Author Archives: Reuters News Agency

Democrats push technology as alternative to Trump wall in shutdown impasse

A visitor walks by the U.S. Capitol on day 32 of a partial government shutdown as it becomes the longest in U.S. history in Washington, U.S., January 22, 2019. REUTERS/Jim Young

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives floated the idea on Wednesday of ending a partial government shutdown by giving President Donald Trump most or all of the money he seeks for border security with Mexico but for items other than a physical wall.

Representative James Clyburn, the No. 3 House Democrat, told reporters that Democrats could fulfill Trump’s request for $5.7 billion for border security with technological tools such as drones, X-rays and sensors, as well as more border patrol agents.

Representative Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat, also said Democrats would be discussing “substantial sums of additional money” for border security as part of a possible deal. He did not say if it would amount to the $5.7 billion sought by Trump.

Trump has demanded funding for a physical wall in a showdown with Democrats that has left 800,000 federal workers without pay amid a partial government shutdown that entered its 33rd day on Wednesday.

Clyburn’s offer would be a significant monetary increase over bills previously passed by Democrats, which included only about $1.3 billion for this year in additional border security, with none of that for a wall.

“Using the figure the president put on the table, if his $5.7 billion is about border security then we see ourselves fulfilling that request, only doing it with what I like to call using a smart wall,” Clyburn said.

As congressional Democrats and Trump battle over border security and government funding, a parallel controversy continued over the president’s upcoming State of the Union address.

Trump sent a letter to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday saying he looked forward to delivering it as scheduled on Jan. 29 in the House chamber. Pelosi had earlier asked Trump to consider postponing because security could not be guaranteed during the shutdown.

The U.S. Senate has scheduled votes for Thursday on competing proposals that face steep odds to end the shutdown.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to hold a vote on Thursday on a Democratic proposal that would fund the government for three weeks but does not include the $5.7 billion in partial funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Its prospects appeared grim. The House has passed several similar bills but Trump has rejected legislation that does not include border wall funding. McConnell previously said he would not consider a bill that Trump did not support.

McConnell also planned to hold a vote on legislation that would include border wall funding and temporary relief for “Dreamers,” people brought illegally to the United States as children, a compromise Trump proposed on Saturday.

Democrats have dismissed the deal, saying they would not negotiate on border security before reopening the government, and that they would not trade a temporary restoration of the immigrants’ protections from deportation in return for a permanent border wall they view as ineffective.

Trump’s plan is “wrapping paper on the same partisan package,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday.

Trump, in a series of morning tweets, pushed fellow Republicans to stand by border wall, which during his 2016 campaign he had said Mexico would pay for. He was scheduled to discuss his immigration plan with local leaders and with conservative leaders at the White House.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Wednesday that Trump also has made calls to Democrats.

Furloughed federal workers are struggling to make ends meet during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Many have turned to unemployment assistance, food banks and other support, or have sought new jobs.

 

(Additional reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb, Roberta Rampton, Eric Beech, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Peter Cooney and Bill Trott)

Daring Pelosi, Trump says he ‘looks forward’ to addressing Congress

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on border security and the partial shutdown of the U.S. government from the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., Jan. 19, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he looks forward to delivering a State of the Union address before the U.S. Congress as scheduled on Jan. 29 in the chamber of the House of Representatives despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s request that he delay it due to the government shutdown.

“It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!” Trump wrote, according to a copy of the letter to Pelosi released by the White House.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a press briefing on the 27th day of a partial government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 17, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a press briefing on the 27th day of a partial government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 17, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Pelosi on Jan. 16 asked Trump to consider postponing the address, which is traditionally delivered in the House chamber, because part of the U.S. government is shut down. She had cited concerns about security for the event with some personnel furloughed during a month-long shutdown.

Trump, replying to Pelosi Wednesday, brushed aside the security concerns.

He said the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service had told him there would be “absolutely no problem” with the security for the speech, which is traditionally attended by both houses of Congress, most of the president’s Cabinet, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and justices of the Supreme Court.

office.

“Therefore, I will be honoring your invitation, and fulfilling my Constitutional duty, to deliver important information to the people and Congress of the United States of America regarding the State of our Union,” Trump wrote to Pelosi. “I look forward to seeing you on the evening of January 29th in the Chamber of the House of Representatives.”

There was no immediate reaction to the letter from Pelosi’s office.

