Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

Coronavirus response highlights deepening partisan divide
In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti has instituted a shutdown on a city of nearly 4 million people and threatened uncooperative business owners with power shutoffs and arrest. In Mississippi, home to nearly 3 million people, Gov. Tate Reeves has allowed most businesses to stay open — even restaurants, so long as they serve no more than 10 people at a time. The divergent approaches are evidence that not even a global pandemic can bridge the gaping political divisions of the Trump era.

---

Coronavirus: The world needs to learn from the Ebola fight
Liberia's ex-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says the world must conquer fear to deal with coronavirus.

---

Kremlin Fights U.S. Sanctions, Backs Maduro in Rosneft Deal
(Bloomberg) -- The Kremlin’s sudden shift of ownership of multi-billion-dollar oil projects in Venezuela shields oil giant Rosneft PJSC from further U.S. sanctions but keeps Moscow firmly behind embattled President Nicolas Maduro amid a wider stand-off with Washington.“Russia is not walking away from Maduro and will seek to thwart U.S. efforts to depose him,” said Vladimir Frolov, a former diplomat and foreign policy analyst in Moscow. “Moscow is just shielding Rosneft from sanctions which could result in a blanket embargo on all Rosneft exports.”Fears of broader sanctions have grown after the U.S. in recent months slapped restrictions on Rosneft trading companies for handling business with Venezuela. More recently, the U.S. has hinted that it might step up pressure on the Russian oil sector to reduce production. That followed Moscow’s decision early this month not to deepen output cuts agreed with OPEC led Saudi Arabia to boost output, flooding the market and pushing prices to the lowest levels in decades.The administration of President Donald Trump has already reached out to Saudi leaders to reconsider their strategy, which has battered producers in the U.S. with low prices.Read: Putin and MBS Draw Trump Into Grudge Match for Oil SupremacyRosneft late Saturday announced it’s turning over its Venezuelan projects to an unnamed state-owned company in what it called an effort to protect its shareholders’ interests. Rosneft, which produces 40% of Russian oil and 5% of world output and has substantial exposure in the western financial system, can’t afford the risk of broad U.S. sanctions that could cripple its operations. Earlier this month, a Chinese company said it wouldn’t buy crude from Rosneft because of the risks caused by the sanctions on the trading companies.“As recently as February, the Venezuelan business was profitable, which offset the sanctions risk,” said Ivan Timofeyev, an analyst at the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council. “Now the desire to avoid sanctions coincided with the need to avoid losses” after oil prices plunged, he added.The Russian giant has already cut its exposure under multi-billion-dollar prepayment deals reached several years ago. Venezuela’s oil producer PDVSA owes Rosneft only $800 million at the end of the third quarter of 2019, according to the last available data, down from $4.6 billion at the end of 2017.Sanctions ProtectionThe latest Russian maneuver mirrored its strategy in 2018 when it used Promsvzyabank to set up a new banking vehicle to serve the defense industry after state-owned weapons producers came under U.S. sanctions, thereby shielding the country’s two largest banks, government-controlled Sberbank and VTB. Unlike those big lenders, which have significant exposure to western financial institutions and thus are at risk from sweeping U.S. sanctions, the new special entity operated largely out of Washington’s reach.While Rosneft may even push to have the recently imposed sanctions on the trading units lifted, risks remain.“Rosneft is trying to stay out of the firing-line but nothing stops the Americans from finding another pretext to sanction it,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, who heads the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a research group in Moscow that advises the Kremlin.“Russia understands that Maduro is in an awful situation, especially with oil prices at rock bottom,” he said. “But Putin’s psychology is that you should stick with partners in difficulty.”Maduro said on state TV on Saturday evening that ”President Putin sent me a message through his ambassador reaffirming their strategic and integral support to Venezuela in all areas.”Rosneft StakeFrolov said, “Moscow thinks that Maduro is actually winning the fight with the opposition and is likely to split it to the point where he would be able to win parliamentary elections this year.” Russia has backed Maduro even as the U.S. and its allies back opposition leader Juan Guaido.For Rosneft, the deal also could give management, led by Igor Sechin, its influential chief executive, greater control, since the company is receiving 9.6% of its own shares in the transaction. That may mean the government’s share in Rosneft falls below a controlling stake, according to Andrey Polischuk, Moscow-based analyst for Raiffeisenbank.Neither the company nor the government would comment on whether the deal will bring state ownership below 50%.“Sechin gets Rosneft shares and Putin gets the chance to trade with Trump,” said Konstantin Simonov, head of the National Energy Security Fund in Moscow.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

---

Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

Cam ready to prove doubters wrong one last time?
Cam Newton had to overcome plenty adversity in college, which led to some glorious accolades. In somewhat familiar territory, he looks to prove people wrong, again.

---

2020 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Where will Obi Toppin get picked?
Here is an updated 2020 NBA mock draft. Who are the best 2020 NBA Draft prospects? One thing that needs to be mentioned before we get into the meat of this 2020 NBA mock draft is that the only thing certain about the draft is that, eventually, it is going to happen. When will the

---

Danny Ainge details relationship with Michael Jordan before Celtics-Bulls in 1986
Danny Ainge wasn't a player that often would hang out with opponents during his playing days. But he did make an exception when it came to Michael Jordan.

