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Del Potro cuts Opelka down to size with Delray Beach win

Shanghai Masters tennis tournament
FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Shanghai Masters - Shanghai, China - October 10, 2018 - Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina celebrates his win against Richard Gasquet of France. REUTERS/Aly Song

February 22, 2019

(Reuters) – Top seed Juan Martin del Potro cut towering American Reilly Opelka down to size on Thursday with a 6-4 6-4 victory in the second round of the Delray Beach Open in Florida.

In his first event back after being sidelined for four months with a knee injury, Del Potro’s consistency was key in the win over his 2.11 meter tall opponent, who leads the men’s tour in aces this year.

The Argentine, who stands 13cm shorter than his opponent, took a little off his own serve to cope with the blustery conditions on the outdoor hardcourt. He held serve easily throughout and one break in each set was enough, clinching victory when Opelka sent a service return long.

Opelka won his first career title at the New York Open on Sunday but was nowhere near his best against Del Potro and looked particularly vulnerable on his second serve.

Next up for Del Potro in the quarter-finals on Friday is unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald, who beat Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5 6-4.

Also on Thursday, American fourth seed Steve Johnson beat Italian Paolo Lorenzi 7-5 7-5 and Radu Albot of Moldova beat Nick Kyrgios 6-2 3-6 6-3.

Australian Kyrgios raised some eyebrows with his antics during the match, and looked to have had a verbal exchange with a spectator during a changeover.

“There was a lot going through the mind of Nick Kyrgios,” said Tennis Channel commentator Mark Knowles, a former world number one doubles player.

“He had the sidewinder serve, the chip forehand, he threw his racket up in the air, he had some conversations with the crowd, some dancing going on. Didn’t seem like he was that focused on his tennis today.”

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Source: OANN

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Highlights from Mueller’s report on Russia investigation

The public was able to get its first detailed look at Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s bombshell report on his years-long investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election early Thursday.

Attorney General William Barr released the 448-page “limited” redacted document after giving a brief interpretation of the findings.

The major takeaway, according to Barr, was that there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. However, the report also noted that while it didn’t conclude Trump committed a crime, it doesn’t formally “exonerate” him.

MUELLER REPORT SHOWS PROBE DID NOT FIND COLLUSION EVIDENCE, REVEALS TRUMP EFFORTS TO SIDELINE KEY PLAYERS

But there were some key details Barr previewed that constituents and lawmakers alike were eager to learn more about, particularly President Trump’s dialogue with campaign associates and the issue of obstruction of justice.

Although Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein didn’t find sufficient evidence to reach a conclusion on that front, the report listed 10 episodes related to the allegations that piqued public interest.

Here’s a look at some of the main highlights from the report:

No evidence of collusion

As stated in Attorney General Bill Barr’s summary last month, and reiterated again at his news conference Thursday morning, the special counsel did not find evidence of collusion with members of the Trump campaign and Russia.

“[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” the report said, though it noted there were "links" between the two.

Those links included several main points of communication between Trump campaign officials and people with ties to the Russian government.

Those communication points include: Russian officials reaching out to Trump’s foreign policy advisers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos; the campaign’s interactions with the D.C.-based think tank, the Center for the National Interest (CNI), whose president and CEO, Dimitri Simes, had “connections to the Russian government,” according to the report; and the June 9, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr., Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, senior adviser Jared Kushner and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

The investigation further looked into the meetings between Trump campaign officials and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the week of the Republican National Convention and afterward; Manafort’s connections to Russia through his previous work for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and a pro-Russian regime in Ukraine; and the Trump Tower Moscow Project.

According to the report, Mueller’s team looked into whether the campaign intended to work with Russia to interfere in the election, but “the investigation did not establish such coordination,” the report said.

‘Catalyst’ for Comey’s firing

Trump’s abrupt firing of former FBI Director James Comey allegedly stemmed from his refusal to tell the public the president wasn’t being investigated.

“Substantial evidence indicates that the catalyst for the president’s decision to fire Comey was Comey’s unwillingness to publicly state that the president was not personally under investigation, despite the president’s repeated requests that Comey make such an announcement,” the full statement reads.

In the following section, the report also notes that other evidence “indicates that the President wanted to protect himself from an investigation into his campaign.”