Democratic U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta, asked about Trump’s letter, told MSNBC: “This is just dialing up the rhetoric.”

Panetta said the final decision was up to Pelosi, saying “at this point, I don’t think it’s going to happen if we’re still shut down.”

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Congo records one-day record for confirmed Ebola cases

FILE PHOTO: Healthcare worker carry a coffin with a baby suspected of dying of Ebola during the funeral in Beni, North Kivu Province of Democratic Republic of Congo, December 18, 2018. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/File Photo

KINSHASA (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday confirmed 14 new cases of Ebola virus in its eastern borderlands, the largest one-day increase since the current outbreak was declared in August.

The outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever in the eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri is already the second-largest in history with 713 confirmed and probable cases and 439 deaths.

It is surpassed only by the 2013-2016 outbreak in West Africa, which involved over 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths and led to substantial investments in a vaccine and treatments for the virus.

Health officials have struggled to bring the current outbreak, Congo’s tenth since 1976, under control, largely due to widespread militia violence in eastern Congo which has hampered the response.

The health ministry said in a daily bulletin that nine of the new cases were in the health zone of Katwa, just outside Butembo, a city of several hundred thousand people near the Ugandan border that has emerged as the outbreak’s new epicenter. One other case was in Butembo.

The ministry also announced six new deaths of confirmed cases as well as the recovery of one patient.

(Reporting By Stanis Bujakera and Fiston Mahamba; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by William Maclean and Peter Graff)

U.S. airlines tap army helicopter pilots to ease shortage

The students flight schedule is shown on a digital display board at Coast Flight Training in San Diego, California, U.S., January 15, 2019. Picture taken January 15, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

By Tracy Rucinski

CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. Army pilot Shaun Perez spent ten hours flying an Apache helicopter over Afghanistan, providing gun cover for Special Forces soldiers on the ground as they hunted for high-value targets, guns and weapons.

Returning to his base at dawn, he donned a fresh uniform before shutting himself into a small room to secure the next stage of his career – as a commercial airline pilot.

He would win the job in a video interview that day in August 2017, joining hundreds of other U.S. military helicopter pilots who have taken attractive offers from domestic airlines trying ease a global pilot shortage.

Perez took advantage of one of the tightest labor markets in the United States, created by years of slow hiring, a wave of pending retirements at major U.S. airlines, and Federal Aviation Administration rules that in 2013 increased the number of required training hours from 250 to 1,500.

The industry’s aggressive recruitment of military helicopter pilots is one of the most striking examples yet of the contortions required to quickly train new commercial aviators since the FAA increased the minimum flying requirement. The pilot shortage threatens the industry’s growth just as travel demand booms.

Airlines have been forced to more than double starting salaries to $54,000, excluding bonuses, in 2018 from $21,000 a decade ago, according to aviation consultant Kit Darby.

Perez, 38, now flies under the banner of United Express, the regional branch of United Airlines, at a strong starting salary with his training costs covered.

Ten U.S. regional carriers are offering helicopter pilots like Perez up to $50,000 to pay for commercial airplane training, and in some cases additional signing bonuses, according to a survey by Reuters.

“This is the first time that the industry is committing direct funds, basically a subsidy, to get that training quickly,” said Bryan Simmons, president of Coast Flight Training, which pioneered the so-called rotor transition program for helicopter pilots with American Airlines Group Inc’s regional subsidiary, Envoy, in San Diego.

Perez was offered $38,000 by Trans State Airlines for training that cost him $20,000. He got to keep the difference, and within months of leaving Afghanistan, was flying a 50-seater regional passenger jet.

He said he is taking home about $3,200 a month with the prospect of earning far more once he moves up to a large U.S. carrier.

“Even if you had to pay $100,000 for training, you’re going into a field where you know you’re going to make that money back and more,” Perez said.

Regional airlines’ helicopter transition programs offer flow-through agreements with mainline carriers, providing new pilots an interview – and in some cases, a job – with a major within a few years.

To fly a multi-engine passenger jet – which can travel about five times faster than helicopters and has more complex control panels – helicopter veterans need to complete fixed-wing FAA ratings and required flight time.

The transition feels natural to Perez.

“We took multiple ground fire; we had hard missions,” he said. “But once we step into that (airline) cockpit, we’re humble and we work hard.”

