noreika, a partner at law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, will be first deputy comptroller at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and will run the OCC on an interim basis when Comptroller Thomas Curry leaves on May 5, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
Former banker Joseph Otting, who worked with Mnuchin at Californian lender OneWest, is considered the lead contender to permanently replace Curry, several people familiar with the matter have said. That appointment requires Senate confirmation and analysts said they expected Noreika to be in charge for much of this year.
U.S. President Donald Trump wants to overhaul regulation of the financial services system to make it easier for banks to lend and has asked Mnuchin to review the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law by June 3.
The OCC is one of several regulators that monitors the health of Wall Street banks but has a particularly influential role in scrutinizing lending practices.
Under Curry, OCC bank examiners have clamped down on what they perceive as overly risky loans, particularly the type used to fund private equity buyouts.
Curry used his position to warn banks when he thought they were talking on too much risk in loans to energy firms and property developers.
“Curry did use the bully pulpit to warn banks against risky activity and I think you’re likely to see less of that going forward,” said Ian Katz, financial policy analyst at research firm Capital Alpha.
The appointment of Noreika and the expected nomination of Otting meant limits on how much banks can lend to highly indebted companies may be loosened in the future, said Jaret Seiberg, analyst at Cowen Washington Research Group.
“This is the most bullish sign yet for the biggest banks that the Trump administration will pursue a traditional Republican approach of financial regulation rather than adopt a more populist tone that could include high leverage capital requirements,” Seiberg said.
CONTROVERSIAL CHOICES
Trump’s plans to overhaul regulation are being held up by the government’s current lean crew of regulators.
While the Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm attorney Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, the OCC’s changing of the guard might not be so smooth.
Democrats have criticized practices at OneWest, the lender created by Mnuchin after the 2008 housing crisis that foreclosed on 36,000 California families. Mnuchin hired Otting as chief executive of the bank in 2010 and he held that role until it was bought by CIT Group in 2014.
Noreika’s background as a lawyer who has advised banks on M&A, including Ant Financial’s acquisition of Moneygram, as well as on the Volcker Rule, which prohibits banks from making speculative bets, is also controversial.
“It is disturbing that the President is rushing to replace Mr. Curry with an acting appointee who has clear conflicts of interest, and lacks any experience in running such an important agency,” Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement.
Noreika’s appointment does not require Senate approval.
Curry, a career regulator, was appointed by the Obama administration for a five-year term that expired last month and has since been serving under an extension.
While Curry took a tough line on risky lending, the agency did come under fire for its failure to tackle a sales practice abuse scandal at Wells Fargo & Co.
The OCC is also trying to establish itself as a regulator of online lenders and financial technology firms. State authorities have argued that is their job and are suing the OCC, arguing it lacks the legal authority to offer a banking charter for technology companies.
There are also three vacant spots on the Federal Reserve Board, including the post of vice chair of supervision, which will play a key role in any overhaul of bank regulation.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mnuchin told a conference of community bankers that Trump had signed off on a nominee to fill the vice chair role but did not name the person. Reuters had previously reported that Randal Quarles, who worked as under secretary for domestic finance at the Treasury under President George W. Bush, was a leading candidate.
Mnuchin said the administration was also close to naming the two other Fed selections.