“The day after learning about the FBI's interview of (Michael) Flynn, the President had a one-on-one dinner with Comey, against the advice of senior aides, and told Comey he needed Comey's ‘loyalty.’  When the President later asked Comey for a second time to make public that he was not under investigation, he brought up loyalty again, saying ‘Because I have been very loyal to you, very loyal, we had that thing, you know.’”

TRUMP SLAMS 'TOTAL SLEAZE' COMEY, 'CORRUPT' FBI LEADERS, AFTER REPORT BUREAU; LAUNCHED PROBE AFTER DIRECTOR'S OUSTER

Though the report claims Trump “had a motive to put the FBI’s Russia investigation behind him,” the evidence “does not establish that the termination of Comey was designed to cover up a conspiracy between the Trump Campaign and Russia,” it reads.

Shortly after firing Comey, Trump called the former head of the FBI “crazy” and a “real nut job.”

“The President also told the Russian Foreign Minister, ‘I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off ..... I'm not under investigation.’”

Former White House Counsel Don McGahn also urged Trump not to fire Comey and suggested he let Comey resign instead.

“McGahn and [Uttam] Dhillon urged the President to permit Comey to resign, but the President was adamant that he be fired,” the report reads.

Trump's fiery reaction to Russia probe: ‘I’m f---ed’

Trump, after learning Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller to lead the investigation, “slumped back in his chair and said, ‘Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m f---ed,” according to the report.

The report continues to say Trump subsequently “lambasted” then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions “for his decision to recuse from the investigation. The report states the president went on to say Sessions was “supposed to protect [him],’ or words to that effect.”

"Everyone tells me if you get one of these independent counsels it ruins your presidency. It takes years and years and I won't be able to do anything. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me,” Trump added, according to the report.

"‘Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I’m f---ed.'"

— - President Trump, according to Mueller's report

MUELLER REPORT REDACTION MEMES FLOOD TWITTER

Separately, after learning of the Special Counsel’s appointment, former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks “described the President as being extremely upset.”

“Hicks said that she had only seen the President like that one other time when the Access Hollywood tape came out during the campaign,” the report reads.

The report also allegedly found evidence Trump was “angered by both the existence of the Russia investigation and the public reporting that he was under investigation, which he knew was not true based on Comey's representations.” The president also told his advisers if the public thought Russia had aided him in winning the 2016 presidential election, “it would detract from what he had accomplished,” it continues.

Trump’s call to McGahn

From the moment Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed, Trump complained Mueller had a conflict of interest, including being interviewed for the FBI director position, working for a law firm that represented people affiliated with the president and Mueller’s dispute of membership fees at a Trump golf course in Northern Virginia, according to the report.

The president’s advisers disputed those issues as conflicts of interest, but Trump continued to try to dismiss Mueller from the position. In June 2017, media reports were published saying that the president was under investigation and had obstructed justice. Publicly, the president tweeted criticizing the Department of Justice and the Special Counsel’s investigation, but privately he took more action.

On June 17, 2017, President Trump allegedly called White House counsel Don McGahn at his home and told him to call Sessions to say the special counsel had a conflict of interest and should be dismissed from the position.

“McGahn did not carry out the direction, however, deciding that he would resign rather than trigger what he regarded as a potential Saturday Night Massacre,” the report said, in reference to the Watergate scandal.

McGahn resigned in August.

Sessions’ recusal, resignation

Trump’s rocky relationship with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was no secret.

The president publicly blasted Sessions, voicing his frustrations after the former Alabama senator recused himself from the Russia investigation in early 2017.

“I don’t have an attorney general. It’s very sad,” Trump previously tweeted.

Mueller’s lengthy report describes Trump’s fiery reaction to Sessions’ announcement that he would remove himself from the probe following revelations he didn’t immediately tell Congress he had spoken previously with Russia’s ambassador on two separate occasions. The president allegedly tried to convince Sessions to “unrecuse” himself despite suggestions it would be a conflict of interest.

“The President continued to raise the issue of Sessions' recusal and, when he had the opportunity, he pulled Sessions aside and urged him to unrecuse. The President also told advisers that he wanted an Attorney General who would protect him, the way he perceived Robert Kennedy and Eric Holder to have protected their presidents,” the report states.

“The President made statements about being able to direct the course of criminal investigations, saying words to the effect of, ‘You're telling me that Bobby and Jack didn't talk about investigations? Or Obama didn't tell Eric Holder who to investigate?’” it continued.