CLEVER WORKAROUND

A key reason airlines are chasing military pilots is because the new FAA training rules only require them to have 750 hours of additional training, half the 1,500 required of civilians seeking a commercial pilot license.

Military helicopter pilots from the military only need additional training in flying fixed-wing aircraft, which takes about 90 days. For civilians, obtaining a commercial pilot license can take years and cost more than $100,000.

“We’ve stumbled upon the quickest solution to the pilot shortage,” said Erik Sabiston, an Army veteran turned commercial pilot who founded Rotary to Airline Group in Dec. 2017 to help helicopter, or rotor, pilots make the transition to passenger jets. The not-for-profit group, with more than 7,000 pilots and mechanics, also assists airlines in designing rotor transition programs.

American Airlines’ regional carrier Envoy said more than a quarter of its 701 new pilots in 2018 came from military helicopters, compared with 11 percent in 2017 and 5 percent in 2016. It plans to hire 626 pilots in 2019, with about a quarter of those expected to come through its rotor program.

“It’s an untapped pool of pilots that hadn’t been brought to anyone’s attention before,” Envoy pilot recruiter Megan Liotta said.

Former military helicopter pilots generally adapt quickly to the differences in a jet’s speed and controls and have a higher success rate in landing jobs than other aspiring aviators, recruiters said.

“They come from an environment that has trained them to think on their feet and be very adaptable,” said David Tatum, director of pilot recruitment for American.

For former military pilots, the surge in interest from airlines helps replace the shrinking number of jobs flying helicopters to offshore oil rigs.

A Envoy pilot hired today makes about $60,000 or more in their first year as a first officer. They can expect to upgrade to captain, at a higher pay scale, within two years before moving on to No. 1 U.S. carrier American within six years, the company said. Top-end salaries at American surpass $300,000.

RISING SALARIES, COSTS

As regional airlines pay more to attract and retain pilots, their services are becoming more expensive for major national airlines that have increasingly used the regionals for domestic routes to cut costs.

Under those contracts, called capacity purchase agreements, labor costs are factored into the prices that the mainline carriers pay the regionals for their service.

“Their cost-saving method is losing a bit of steam,” said Andrew Watterson, chief revenue officer for Southwest Airlines Co, which does not partner with regional carriers.

Aviation consultant Samuel Engel said a 50 percent increase in pilot costs at the regional carriers would amount to a 7.7 percent increase in overall costs per seat-mile on a 70-seater, erasing some of the cost advantage of regional aircraft on a per-seat-mile basis.

So far, airlines have succeeded in passing on rising costs to passengers, often through extra charges for luggage or preferred seating. But analysts have questioned their ability to continue raising fees.

Boeing Co estimates a need for 790,000 new pilots in the commercial aviation, business aviation, and civil helicopter industries over the next two decades.

“The problem is,” Darby said, “we’re still not creating enough pilots … to meet the need.”

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Tim Hepher and Brian Thevenot)

Iowa’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion ban ruled unconstitutional

Anti-abortion marchers rally at the Supreme Court during the 46th annual March for Life in Washington, U.S., January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

By Rich McKay

(Reuters) – Iowa’s “fetal heartbeat” law, the most restrictive abortion ban in the United States, was declared unconstitutional Tuesday, as it violates the Iowa state constitution, a state judge ruled.

Iowa’s Republican-controlled legislature passed the restriction in May 2018, outlawing the procedure after a fetal heartbeat is detected, often at six weeks and before a woman realizes she is pregnant.

In the ruling, posted online, District Court Judge Michael Huppert wrote, “It is undisputed that such cardiac activity is detectable well in advance of the fetus becoming viable.”

A fetus that is viable outside the womb, usually at 24 weeks, is widely considered the threshold in the United States to prohibit an abortion.

The district court decision is a victory for supporters of abortion rights, but abortion opponents have vowed to take the fight to Iowa’s appellate courts, the Des Moines Register and other media reported.

The legislation is aimed at triggering a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark decision which established that women have a constitutional right to an abortion, activists on both sides of the issue previously told Reuters.

Iowa state Sen. Janet Petersen of Des Moines, the Democrats’ leader in the Iowa Senate, praised the ruling.

“The extreme law should have been overturned, because it restricted the freedom of Iowa women and girls to care for their bodies, and it forced motherhood on them,” she told the Register. “The governor and legislative Republicans should stop attacking women’s health care.”

