More than 50 Rohingya missing as U.S. steps up pressure on Myanmar

Rohingya refugee children gather on a truck in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, September 28, 2017. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton

September 29, 2017

By Tommy Wilkes and Michelle Nichols

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – More than 50 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are missing after their boat capsized, with 19 confirmed dead, Bangladesh police said on Friday, as a new surge in the numbers fleeing a Myanmar military campaign took the total to more than half a million.

The refugees drowned in heavy seas off Bangladesh late on Thursday while, in New York, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called on countries to suspend providing weapons to Myanmar over violence against Rohingya Muslims.

It was the first time the United States had called for punishment of Myanmar’s military leaders behind the repression, but she stopped short of threatening to reimpose U.S. sanctions which were suspended under the Obama administration.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar rejects accusations of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and has denounced rights abuses.

Its military launched a sweeping military offensive in response to coordinated attacks on the security forces by Rohingya insurgents in the north of Rakhine State on Aug. 25.

Refugees arriving in Myanmar have told of attacks and arson by the military and Buddhist vigilantes aimed at driving Rohingya out.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council the violence had spiraled into the “world’s fastest developing refugee emergency, a humanitarian and human rights nightmare”.

Bangladeshi border officials said more refugees had arrived over the past day or two after the number seemed to be tailing off. Aid groups said 502,000 refugees had arrived in Bangladesh since late August.

“It stopped for a while but they have started coming again,” Colonel Anisul Haque, head of the Bangladeshi border guards in the town of Teknaf, told Reuters.

“Last night, we got a number arriving. They seem to think it will be difficult to cross during the day because security forces will make it difficult for them,” he said.

He said about 1,000 people had landed at the main arrival point on the coast on Thursday.

The boat carrying refugees went down in driving wind and rain and high seas. The International Organization for Migration said about 130 people were believed to have been on board.

Bangladesh police said there were 27 survivors, 19 dead and more than 50 missing.

‘BRUTAL CAMPAIGN’

In a sharp ramping up of the pressure on Myanmar, also known as Burma, Haley echoed U.N. accusations that the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in Rakhine State was ethnic cleansing.

“We cannot be afraid to call the actions of the Burmese authorities what they appear to be – a brutal, sustained campaign to cleanse the country of an ethnic minority,” Haley told the U.N. Security Council.

The United States had earlier said the army response to the insurgent attacks was “disproportionate” and the crisis raised questions about Myanmar’s transition to democracy, under the leadership of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, after decades of military rule.

Suu Kyi has no power over the generals under a military-drafted constitution that bars her from the presidency. She has nevertheless drawn scathing criticism from around the world for failing to speak out more strongly and stop the violence.

The military campaign against the Rohingya insurgents is well supported inside Myanmar, where Buddhist nationalism has surged over the past few years.

Haley said the military must respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

“Those who have been accused of committing abuses should be removed from command responsibilities immediately and prosecuted for wrongdoing,” she said.

“And any country that is currently providing weapons to the Burmese military should suspend these activities until sufficient accountability measures are in place,” Haley said.

Myanmar national security adviser Thaung Tun said at the United Nations there was no ethnic cleansing or genocide in Myanmar.

He told the Security Council that Myanmar had invited Guterres to visit. A U.N. official said the secretary-general would consider visiting under the right conditions.

China and Russia both expressed support for the Myanmar government. Myanmar said this month it was negotiating with China and Russia, which have veto powers in the Security Council, to protect it from any possible action by the council.

(Additional reporting by Serajul Quadir in DHAKA; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Paul Tait)

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Florida says it has no indication O.J. Simpson moving there

O.J. Simpson speaks during his parole hearing at Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada, U.S., July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Bean/Pool

September 29, 2017

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Florida corrections officials said on Thursday they had no indication from O.J. Simpson that he would move to the state after his upcoming release from a Nevada prison, amid speculation about the former “Trial of the Century” defendant’s post-incarceration plans.

Simpson, 70, had told Nevada parole commissioners that he planned to move to Florida, where he has friends and family.

The release of Simpson on parole after serving nine years for a botched armed robbery at a Las Vegas hotel casino has generated wide interest in the media, but few details about his first moments of freedom have been made public.

Nevada corrections officials have said only that the former football star, once nicknamed “The Juice,” would be released from prison sometime shortly after Oct. 1, the date of his parole.

A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections said on Thursday that the state had not received a transfer request or any documentation regarding Simpson and had not been contacted by its counterparts in Nevada.

Simpson was sentenced in 2008 to nine years in prison for the Las Vegas hotel heist of his own mementos.