When Trump learned in May 2017 that Muller was approved as special counsel, he blamed Sessions.

“How could you let this happen, Jeff?” Trump asked, adding that Sessions had “let him down,” per the report.

The report indicates Trump then suggested Sessions should resign from his post. Sessions agreed, delivering his resignation letter to Trump in the Oval Office the next day.

Trump campaign’s ‘interest’ in hacked Wikileaks emails

The Trump campaign “showed interest” in stolen emails obtained by WikiLeaks — an anti-secrecy website — that belonged to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and Democratic groups during the 2016 election, according to the report, which added Trump’s team “welcomed their potential damage” to the then-Democratic presidential nominee.

Around the time of WikiLeaks’ first email dump in July 2016, Trump allegedly said he hoped Russia would find emails “described as missing” from a private email server Clinton used when she was secretary of state.

“[Trump] later said he was speaking sarcastically,” the report added in parenthesis.

Sections regarding WikiLeaks were heavily redacted, citing “harm to ongoing matter.” The blackouts are potentially related to the recent arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who was federally charged by the U.S. last week for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, and ongoing legal issues facing Trump’s longtime confidant Roger Stone. Stone has pleaded not guilty to obstruction of justice, witness tampering and lying to Congress during the Russia probe.

WIKILEAKS FOUNDER JULIAN ASSANGE ARRESTED AFTER ECUADOR WITHDRAWS ASYLUM

Several Trump campaign aides, including Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen and Richard Gates, were said in the report to have “reacted with enthusiasm” to news of the email hacks.

The report is consistent with testimony Cohen provided in late February in which he alleges Stone phoned the President to warn him of the massive Democratic email release. Stone has repeatedly denied he had any communication with Assange and didn’t have any advance notice.

“There is no such evidence,” Stone told Fox News in a text message on Feb.15. Again, on Feb. 27, Stone said Cohen's claims were "not true."

Source: Fox News Politics

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Central African Republic opens cabinet to more armed groups to bolster peace

FILE PHOTO: Faustin Archange Touadera, President of the Central African Republic, attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum
FILE PHOTO: Faustin Archange Touadera, President of the Central African Republic, attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russia May 24, 2018. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo

March 22, 2019

By Crispin Dembassa-Kette

BANGUI (Reuters) – Central African Republic has included more rebel officials in an expanded cabinet, the president announced on Friday, in a bid to shore up peace efforts after several armed groups said they were not sufficiently represented following a deal last month.

Central African Republic reached an agreement with 14 armed groups in February, aimed at bringing stability to a country rocked by violence since 2013 when mainly Muslim Selaka rebels ousted the then President Francois Bozize, prompting reprisals from mostly Christian militia.

The diamond and gold-producing country has been ravaged by years of conflict that had shown little sign of abating until now.

President Faustin-Archange Touadera announced on Friday a new cabinet list of 39 members, in which all 14 armed groups were represented. Only 10 groups were represented in the previously announced list, which had 34 members.

The peace deal, signed in Sudan’s capital Khartoum, faced its first major setback a month after it was ratified, when several armed groups withdrew representatives from the new cabinet and demanded a more inclusive reshuffle.

The president’s announcement came two days after reconciliation talks arranged by the African Union in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.

The 14 rebel groups had said last week that they had not been sufficiently consulted over the original cabinet list.

In the new line-up, the major Selaka groups FPRC and UPC have three and two representatives, respectively.

“The UPC congratulates itself and congratulates Prime Minister Firmin Ngrebada for forming a government that now respects the Khartoum accord. We call on all ministers to get to work without delay to bring peace back to this country,” UPC political coordinator Hassan Bouba told Reuters via telephone.

Christian anti-balaka militia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Thousands of people have died because of the unrest and a fifth of the country’s 4.5 million population have fled their homes. The United Nations deployed a peacekeeping mission in 2014.

But prospects for a lasting peace remain uncertain, as agreements in 2014, 2015 and 2017 all broke down.

(Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Edmund Blair)

Source: OANN

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UK police say 1,065 climate protesters arrested in last week

British police say more than 1,000 people have been arrested since mass climate change protests began in London one week ago.