Trump spends more time than predecessors in White House bubble

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In his first 100 days in office, Donald Trump made fewer appearances outside of the presidential bubble than his three immediate predecessors, venturing less beyond the White House or his private Mar-a-Lago estate, according to a Reuters review.
The U.S. president cast himself during his election campaign last year as a Washington outsider and a populist champion, and often seemed most comfortable at raucous campaign rallies.
Trump still constantly tells Americans what is on his mind through prolific use of Twitter messages, but he has not traveled out into the country often since taking office on Jan. 20.
Trump made comments at official appearances 132 times in the first 100 days, compared with 139 by Barack Obama in the same period, 177 by George W. Bush and 162 by Bill Clinton. (http://tmsnrt.rs/2p8M8EU)
Some 22 of his appearances were in settings other than the White House, Air Force One, a government agency or at Mar-a-Lago, a Florida resort that his administration has called the “winter White House.” That compares to 62 such appearances by Obama in his first 100 days, 80 for Bush and 46 for Clinton.
Reuters reviewed public remarks delivered by the presidents using White House websites, pool reports and documents archived by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Trump made public comments on five separate occasions at Mar-a-Lago. None of the other three presidents spoke to the public from a personal residence during their first 100 days, although Bush spoke twice at Camp David, the rustic presidential retreat in Maryland.
Asked about his travel, Trump’s advisers say he is focused on implementing the promises he made at his campaign rallies.
    “There is obviously a premium on his time,” said White House spokeswoman Natalie Strom. “We proceed with any additional travel very thoughtfully.”
    Bradley Blakeman, who was deputy assistant for scheduling and appointments under Bush, said Trump may be missing out on opportunities to sell his message to the public.
“Deals are made in Washington on Pennsylvania Avenue, but they are sold on Main Street, USA,” Blakeman said. “It’s an important part of the bully pulpit.”
    He said Trump should do targeted events focused on specific legislative priorities that will get coverage by local news outlets, where stories on presidential visits tend to be more positive than in the national media.
    During his first 100 days, Bush visited more than half a dozen schools in Washington and at least five different states as he promoted his education initiative, No Child Left Behind.
    Trump’s first major legislative push has focused on reforming the U.S. healthcare system, but he has not yet delivered remarks at a medical facility.
In an interview with Reuters last week, Trump lamented the confining nature of the presidency with its 24-hour Secret Service protection.
“You’re really into your own little cocoon, because you have such massive protection that you really can’t go anywhere,” he said.
Still, he remains a constant focus of public attention, helped by his use of Twitter, a tool that was seldom used or was entirely unavailable to his most recent three predecessors.
“Interaction online does not completely replace the value of in-person appearances, but you can’t ignore the fact that there is no limit on the amount of people the president’s tweets can reach,” Strom said.
Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, said that while Trump’s use of social media had opened a new chapter in presidential communication, his lack of sustained attention on any one issue undercut his message.
    “There’s not a focus there. When a president is all over the map, then he loses his power,” Jacobs said.

Feds decline to charge Louisiana policemen in fatal shooting

BATON ROUGE, La. (Reuters) – Federal prosecutors said on Wednesday they would not charge two Louisiana police officers in the fatal shooting of a black man last summer, prompting family members of the slain man to call for a state investigation.
The death of Alton Sterling, 37, in Baton Rouge, the state capital, was one in a series of racially charged police killings that inflamed a national debate over treatment of minorities, and especially young black men, by law enforcement.
The July 5, 2016 shooting prompted nationwide protests including a demonstration two days later in Dallas at which five law enforcement officers were fatally shot by an African-American former U.S. serviceman.
As of nightfall on Wednesday, the streets of Baton Rouge were quiet, with a few protesters gathering under intermittent rain.
In announcing the decision not to file federal charges against officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake, U.S. Attorney Corey Amundson told reporters in Baton Rouge there was “insufficient” evidence to prove civil rights violations.
Amundson said investigators could not determine whether Sterling was reaching for a gun at the time he was shot.
Members of Sterling’s family, in a simultaneous news conference, called on Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to pursue state criminal charges against the officers.
“Open up your heart, your eyes, and give us the justice that we deserve,” said Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of Sterling’s oldest son, fighting back tears.
Lawyers for the family said U.S. officials told them Salamoni was recorded on video threatening to kill Sterling less than 90 seconds before firing the fatal shots.
A lengthy summary of the Justice Department’s findings released on Wednesday did not include that detail.
Landry warned that a state investigation, which was delayed to allow the federal probe to proceed, “could take a considerable amount of time.”
The decision not to charge the two officers by the U.S. Department of Justice came amid scrutiny of how aggressively President Donald Trump’s administration will seek to hold police officers accountable in such situations.
Both Trump and his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, have criticized the Obama administration, saying it targeted police unfairly in civil rights investigations.
Sessions is still responsible for deciding whether to bring charges in other high-profile police killings, including the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland that same year.
The executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s state chapter, Marjorie Esman, however, said the decision was consistent with the Obama administration’s approach in similar cases, given the high legal standard in federal civil rights cases.
Wednesday’s events came a day after a white former South Carolina officer pleaded guilty in the 2015 shooting of an unarmed black man and a Texas officer was fired for shooting an unarmed 15-year-old boy on Saturday.
Sterling was shot outside a convenience store after a resident reported he had been threatened by a black man selling CDs. Officers said that Sterling was attempting to pull a loaded gun out of his pocket when Salamoni opened fire, according to the Justice Department summary.
The two officers are on paid administrative leave pending an internal police investigation.
Salamoni’s attorney, John McLindon, said he expects the state will come to the same conclusion as the federal probe.
“There’s not going to be any finding of any criminal conduct,” McLindon said by phone Wednesday evening.
Lake’s lawyer, Fred Crifasi, said the officer was relieved by the Justice Department’s decision but would not comment further.