In granting his release, the parole commissioners said they did not take into consideration the notoriety still surrounding Simpson’s 1995 acquittal from charges he murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman and a civil court decision that found him liable for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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California, Wisconsin deny election systems targeted by Russian hackers

FILE PHOTO: People vote at the Evergreen Recreation Center during the 2016 presidential election in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

September 28, 2017

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – California and Wisconsin said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was incorrect when it notified them last week they were among 21 states whose election systems were targeted by Russian hackers during the 2016 election.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said on Thursday DHS notified the state that Russian cyber actors “‘scanned’ California’s Internet-facing systems in 2016, including Secretary of State websites.”

California said after asking for more details “it became clear that DHS’ conclusions were wrong. DHS confirmed that Russian scanning activity had actually occurred on the California Department of Technology statewide network, not any Secretary of State website.”

Padilla said that the notification “was not only a year late, it also turned out to be bad information.”

DHS spokesman Scott McConnell said notifications to 21 states were “based on a variety of sources, including scanning detected from malicious IP addresses and intelligence information that cannot be publicly disclosed.”

The government has “provided additional information and clarity to a number of states,” he said.

DHS “stands by its assessment that Internet-connected networks in 21 states were the target of Russian government cyber actors seeking vulnerabilities and access to U.S. election infrastructure,” he said.

Wisconsin election officials on Wednesday released an email from DHS that said the IP address targeted was at the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, not the state’s elections commission.

DHS told states including Ohio, Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Iowa, Maryland and Washington state they were targeted by Russian hackers but said the hackers were not successful. Arizona and Illinois confirmed last year that they were targets.

There is no evidence any votes were changed, DHS said.

Russia has denied election meddling, and President Donald Trump has denied any collusion with Russia.

“There remains no evidence that the Russians altered one vote or changed one registration,” said Judd Choate, president of the U.S. National Association of State Election Directors.

Homeland Security officials have said that in most of the 21 states only preliminary activity was observed from hackers and a small number of networks were compromised.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the Kremlin orchestrated an operation that included hacking and online propaganda intended to help Trump win, Reuters reported in August.

Several congressional committees are investigating and special counsel Robert Mueller is leading a separate probe into the Russia matter, including whether Moscow colluded with the Trump campaign.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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Oil prices climb on tension over Iraqi Kurdistan

FILE PHOTO: A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

September 28, 2017

By Christopher Johnson

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Thursday, spurred by tension around northern Iraq following the Kurdistan region’s vote in favor of independence in a referendum.

Brent crude <LCOc1> was up 55 cents at $58.45 a barrel by 1330 GMT. It hit a more than two-year high of $59.49 on Tuesday after Monday’s referendum vote prompted Turkey to threaten to close the region’s oil pipeline.

U.S. light crude <CLc1> was up 45 cents at $52.59 after reaching a five-month intraday high of $52.86.

“Kurdistan and northern Iraq now export 500,000-550,000 barrels per day (bpd). That would be a big loss to the market,” said Tamas Varga, analyst at brokerage PVM Oil Associates.

Iraqi Kurdistan voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence, prompting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to say he could use force to prevent the formation of an independent Kurdish state and might close the oil “tap”.

Turkey promised on Thursday to deal only with the Iraqi government on crude, “restricting oil export” operations to Baghdad, the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said.

Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal analyst for the Middle East at risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft, said there was a roughly 20 percent chance that the pipeline linking northern Iraq and Ceyhan in Turkey would be shut.

“It’s not inconceivable that Turkey would sacrifice trade and oil flows for domestic political issues,” he told Reuters Global Oil Forum. “If things keep escalating after this then (oil) supply could become a real concern.”

U.S. crude also found some strength from a surprise fall in U.S. stocks. Domestic crude inventories <USOILC=ECI> dropped by 1.8 million barrels last week, the U.S. Energy Department said, versus forecasts for a build of 3.4 million barrels.

The outlook for oil demand has strengthened, analysts say.

The International Energy Agency this month raised its 2017 global oil demand growth estimate to 1.6 million bpd from 1.5 million bpd, citing strength in the United States and Europe.

Still, U.S. crude production rose to 9.55 million bpd last week, higher than before Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast.

With Brent futures commanding their highest premium over U.S. crude <WTCLc1-LCOc1> in more than two years, U.S. crude has become increasingly competitive in foreign markets and exports hit a record 1.5 million bpd last week.

That complicates efforts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers to push oil higher through output curbs, as every rise in price encourages more U.S. production.

(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; Editing by Dale Hudson)

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ECB to discuss policy recalibration, not stimulus exit: Praet

FILE PHOTO – European Central Bank Executive Board Member, Peter Praet, speaks during a conference in Sofia, Bulgaria May 24, 2017. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

September 28, 2017

BERLIN (Reuters) – European Central Bank policymakers will discuss a recalibraion of policy measures this autumn, not an exit from stimulus, ECB chief economist Peter Praet told a conference in Berlin.