Police said Monday the arrest total stands at 1,065 since Extinction Rebellion set out to paralyze parts of central London to emphasize the need for sharp reductions in carbon use. Only 53 of those people have been formally charged with criminal offenses.

Police say Waterloo Bridge was reopened to vehicles overnight, having been occupied by the demonstrators since last Monday.

Officials say protest sites at Oxford Street and Parliament Square had been cleared the day before.

The non-violent protest group is seeking negotiations with the government on its demand to make slowing climate change a top priority.

Source: Fox News World

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Judge Wants Faster Identification of Separated Families

A judge said Tuesday it appeared the Trump administration could identify potentially thousands of children who were separated from their families at the border in much less time than the one to two years officials want to complete the work, though he was reluctant to impose a deadline.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw asked lawyers for the administration and for the American Civil Liberties Union to reach an agreement before an April 24 hearing that will include Jonathan White, a U.S. Health and Human Services Department official who led a previous effort that reunited more than 2,700 children with their families.

The judge frequently praises White, saying Tuesday he had "great credibility" and was nonpartisan.

The Justice Department has said it will take as long as two years to review about 47,000 cases involving unaccompanied children who were taken into U.S. government custody between July 1, 2017, and June 25, 2018 — the day before Sabraw halted the general practice of splitting families and ordered that children in custody be reunited with their parents.

The ACLU said in a court filing Monday that the government's timetable showed "callous disregard" for families and asked the judge to order that all separated families be identified in three months.

Sabraw said he was unprepared to set deadlines and that the two sides should quickly develop a joint plan. If those efforts fail, he said he would go the "old-fashioned way" of entertaining competing arguments and deciding himself, calling that route "a great disservice."

Last year, the judge set tight deadlines to reunify more than 2,700 children, which was largely accomplished through frequent and sometimes contentious hearings in his San Diego courtroom.

In January, the Health and Human Services Department's internal watchdog reported that thousands more children may have been separated from their families since the summer of 2017. The department's inspector general said the precise number was unknown.

Sabraw ruled last month that he could hold the government accountable for those separated before his June order and asked the government to submit a proposal.

"This is a very significant issue, obviously," Sabraw said Tuesday. "It is as important as the initial parent reunification, and the same care and attention and energy needs to be paid to this second reunification."

White said in an affidavit earlier this month that the sheer volume of 47,000 cases makes the job different than identifying who among 12,000 children in custody at the time of the judge's June order had been separated from their parents.

The ACLU said the government likely has a list of families that were separated after April 2018 or that it could produce one within days.

Sabraw warmed to the idea of dealing with those families first instead of waiting up to 12 weeks to design a statistical model to flag those children most likely to have been separated, as the administration has proposed.

"It just seems to me there's a lot of low-hanging fruit here in the April, May, June timeframe ... and the process can start right away," the judge said.

Source: NewsMax America

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Estonian prosecutor says Browder complaint against Swedbank added to Danske probe

FILE PHOTO: Swedbank sign is seen on the top of the bank's Latvian head office in Riga
FILE PHOTO: Swedbank sign is seen on the top of the bank's Latvian head office in Riga, Latvia, April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo

April 12, 2019

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Estonian prosecutors said on Friday a criminal complaint against Swedish lender Swedbank over potential money laundering brought by investor Bill Browder would be added to an ongoing investigation into Danske Bank.

“Depending on the information gathered during the investigation the prosecutor can decide, whether, or which parts of the criminal investigation should be separated into a stand-alone investigation,” the prosecutor’s office said in an emailed statement.

Estonia’s prosecutors said earlier this month they had received a criminal complaint against Swedbank from Browder and would decide whether to start an investigation based on that complaint.

(Reporting by Simon Johnson; editing by Niklas Pollard)

Source: OANN

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Thousands protests again in Algeria to demand political change

People carry national flags during a protest seeking the departure of the ruling elite in Algiers
People carry national flags during a protest seeking the departure of the ruling elite, as the country prepares for presidential election in Algiers, Algeria April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina

April 12, 2019

By Hamid Ould Ahmed

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters gathered in Algiers for an eighth successive Friday to demand the departure of the ruling elite as Algeria prepares for a presidential election in July.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down from 20 years in power 10 days ago, bowing to pressure from the army and weeks of demonstrations mainly by young people seeking change in the North African country.

But protests have continued as many want the removal of an elite that has governed Algeria since independence from France in 1962 and the prosecution of what they see as corrupt figures.