---

Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

Coronavirus live updates: Donald Trump extends guidelines to April 30; US deaths top 2,500; Anthony Fauci says millions face infection
Sunday morning, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned of potentially millions of coronavirus cases as the US death toll climbed above 2,300.

---

Amcor CEO Ron Delia at JPMorgan Virtual Conference
Amcor (NYSE: AMCR; ASX: AMC) CEO Ron Delia participated in the JPMorgan Virtual Conference today. A transcript of the event is available in the investors section of Amcor's corporate website under presentations – https://www.amcor.com/investors/financial-information/presentations

---

China Rejoins Monetary Easing Wave as World Shuts Down
(Bloomberg) -- China’s central bank cut the interest rate it charges on loans to banks by the biggest amount since 2015 as authorities ramp up their response to the worsening economic impact from the coronavirus pandemic.The People’s Bank of China reduced the interest rate on 7-day reverse repurchase agreements to 2.2% from 2.4% when it injected 50 billion yuan ($7.1 billion) into the banking system, according to a statement Monday. The central bank said this will keep liquidity sufficient to help the real economy.The first cut to a PBOC policy rate since February is in line with a pledge by the Communist Party’s leadership on Friday to increase support to the economy through increased sales of sovereign debt, as domestic and international demand slumps due to the pandemic. The step brings the PBOC closer in line with the stance of global peers, who have loosened policy dramatically in recent weeks.“The larger-than-usual rate cut is an expression that China is willing to join the coordinated consortium for economic stabilization,” said Raymond Yeung, chief China economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in Hong Kong. “Small and medium-sized businesses are collapsing for lack of cash flow.”Further Cuts ExpectedA reduction in the central bank’s main tool to adjust the price of market liquidity also signals coming reductions in its main one-year funding tool, and potentially a corresponding cut to the benchmark deposit rate. Reductions to policy rates should also be reflected in the main market benchmark of the cost of lending to companies, the loan prime rate.“Lowering banks’ lending rates without a reduction in the cost of their liabilities will squeeze banks’ net interest margin, eroding their profitability and capital base,” said Ding Shuang, chief Greater China and North Asia economist at Standard Chartered Bank Ltd. “A benchmark deposit rate cut is necessary.”China will increase its fiscal deficit as a share of gross domestic product, issue special sovereign debt and allow local governments to sell more infrastructure bonds as part of a package to stabilize the economy, according to a Politburo meeting on Wednesday, Xinhua reported late Friday.What Bloomberg’s Economists Say...“We expect the authorities to urge banks to expand lending, particularly to smaller and private companies. To achieve this, more liquidity will be injected by the PBOC via both broad-based and targeted methods, such as reductions in the required reserve ratio and offering liquidity via targeted MLFs.”\--David Qu, Bloomberg economistSee full report hereIn a separate statement published late Friday, the People’s Bank of China called for better coordination of global macro policies, while re-emphasizing it will keep liquidity sufficient to help with the real economy and watch out for inflation risks.Plenty of Room LeftThe cut Monday signals the PBOC has entered “a stage with stronger counter-cyclical adjustment,” out of consideration of both domestic demand and the global virus outbreak, Ma Jun, a PBOC adviser, said in a statement sent to the media after the rate cut. “The PBOC doesn’t use its bullets all at once. China still has plenty of room in monetary policy.”Economists have lowered their median forecast for economic growth to 2.9% for 2020, the slowest pace since 1976, when the Cultural Revolution wrecked the economy and society. Until the past few days, China’s policy makers had maintained a relatively cautious program of easing, mindful of the nation’s heavy debt load and of risks to financial stability.While the Politburo statement and the PBOC move signal the response is moving up a gear, it still falls short of a no-holds-barred stimulus.The leaders of the Group of 20 said last week they were injecting more than $5 trillion into their economies to fight the effects of the outbreak. Central banks globally have slashed interest rates and started quantitative easing programs.“Certainly, the policy easing is continuous and today’s liquidity injection at least suggests that the policy aid will be mildly constant and will be more proactive when the authorities deem necessary,” said Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank AG. “China is joining the global easing wave.”(Updates with Bloomberg Economics, details of actions of other nations.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

---

Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

In the coronavirus pandemic, carbon emissions have fallen, but climate change remains an existential threat
In a world desperate for good news about the coronavirus, a dip in global carbon emissions caused by the outbreak’s economic downturn might be seen as a silver lining. But climate scientists and policy experts aren’t encouraged.   

---

A New York dad refused to let his 21-year-old son back in their house after the spring breaker partied in Texas amid coronavirus spread
"I was aggravated," Peter Levine said of his son's decision to party on South Padre Island instead of heeding warnings about the virus.

---

Trump berated a black journalist, telling her to 'be nice' and not 'threatening' at a coronavirus briefing, but she refused to take the bait
"I was quoting you directly from your interview with Sean Hannity," PBS' Yamiche Alcindor told Trump when he accused her of being "threatening."

---

Error: It's not possible to reach RSS file...