“I am not talking about exit, I am talking about recalibration,” Praet said. “I will not prejudge.”

The ECB has said it will discuss in October whether to cut stimulus from next year given solid growth and the waning threat of deflation.

(Reporting by Reinhard Becker; Writing by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Francesco Canepa)

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Playboy founder Hugh Hefner dies at age 91

FILE PHOTO – Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy magazine, twirls a napkin during a performance by Dr. John and the Lower 911 at the 30th annual Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California June 14, 2008. REUTERS/Fred Prouser/File Photo

September 28, 2017

(Reuters) – Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who helped usher in the 1960s sexual revolution with his groundbreaking men’s magazine and built a business empire around his libertine lifestyle, died on Wednesday at the age of 91, Playboy Enterprises said.

Hefner, once called the “prophet of pop hedonism” by Time magazine, peacefully passed away at his home, Playboy Enterprises said in a statement.

Hefner was sometimes characterized as an oversexed Peter Pan as he kept a harem of young blondes that numbered as many as seven at his legendary Playboy Mansion. This was chronicled in “The Girls Next Door,” a TV reality show that aired from 2005 through 2010. He said that thanks to the impotency-fighting drug Viagra he continued exercising his libido into his 80s.

“I’m never going to grow up,” Hefner said in a CNN interview when he was 82. “Staying young is what it is all about for me. Holding on to the boy and long ago I decided that age really didn’t matter and as long as the ladies … feel the same way, that’s fine with me.”

Hefner settled down somewhat in 2012 at age 86 when he took Crystal Harris, who was 60 years younger, as his third wife.

He said his swinging lifestyle might have been a reaction to growing up in a repressed family where affection was rarely exhibited. His so-called stunted childhood led to a multi-million-dollar enterprise that centered on naked women but also espoused Hefner’s “Playboy philosophy” based on romance, style and the casting off of mainstream mores.

That philosophy came to life at the legendary parties in his mansions – first in his native Chicago, then in Los Angeles’ exclusive Holmby Hills neighborhood – where legions of male celebrities swarmed to mingle with beautiful young women.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier and Michael Perry)

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Pimco Total Return Bond Fund, since Gross exit, outperforms most peers

The offices of Pacific Investment Management Co (PIMCO) are shown in Newport Beach, California August 4, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Blake

September 27, 2017

By Jennifer Ablan

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Three years after Bill Gross shocked the financial world by exiting Pacific Investment Management Co and ending his reign over Pimco Total Return Bond (PTTRX) fund, investors who stuck with the bond fund have come out ahead of those at most of its rivals.

Alas, many did not wait around.

Pimco Total Return, once the world’s largest bond fund, was taken over by Scott Mather, Mark Kiesel and Mihir Worah. Since then, it has returned an average 3.34 percent annually in the three years through Sept. 26, topping 88 percent of its Morningstar peer category.

But the fund, which Gross had managed from 1987 until he resigned on Sept. 26, 2014 from the investment firm he co-founded, remains only about one-fourth as large as it was inApril 2013, when assets under management peaked at $292.9 billion.

There are signs the heavy outflows may have subsided.

Investors in August added $348 million of new cash into the fund, not including reinvested dividends, bringing its assetsunder management to $74.7 billion as of Aug. 31. Assets dipped slightly to $74.5 billion as of Sept. 26.

“Despite the fund having a strong record, retail and institutional investors can have long memories and are less likely to return quickly to a fund they sold due to departed fund manager,” said Todd Rosenbluth, director of fund research at New-York based CFRA.

“While the asset bleeding has slowed,net new inflows have not materialized.”

For its part, the Pimco Unconstrained Bond Fund (PFIUX) – taken over by Marc Seidner from Gross – has also posted solid returns.

Its average annual returns in the three years through Sept. 26 were 3.11 percent, better than 68 percent of its Morningstar peer category.

Even there, however, assets under management have shrunk to $3.6 billion as of Sept. 26 from $18.3 billion three years ago.

Gross ran that fund for nine months, from December 2013 until his departure from Pimco.

He now runs a similar fund for Janus Henderson Investors.

“Pimco’s Total Return and Unconstrained Bond strategies have been able to generate attractive returns even during challenging periods in the bond market by diversifying their portfolios and cultivating the best ideas generated by Pimco’s more than 220 portfolio managers,” a Pimco spokeswoman told Reuters on Wednesday.

Pimco, which had $1.61 trillion in assets under management overall as of June 30, is owned by German insurer Allianz SE.

(Reporting By Jennifer Ablan; Editing by David Gregorio)

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