Proponents of the law had expected a long court fight.

The ultimate goal, abortion opponents have told multiple media outlets, is to get the case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has become more conservative under President Donald Trump.

When the Iowa law was first passed, Republican state senator Rick Bertand of Sioux City told Reuters, “We created an opportunity to take a run at Roe v. Wade – 100 percent.”

(Editing by Nick Macfie)

Venezuela’s Guaido declares himself president, Maduro under pressure

Opposition supporters take part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government and to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

By Corina Pons, Angus Berwick and Mayela Armas

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, while hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans poured onto the streets to demand an end to the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro.

Opposition supporters take part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government and to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Opposition supporters take part in a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government and to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the end of the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

In a statement minutes later, U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate interim president.

Demonstrators clogged avenues in eastern Caracas, chanting “Get out, Maduro” and “Guaido, Presidente,” while waving national flags. Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in several areas. A rally the night before left four people reported dead, an echo of tumultuous riots two years ago.

The opposition has been energized by young congress chief Guaido, who has led a campaign to declare Maduro a usurper and has promised a transition to a new government in a nation suffering a hyperinflationary economic collapse.

Guaido, in a speech before a cheering crowd, took an oath swearing himself in as interim president.

“I swear to assume all the powers of the presidency to secure an end of the usurpation,” he said.

He has said he would be willing to replace Maduro with the support of the military and to call free elections.

The Trump administration told U.S. energy companies it could impose sanctions on Venezuelan oil as soon as this week if the political situation worsens, according to sources.

Maduro was inaugurated on Jan. 10 to another term in office following a widely boycotted election last year that many foreign governments described as a fraudulent. His government accuses Guaido of staging a coup and has threatened him with jail.

ARMED FORCES

Any change in government in Venezuela will rest on a shift in allegiance within the armed forces. They have stood by Maduro through two waves of street protests and a steady dismantling of democratic institutions.

“We need freedom, we need this corrupt government to get out, we need to all unite, so that there is peace in Venezuela,” said Claudia Olaizola, a 54-year-old saleswoman near the march’s center in the eastern Chacao district, a traditional opposition bastion.

In a potent symbol of anger, demonstrators in the southern city of Puerto Ordaz on Tuesday toppled a statue of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, broke it in half and dangled part of it from a bridge.

A 16-year-old was shot to death at a protest on Tuesday in western Caracas, according to rights group Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict. Three people were shot dead on Tuesday night in southern Bolivar City during a looting of a grocery store that followed a nearby protest, Bolivar state governor Justo Noguera said in a telephone interview.

Maduro has presided over Venezuela’s spiral into its worst-ever economic crisis. His re-election in 2018 was widely viewed as a sham due to widespread election irregularities.

“We’ve come out to support the opposition and preserve the future of my son and my family, because we’re going hungry,” said Jose Barrientos, 31, an auto parts salesman in the poor west end of Caracas.

(Reporting by Corina Pons, Angus Berwick, Mayela Armas, Vivian Sequera, Deisy Buitrago and Brian Ellsworth in Caracas; Additional reporting by Francisco Aguilar in Barinas and Maria Ramirez in Puerto Ordaz, and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Alistair Bell)

Saudi Arabia eyes billions of dollars in entertainment investments

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it expects billions of dollars to be pumped into a nascent state-backed entertainment sector and is eyeing dozens of Western acts, including an exhibition NBA basketball game and a Spanish-style running of the bulls.

The kingdom is trying to shake off its ultra-conservative image in a drive to keep tourist dollars at home, lure foreign visitors, create jobs for young Saudis, and improve the quality of life in a country where cinemas and public concerts were banned until recently.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has loosened social strictures, including ending a ban on women driving, curbing the powers of the religious police and easing gender segregation rules.

The government has put on Arab and Western performances, including a Black Eyed Peas concert last month, that were once unimaginable in a country where bearded religious police patrolled the streets with sticks to guard against public immorality like singing and dancing.

But the reform push has been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including the arrests of women’s rights activists, clerics and intellectuals. The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last October has also tarnished the country’s image and scared off some potential investors.

At the launch of the 2019 entertainment calendar, Turki al-Sheikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), listed dozens of events the kingdom hopes to host this year, including auto races, magic shows and theatrical performances.