Bouteflika has been replaced by Abdelkader Bensalah, head of the upper house of parliament, as interim president for 90 days until a presidential election on July 4.

“No to Bensalah,” the protesters chanted, gathering in the center of Algiers where mass protests broke out on Feb 22.

“We want the prosecution of all corrupt people,” one banner read.

On Wednesday, Algeria’s army chief, Lieutenant-General Ahmed Gaed Salah, said he expected to see members of the ruling elite prosecuted for corruption and said he would support a transition toward elections.

More than one in four people under the age of 30, some 70 percent of the population, are unemployed – one of the central grievances of protesters who want the economy liberalized and diversified to reduce its reliance on its oil and gas production.

The army monitored the unrest from the sidelines. Then Salah intervened, declaring Bouteflika – rarely seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013 – unfit to rule.

(Editing by Ulf Laessing and Angus MacSwan)

Source: OANN

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The Wider Image: China's start-ups go small in age of 'shoebox' satellites
LinkSpace’s reusable rocket RLV-T5, also known as NewLine Baby, is carried to a vacant plot of land for a test launch in Longkou, Shandong province, China, April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

LONGKOU, China (Reuters) – During initial tests of their 8.1-metre (27-foot) tall reusable rocket, Chinese engineers from LinkSpace, a start-up led by China’s youngest space entrepreneur, used a Kevlar tether to ensure its safe return. Just in case.

But when the Beijing-based company’s prototype, called NewLine Baby, successfully took off and landed last week for the second time in two months, no tether was needed.

The 1.5-tonne rocket hovered 40 meters above the ground before descending back to its concrete launch pad after 30 seconds, to the relief of 26-year-old chief executive Hu Zhenyu and his engineers – one of whom cartwheeled his way to the launch pad in delight.

LinkSpace, one of China’s 15-plus private rocket manufacturers, sees these short hops as the first steps towards a new business model: sending tiny, inexpensive satellites into orbit at affordable prices.

Demand for these so-called nanosatellites – which weigh less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and are in some cases as small as a shoebox – is expected to explode in the next few years. And China’s rocket entrepreneurs reckon there is no better place to develop inexpensive launch vehicles than their home country.

“For suborbital clients, their focus will be on scientific research and some commercial uses. After entering orbit, the near-term focus (of clients) will certainly be on satellites,” Hu said.

In the near term, China envisions massive constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Universities conducting experiments and companies looking to offer remote-sensing and communication services are among the potential domestic customers for nanosatellites.

A handful of U.S. small-rocket companies are also developing launchers ahead of the expected boom. One of the biggest, Rocket Lab, has already put 25 satellites in orbit.

No private company in China has done that yet. Since October, two – LandSpace and OneSpace – have tried but failed, illustrating the difficulties facing space start-ups everywhere.

The Chinese companies are approaching inexpensive launches in different ways. Some, like OneSpace, are designing cheap, disposable boosters. LinkSpace’s Hu aspires to build reusable rockets that return to Earth after delivering their payload, much like the Falcon 9 rockets of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“If you’re a small company and you can only build a very, very small rocket because that’s all you have money for, then your profit margins are going to be narrower,” said Macro Caceres, analyst at U.S. aerospace consultancy Teal Group.

“But if you can take that small rocket and make it reusable, and you can launch it once a week, four times a month, 50 times a year, then with more volume, your profit increases,” Caceres added.

Eventually LinkSpace hopes to charge no more than 30 million yuan ($4.48 million) per launch, Hu told Reuters.

That is a fraction of the $25 million to $30 million needed for a launch on a Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems Pegasus, a commonly used small rocket. The Pegasus is launched from a high-flying aircraft and is not reusable.

(Click https://reut.rs/2UVBjKs to see a picture package of China’s rocket start-ups. Click https://tmsnrt.rs/2GIy9Bc for an interactive look at the nascent industry.)

NEED FOR CASH

LinkSpace plans to conduct suborbital launch tests using a bigger recoverable rocket in the first half of 2020, reaching altitudes of at least 100 kilometers, then an orbital launch in 2021, Hu told Reuters.

The company is in its third round of fundraising and wants to raise up to 100 million yuan, Hu said. It had secured tens of millions of yuan in previous rounds.