Asian stocks retreat, dollar holds near six-week high on hawkish Fed

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian stocks retreated on Thursday, taking their cues from a subdued session on Wall Street, while the dollar retained gains made after the Federal Reserve’s hawkish policy statement.
European markets looked more positive, with financial spreadbetters expecting Britain’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX to open 0.2 percent higher and France’s CAC 40 to start the day up 0.1 percent.
At the end of its two-day meeting, the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate steady, as expected, but downplayed weak first-quarter economic growth and emphasized the strength of the labor market, a sign it was still on track for two more rate increases this year.
Futures traders are now pricing in a 72 percent chance of a June rate hike, from 63 percent before the Fed’s statement, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
The dollar stood at 112.765 yen, slightly higher than Wednesday and at its strongest level since March 20.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of trade-weighted peers, climbed 0.1 percent to 99.309, building on Wednesday’s 0.2 percent jump.
“The key over the coming weeks will be the economic data from the U.S. but, in addition, the (Fed) will be closely watching Washington and negotiations surrounding the new administration’s tax cut plans,” said Lee Ferridge, head of multi-asset strategy for North America at State Street Global Markets.
“Should the data hold up (or better still, improve from here), while the chances of a late summer tax cut agreement remain intact, then the market will likely price in a June move.”
Attention now turns to U.S. non-farm payrolls for March, due on Friday, after separate data showed private employers added 177,000 jobs in April. That was higher than expected but the smallest increase since October.
Economists polled by Reuters expect U.S. private payroll employment likely grew by 185,000 jobs in April, up from 89,000 in March.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.4 percent on Thursday, dragged lower by commodities, energy and financials stocks.
Japan is closed for the Golden Week holiday.
Chinese stocks pared earlier losses to trade flat, as gains in small-caps offset a cooling in China’s services sector growth to its slowest in almost a year in April as fears of slower economic growth dented business confidence.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.4 percent.
Australian shares were also 0.4 percent lower.
“May is a notoriously cruel month for Asia with foreign exchange, equities and domestic bonds all losing in historical average returns,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategists led by Claudio Piron wrote in a note.
South Korea’s KOSPI bucked the weaker trend, jumping 0.7 percent and hovering just a touch below an all-time high hit earlier in the session on strong corporate earnings.
Rising exports point to continued profit growth in the second quarter, with sentiment supported by hopes for economic stimulus from a new president.
Overnight, Wall Street closed flat to lower.
The Nasdaq fell 0.4 percent as Apple shares slid after reporting lower than expected iPhone sales on Tuesday.
Facebook and Tesla also dropped during the session and after hours despite upbeat quarterly results, also weighed on the index.
Political concerns, which have taken a backseat recently, may re-emerge, with a U.S. House of Representatives vote on a revised bill to repeal Obamacare due later in the session after two failed attempts to corral enough support to pass the legislation.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Republican leadership is confident there is enough backing for the bill to pass, after key moderate leaders met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Even if the bill passes the House, it could face an uphill battle in the Senate.
In Europe, Germany ended higher but Britain and France closed lower on Wednesday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.04 percent to slip from a 20-month high.
The euro ticked up 0.1 percent to $1.08945 on Thursday, after losing 0.4 percent on Wednesday as the dollar strengthened on the Fed’s statement.
Following a debate between French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron, who will face off in the second round of the presidential election on Sunday, a poll showed some 63 percent of voters found market favorite Macron to be more convincing.
In commodities, oil prices slipped on Thursday after a smaller-than-expected decline in U.S. inventories last week.
U.S. crude pulled back 0.25 percent to $47.69 a barrel. On Wednesday, it touched its lowest level in over five weeks before closing higher.
Global benchmark Brent fell 0.2 percent to $50.70.
Gold inched up 0.1 percent to $1,239.80 an ounce, making up some of Wednesday’s 1.5 percent loss.