UK TV host Eamonn Holmes' comments on COVID-19 and 5G 'ill-judged' – regulator

LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) – Britain’s media regulator Ofcom said on Monday comments made by ITV presenter Eamonn Holmes about speculation linking COVID-19 and 5G mobile technology were “ill-judged and risked undermining viewers’ trust in advice from public authorities and scientific evidence”.

The free-to-air broadcaster came under fire on Tuesday after the presenter said no one knew whether a conspiracy theory that 5G masts help spread the novel coronavirus was true or not. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Alistair Smout)

Lunch Special: Denver sports live chat with Mark Kiszla – The Denver Post

Got a question about Colorado sports? The Denver Post’s Mark Kiszla is discussing all things Denver sports in a live Lunch Special chat, scheduled to begin at noon on Monday, April 20, 2020.

Mobile users, if you can’t see the live chat, tap here.

CORRECTED-US net short dollar positions rise to $11.39 bln in latest week – CFTC, Reuters

(Corrects value of net dollar short in headline from April 17)

April 17 (Reuters) – Speculators increased their net short dollar position in the latest week, according to calculations by Reuters and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.

The value of the net short dollar position rose to $11.39 billion in the week ended April 14, compared with a net short of $10.5 billion the previous week. (Reporting by Karen Brettell; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Investigation launched after hedgehogs ‘burned alive’ during coronavirus lockdown

An investigation has been launched after two hedgehogs were burned alive during the coronavirus lockdown.

The hedgehogs were found side by side by a member of the public on Wednesday on a path in Daventry, Northamptonshire, with burn marks on their backs.

The animals were still alive when they were discovered but are thought to have been suffering from the night before.

Despite being taken to a nearby vets, neither survived the attack.

Quebec officials to provide update as coronavirus cases rise but some services resume

Quebec’s premier is expected to provide an update Monday on the development of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the province.

While most of the province’s non-essential services and schools remain shuttered, the residential construction industry has partially resumed as of Monday morning.

Supreme Court Rules Criminal Juries Must Be Unanimous To Convict

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that juries in state criminal trials must be unanimous to convict a defendant, settling a quirk of constitutional law that had allowed divided votes to result in convictions in Louisiana and Oregon.

The justices’ vote overturned the conviction of Evangelisto Ramos. He is serving a life sentence in Louisiana for killing a woman after a jury voted 10-2 to convict him. Oregon is the only other state that allows for non-unanimous convictions for some crimes.

Louisiana voters changed the law for crimes committed beginning in 2019.

Now the same rules will apply in all 50 states and in the federal system: Juries must vote unanimously for conviction.

The outcome will affect defendants who are still appealing their convictions. But for defendants whose cases are final, it will take another round of lawsuits to figure out whether the high court ruling applies to them.

Stock Alert: Palomar Rises 10%

Shares of property insurance company Palomar Holdings, Inc. (PLMR) are climbing more than 10% Monday morning to touch a new high of $65.50. There are no company-specific news that drive the stock up.

The stock has been on a steady rise in the past one year with a three-fold growth. In the last one month, the stock has risen nearly 40%. PLMR is currently trading at $64.02.

When the company reported fourth-quarter results in February, gross written premiums increased 68.4% year-over-year to $73.3 million.

Stock Alert: Compass Diversified Surges Nearly 17%

Shares of Diversified Holdings LLC (CODI) are rising in Monday morning trade despite no company-specific news.

The company is planning to release first-quarter results on April 30.

CODI is currently at $18.46, up 16.54 percent from the previous close of $15.84.
The shares have traded in a range of $17.2616 – $18.57 for the 52-week period, on average volume of 361,320.

Infosys Ltd Q4 Earnings Advance

Infosys Ltd (INFY) released a profit for its fourth quarter that advanced from the same period last year.

The company’s profit came in at $592 million, or $0.14 per share. This compares with $581 million, or $0.13 per share, in last year’s fourth quarter.

Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.14 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 4.6% to $3.20 billion from $3.06 billion last year.

Infosys Ltd earnings at a glance:

-Earnings (Q4): $592 Mln. vs. $581 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q4): $0.14 vs. $0.13 last year.
-Analysts Estimate: $0.14
-Revenue (Q4): $3.20 Bln vs. $3.06 Bln last year.

China Cuts Benchmark Lending Rates

China’s central bank on Monday reduced its benchmark lending rates, as widely expected, as the economy contracted for the first time at least since 1992 amid coronavirus outbreak.

The one-year loan prime rate was lowered by 20 basis points to 3.85 percent and the five-year loan prime rate was cut by 10 basis points to 4.65 percent.

The loan prime rate is fixed monthly based on the submission of 18 banks, though Beijing has influence over the rate-setting. This new lending rate replaced the central bank’s traditional benchmark lending rate in August 2019.

The People’s Bank of China last week reduced its one-year medium-term lending facility, or MLF, rate to 2.95 percent from 3.15 percent and injected CNY 100 billion through the MLF operation.

In March, the PBoC had reduced the reserve requirement ratio for qualified banks and the reverse repo rate.

September should mark the point when the PBoC hits the “ultra-low” interest rate level, Iris Pang, an ING economist said.

After that, the PBoC may need to rely more on reserve requirement ratio cuts than rate cuts. The PBoC may use RRR cuts more than rate cuts before September to delay its policy rates touching ultra-low levels, the economist noted.

The economy shrank 6.8 percent on a yearly basis in the first quarter, which was the first decline since the nation began reporting quarterly data in 1992. The economy had expanded 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019.