After a surge in fresh funding in 2018, firms like LinkSpace are pushing out prototypes, planning more tests and even proposing operational launches this year.

Last year, equity investment in China’s space start-ups reached 3.57 billion yuan ($533 million), a report by Beijing-based investor FutureAerospace shows, with a burst of financing in late 2018.

That accounted for about 18 percent of global space start-up investments in 2018, a historic high, according to Reuters calculations based on a global estimate by Space Angels. The New York-based venture capital firm said global space start-up investments totaled $2.97 billion last year.

“Costs for rocket companies are relatively high, but as to how much funding they need, be it in the hundreds of millions, or tens of millions, or even just a few million yuan, depends on the company’s stage of development,” said Niu Min, founder of FutureAerospace.

FutureAerospace has invested tens of millions of yuan in LandSpace, based in Beijing.

Like space-launch startups elsewhere in the world, the immediate challenge for Chinese entrepreneurs is developing a safe and reliable rocket.

Proven talent to develop such hardware can be found in China’s state research institutes or the military; the government directly supports private firms by allowing them to launch from military-controlled facilities.

But it’s still a high-risk business, and one unsuccessful launch might kill a company.

“The biggest problem facing all commercial space companies, especially early-stage entrepreneurs, is failure” of an attempted flight, Liang Jianjun, chief executive of rocket company Space Trek, told Reuters. That can affect financing, research, manufacturing and the team’s morale, he added.

Space Trek is planning its first suborbital launch by the end of June and an orbital launch next year, said Liang, who founded the company in late 2017 with three other former military technical officers.

Despite LandSpace’s failed Zhuque-1 orbital launch in October, the Beijing-based firm secured 300 million yuan in additional funding for the development of its Zhuque-2 rocket a month later.

In December, the company started operating China’s first private rocket production facility in Zhejiang province, in anticipation of large-scale manufacturing of its Zhuque-2, which it expects to unveil next year.

STATE COMPETITION

China’s state defense contractors are also trying to get into the low-cost market.

In December, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) successfully launched a low-orbit communication satellite, the first of 156 that CASIC aims to deploy by 2022 to provide more stable broadband connectivity to rural China and eventually developing countries.

The satellite, Hongyun-1, was launched on a rocket supplied by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), the nation’s main space contractor.

In early April, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT), a subsidiary of CASC, completed engine tests for its Dragon, China’s first rocket meant solely for commercial use, clearing the path for a maiden flight before July.

The Dragon, much bigger than the rockets being developed by private firms, is designed to carry multiple commercial satellites.

At least 35 private Chinese companies are working to produce more satellites.

Spacety, a satellite maker based in southern Hunan province, plans to put 20 satellites in orbit this year, including its first for a foreign client, chief executive Yang Feng told Reuters.

The company has only launched 12 on state-produced rockets since the company started operating in early 2016.

“When it comes to rocket launches, what we care about would be cost, reliability and time,” Yang said.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Source: OANN

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German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer holds annual general meeting
Werner Baumann, CEO of German pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer AG, attends the annual general shareholders meeting in Bonn, Germany, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

April 26, 2019

By Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger

BONN (Reuters) – Bayer shareholders vented their anger over its stock price slump on Friday as litigation risks mount from the German drugmaker’s $63 billion takeover of seed maker Monsanto.

Several large investors said they will not support aspirin investor Bayer’s management in a key vote scheduled for the end of its annual general meeting.

Bayer’s management, led by chief executive Werner Baumann, could see an embarrassing plunge in approval ratings, down from 97 percent at last year’s AGM, which was held shortly before the Monsanto takeover closed in June.

A vote to ratify the board’s actions features prominently at every German AGM. Although it has no bearing on management’s liability, it is seen as a key gauge of shareholder sentiment.

“Due to the continued negative development at Bayer, high legal risks and a massive share price slump, we refuse to ratify the management board and supervisory board’s actions during the business year,” Janne Werning, representing Germany’s Union Investment, a top-20 shareholder, said in prepared remarks.

About 30 billion euros ($34 billion) have been wiped off Bayer’s market value since August, when a U.S. jury found the pesticide and drugs group liable because Monsanto had not warned of alleged cancer risks linked to its weedkiller Roundup.

Bayer suffered a similar defeat last month and more than 13,000 plaintiffs are claiming damages.