“I hope national companies, banks, businessmen, artists and all sectors put their hands together. There are golden opportunities,” he told an audience that included princes, ministers, Arab celebrities and a few Muslim clerics.

“This is a big door for tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of jobs and for tens of billions if not hundreds of billions” of riyals, he added.

Al-Sheikh said the kingdom aims to become among the top 10 global entertainment destinations and in the top four in Asia, but provided no timeline and few concrete figures for his targets.

Officials have previously said that reforms aim to capture up to a quarter of the $20 billion currently spent overseas every year by Saudis seeking entertainment.

Last year, GEA said infrastructure investments over the next decade would reach 240 billion riyals ($64 billion) that would contribute 18 billion riyals to annual gross domestic product and generate 224,000 new jobs by 2030.

(Reporting by Stephen Kalin and Marwa Rashad; Editing by Leslie Adler)

U.S. home sales hit three-year low, prices rise slowly

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. home sales tumbled to their lowest level in three years in December and house price increases slowed sharply, suggesting a further loss of momentum in the housing market.

The weak report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Tuesday was the latest indication of slowing economic growth. A survey last Friday showed consumer sentiment dropped in January to its lowest level since President Donald Trump was elected more than two years ago.

Existing home sales were now the weakest since Trump was elected, said MUFG Chief Economist Chris Rupkey, “signaling the initial confidence boost from the new ideas and new legislation is falling flat.”

The NAR said existing home sales declined 6.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99 million units last month. That was the lowest level since November 2015.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast existing home sales falling 1.0 percent to a rate of 5.25 million units in December. Existing home sales, which make up about 90 percent of U.S. home sales, plunged 10.3 percent from a year ago.

For all of 2018, sales fell 3.1 percent to 5.34 million units, the weakest since 2015.

The housing market has been stymied by higher mortgage rates as well as land and labor shortages, which have led to tight inventory and more expensive homes.

But there are glimmers of hope. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has dropped to a four-month low, with much of the moderation occurring in the second half of December, and house price inflation is slowing. The median existing house price increased 2.9 percent from a year ago to $253,600 in December. That was the smallest increase since February 2012.

Wage growth topped 3.2 percent in December, outpacing house price gains for the first time since February 2012, according to the NAR. While economists expect affordability to improve, they also caution that changes to the tax code in December 2017, which limited deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes, had reduced the appeal of homeownership.

Stocks on Wall Street were trading lower amid fears of slowing global economic growth after the International Monetary Fund trimmed its outlook. The dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies and U.S. Treasury prices rose.

BROAD WEAKNESS

A survey last week showed a rebound in homebuilders’ confidence in January amid hope that the moderation in mortgage rates “will help the housing market continue to grow at a modest clip as we enter the new year.”

A month-long partial shutdown of the federal government, which has delayed data from the Commerce Department is, however, obscuring the economic picture.

The shutdown started on Dec. 22 as Trump demanded that Congress give him $5.7 billion this year to help build a wall on the country’s border with Mexico.

It has affected the Commerce Department, leading to the suspension of the publication of data compiled by its Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau, including new home sales, housing starts and building permits.

Data released before the shutdown had pointed to persistent weakness in the housing market, with economists estimating that housing would again be a drag on gross domestic product in the fourth quarter. Residential construction has subtracted from GDP growth since the first quarter of 2018.

Economists estimate that the impasse over the border wall was cutting off at least two-tenths of a percentage point from quarterly GDP growth a week. The Realtors group said the longest government shutdown in the country’s history had so far not had an impact on home sales, but warned this could change.

Last month, existing home sales fell in all four regions. There were 1.55 million previously owned homes on the market in December, down from 1.74 million in November, but up from 1.46 million a year ago.

At December’s sales pace, it would take 3.7 months to exhaust the current inventory, down from 3.9 in November and up from 3.2 a year ago. A six-to-seven-months supply is viewed as a healthy balance between supply and demand.

Houses for sale typically stayed on the market for 46 days in December, up from 42 days in November and 40 days a year ago. Thirty-nine percent of homes sold in December were on the market for less than a month.

The share of first-time buyers fell to 32 percent last month from 33 percent in November. Economists and realtors say a 40 percent share of first-time buyers is needed for a robust housing market.

“Going forward, we expect softer home prices to support existing home sales, but not by enough to offset the downtrend,” said Roiana Reid, an economist at Berenberg Capital Markets in New York. “The only sustainable and viable solution in our view is more construction, especially of lower-priced homes.”