Bayer is appealing or plans to appeal the verdicts.

Deutsche Bank’s asset managing arm DWS said shareholders should have been consulted before the takeover, which was agreed in 2016 and closed in June last year.

“You are pointing out that the lawsuits have not been lost yet. We and our customers, however, have already lost something – money and trust,” Nicolas Huber, head of corporate governance at DWS, said in prepared remarks for the AGM.

He said DWS would abstain from the shareholder vote of confidence in the executive and non-executive boards.

Two people familiar with the situation told Reuters this week that Bayer’s largest shareholder, BlackRock, plans to either abstain from or vote against ratifying the management board’s actions.

Asset management firm Deka, among Bayer’s largest German investors, has also said it would cast a no vote.

Baumann said Bayer’s true value was not reflected in the current share price.

“There’s no way to make this look good. The lawsuits and the first verdicts weigh heavily on our company and it’s a concern for many people,” he said, adding it was the right decision to buy Monsanto and that Bayer was vigorously defending itself.

This month, shareholder advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis recommended investors not to give the executive board their seal of approval.

(Reporting by Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

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Sudan’s military, which ousted President Omar al-Bashir after months of protests against his 30-year rule, says it intends to keep the upper hand during the country’s transitional period to civilian rule.

The announcement is expected to raise tensions with the protesters, who demand immediate handover of power.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which is spearheading the protests, said Friday the crowds will stay in the streets until all their demands are met.

Shams al-Deen al-Kabashi, the spokesman for the military council, said late Thursday that the military will “maintain sovereign powers” while the Cabinet would be in the hands of civilians.

The protesters insist the country should be led by a “civilian sovereign” council with “limited military representation” during the transitional period.

The army toppled and arrested al-Bashir on April 11.

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies said Britain’s decision to allow the firm a restricted role in building parts of its next-generation telecoms network was the kind of solution it was hoping for in New Zealand, where it has been blocked from 5G plans.

Britain will ban Huawei from all core parts of 5G network but give it some access to non-core parts, sources have told Reuters, as it seeks a middle way in a bitter U.S.-China dispute stemming from American allegations that Huawei’s equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage.

Washington has also urged its allies to ban Huawei from building 5G networks, even as the Chinese company, the world’s top producer of telecoms equipment, has repeatedly said the spying concerns are unfounded.

In New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes the United States, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in November turned down an initial request from local telecommunication firm Spark to include Huawei equipment in its 5G network, but later gave the operator options to mitigate national security concerns.

“The proposed solution in the UK to restrict Huawei from bidding for the core is exactly the type of solution we have been looking at in New Zealand,” Andrew Bowater, deputy CEO of Huawei’s New Zealand arm, said in an emailed statement.

Spark said it has noted the developments in Britain and would raise it with the GCSB.

The reports “suggest the UK is following other European jurisdictions in taking a considered and balanced approach to managing supplier-related security risks in 5G”, Andrew Pirie, Spark’s corporate relations lead, said in an email.

“Our discussions with the GCSB are ongoing and we expect that the UK developments will be a further item of discussion between us,” Pirie added.

New Zealand’s minister for intelligence services, Andrew Little, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday that he would report to parliament the conclusions of a government review of the 5G supply chain once they had been taken.

He added that the disclosure of confidential discussions on the role of Huawei was “unacceptable” and that he could not rule out a criminal investigation into the leak.

The decisions by Britain and Germany to use Huawei gear in non-core parts of 5G network makes it harder to prove Huawei should be kept out of New Zealand telecommunication networks, said Syed Faraz Hasan, an expert in communication engineering and networks at New Zealand’s Massey University

He pointed out Huawei gear was already part of the non-core 4G networks that 5G infrastructure would be built on.

“Unless there is a convincing argument against the Huawei devices … it is difficult to keep them away,” Hasan said.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo commodities trader Glencore is pictured in Baar
FILE PHOTO: The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Glencore shares plunged the most in nearly four months on Friday after news overnight that U.S. regulators were investigating whether the miner broke some rules through “corrupt practices”.

Shares of the FTSE 100 company fell as much as 4.2 percent in early deals, and were down 3.5 percent at 310.25 pence by 0728 GMT.

On Thursday, Glencore said the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether the company and its units have violated some provisions of the Commodity ExchangeAct and/or CFTC Regulations.

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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