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

North Carolina judge refuses to certify Republican as winner of U.S. House vote

By Gina Cherelus

(Reuters) – A North Carolina judge on Tuesday rejected Republican Mark Harris’ bid to be certified as the winner of a congressional vote at the center of an election fraud investigation, saying doing so would be a “dramatic intervention.”

Harris claimed victory over Democrat Dan McCready, after initial results of the November election showed he had won the Ninth Congressional District race by 905 votes. Harris filed a petition earlier this month to certify the results of the vote.

Judge Paul Ridgeway said at a hearing in Raleigh, North Carolina, that it would be premature for him to intervene before the state elections board finished its investigation.

“Certification is not appropriate until the investigation into the protest is concluded by final decision,” the judge said, noting “it would be highly unusual for this court to step in.”

Since the election, residents of rural Bladen County have stated in affidavits that people had come to their homes and collected incomplete absentee ballots. It is illegal in North Carolina for a third party to turn in absentee ballots.

The State Board of Elections was to hold a hearing on Jan. 11 as part of its probe into possible election fraud involving the collection of absentee ballots. But Republicans refused to participate in the creation of an interim election board, which has left the race in limbo.

Lawyers for McCready and the state elections board told the judge on Tuesday that completion of the investigation was necessary because it could reveal evidence that calls into question the results of the vote.

Lawyers for Harris urged the judge to certify Harris as the district’s new congressman, saying there was nothing to contradict him as the winner and residents needed representation in Washington.

Neither candidate attended Tuesday’s hearing. Harris’ campaign said he was dealing with an illness.

A new state elections board will go into effect on Jan. 31. Board members will be able to call for an evidentiary hearing and could order a new vote. The U.S. House of Representatives also could rule on the election outcome.

“We are pleased that Harris’ frivolous request has been denied and that North Carolina can get back to investigating allegations of systematic electoral fraud committed on behalf of Harris’ campaign,” Wayne Goodwin, North Carolina’s Democratic Party chairman, said in a statement.

North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes said in a statement he was confident Harris would eventually be seated.

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Grant McCool)

Dollar slips vs yen on growth worries, trade tensions

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar fell against the Japanese yen on Tuesday, as worries about flagging global growth and concerns about continuing U.S.-Chinese trade tensions drove investors to seek out safe-haven assets.

The dollar was 0.41 percent lower against the yen <JPY=>, which tends to benefit during geopolitical or financial stress as Japan is the world’s biggest creditor nation.

The greenback fell against the yen after the International Monetary Fund on Monday trimmed its global growth forecasts for 2019 and 2020. The IMF said a failure to resolve trade disputes could further destabilize a slowing global economy.

A report that the United States had rejected China’s offer for preparatory trade talks put further pressure on the dollar.

The Trump administration turned down an offer by two Chinese vice-ministers to travel to the United States this week for preparatory trade talks because of a lack of progress on two important issues, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people briefed on the talks.

“The IMF’s forecast contributed to the global growth concerns, the report about the U.S.-China negotiations perhaps contributing to less optimism surrounding the talks and then you have the ongoing U.S. (government) shutdown, which is not helpful for sentiment either,” said Eric Viloria, FX strategist at Credit Agricole in New York.

“All three of these factors are contributing to the general risk-off tone that you are seeing,” said Viloria.

In another sign of risk aversion, the Australian dollar <AUD=>, often used as a liquid proxy for China investments, eased 0.45 percent to $0.7126.

China’s economy cooled in the fourth quarter under pressure from faltering domestic demand and bruising U.S. tariffs, dragging 2018 growth to the lowest level in nearly three decades. Growing signs of weakness in China are fueling anxiety about risks to the world economy.

Data showing U.S. home sales tumbled to their lowest level in three years in December and house price increases slowed sharply, suggesting a further loss of momentum in the housing market, also weighed on the dollar.

The euro was steady near a three-week low as morale among German investors improved slightly in January, but their assessment of the economy’s current condition deteriorated to a four-year low, a survey showed on Tuesday, sending mixed signals for the growth outlook of Europe’s largest economy.

Sterling rose after strong employment data suggested Britain’s labor market remained robust despite an economic slowdown ahead of Brexit. The pound was up 0.6 percent at $1.2967.

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Chizu Nomiyama)