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House Dem Calls for Facebook Antitrust Probe

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., is urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Facebook for violating antitrust laws.

Cicilline’s comments came in a column posted by The New York Times on Tuesday.

“A year ago, the world learned that Facebook allowed a political consulting company called Cambridge Analytica to exploit the personal information of up to 87 million users, to obtain data that would help the company’s clients “fight a culture war” in America,” he said.

“Since then, a torrent of reports has revealed that the Cambridge Analytica scandal was part of a much broader pattern of misconduct by Facebook.”

And, he claimed Facebook also has “engaged in campaigns to obstruct congressional oversight to smear and discredit critics.”

Cicilline noted that after each incident becomes public, Facebook alternates between “denial, hollow promises and apology campaigns.”

But he maintained nothing seems to change.

“That’s why, as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law, I am calling for an investigation into whether Facebook’s conduct has violated antitrust laws” he said.

Cicilline maintained reports also indicate a “disturbing pattern of anticompetitive conduct” on the part of Facebook.

And he said how the FTC responds to “repeated abuses” by Facebook will determine whether it is willing to protect consumers.

“It’s clear that serious enforcement is long overdue,” he said.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Barr hammered for stating ‘spying did occur,’ despite confirmation of Trump team surveillance

Attorney General Bill Barr ran into a buzz saw of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and media figures for testifying Wednesday that “spying did occur” against the Trump campaign in 2016. But despite the backlash, Barr appeared to be referring to intelligence collection that already has been widely reported and confirmed.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against former Trump campaign aide Carter Page are currently the subject of a Justice Department inspector general investigation looking at potential misconduct in the issuance of those warrants. That review also is reportedly reviewing the role of an FBI informant who had contacts with Trump advisers in the early stages of the Russia investigation.

DEMS RAGE AGAINST BARR FOR BACKING CLAIMS OF TRUMP CAMPAIGN 'SPYING' BY FBI 

When asked about the controversy surrounding Barr’s remarks, a person familiar with his thinking denied that he was trying to fuel conspiracy theories or play to the conservative base.

“When he used the word spying, he means intelligence collecting,” the source told Fox News, also noting Barr’s history as a CIA analyst in the 1970s. “He wasn’t using it in a pejorative sense, he was using it in the classic sense.”

The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘spying’ as: “to collect information about something to use in deciding how to act,” or to “observe furtively.”

The use of the term as it applies to the FBI's surveillance in 2016 has been fiercely disputed. The New York Times, even as it reported last year on how the FBI sent an informant to speak to campaign advisers amid concerns about suspicious Russia contacts, stated that this was to "investigate" Russia ties and "not to spy."

But Barr's testimony suggests he makes no distinction between the two. He also stressed that the question for him is whether that "spying" was justified.

“I think spying did occur. The question is whether it was adequately predicated,” Barr testified Wednesday, adding that he believed it is his “obligation” to review whether there was misconduct in the original investigation. “Congress is usually very concerned with intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane.”

He added that “spying on a political campaign is a big deal.”

Democrats, though, charged that this week's testimony indicated Barr was a compromised witness.

“He is acting as an employee of the president,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said. “I believe the Attorney General believes he needs to protect the president of the United States.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told the Associated Press that she doesn’t “trust Barr,” but she trusts Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., later accused Barr of “peddling conspiracy theories.”

BARR REVEALS HE IS REVIEWING 'CONDUCT' OF FBI'S ORIGINAL RUSSIA PROBE

Media figures and outlets also panned Barr's use of the term, with some declaring he had provided no evidence for it.

NBC News’ Chuck Todd accused the attorney general of giving credence to a “conspiracy theory.”

“Using the word spying,” the “Meet the Press” moderator said, “plays into the president’s language and argument that the Russia investigation to him is just a witch hunt, and every time they’ve brought up this allegation, there has been zero factual basis for it. Every effort to perpetrate the spying conspiracy theory has been debunked.”

Conservatives in the media sphere pushed back. The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway tweeted, "There is no dispute about whether spying occurred. There has not yet been a proper investigation about whether that spying--which included human informants, wiretaps, national security letters, etc.--can be justified."

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also said Barr “should not casually suggest that those under his purview engaged in ‘spying’ on a political campaign.”

“This type of partisan talking point may please Donald Trump, who rails against a ‘deep state coup,’” Schiff said. “But it also strikes another destructive blow to our democratic institutions. The hardworking men and women at the DOJ and FBI deserve better.”

But Barr did not criticize the Justice Department or the FBI as a whole, instead noting he was looking at the “upper echelons” of leadership at the bureau at the time as he confirmed he was reviewing the “conduct of the investigation” that began in the summer of 2016.

“Frankly, to the extent there were issues at the FBI, I do not view it as a problem of the FBI. I think it was probably a failure of the group of leaders—the upper echelons of the FBI. I think the FBI is an outstanding organization and I am very pleased Director Chris Wray is there,” he said.

Barr was again asked about his claim of “spying” during the Senate hearing Wednesday, with Democrat Brian Schatz asking for Barr to be more “precise” in his wording.

“I want to make sure there was no unauthorized surveillance,” Barr responded.

Whether proper or improper, the issue of surveillance of the Trump campaign has been widely documented.

The FISA warrants, for example, were the subject of a GOP House Intelligence Committee memo last year. That memo alleged the unverified anti-Trump dossier provided much of the basis for law enforcement officials to repeatedly secure FISA warrants against Page, though Democrats have pushed back on parts of the GOP report.

COMEY MEMOS CONTAINED FAR MORE SENSITIVE INFO THAN PREVIOUSLY KNOWN, FBI FILING REVEALS

Meanwhile, as part of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s investigation, he is reportedly probing the involvement of FBI informant Stefan Halper—whose role first emerged last year.

Halper, an American professor who reportedly is connected with British and American intelligence agencies, has been widely reported as a confidential source during the FBI's original investigation. That official counterintelligence operation was opened by then-senior agent Peter Strzok, who has since been fired from the bureau.

During the 2016 campaign, Halper reportedly contacted several members of the Trump campaign, including former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos and Page. Halper also reportedly contacted former campaign aide Sam Clovis.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign was a clear focus of the FBI’s 2016 counterintelligence investigation looking at suspicious Russia contacts.

Former FBI Director James Comey testified that when the agency initiated its counterintelligence probe into possible collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government, investigators "didn't know whether we had anything" and that "in fact, when I was fired as director [in May 2017], I still didn't know whether there was anything to it."

Fox News’ Jake Gibson, Gregg Re, Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Two out of three hotels accidentally leak guests’ personal data: Symantec

FILE PHOTO - A hand is silhouetted in front of a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin
FILE PHOTO - A hand is silhouetted in front of a computer screen in this picture illustration taken in Berlin May 21, 2013. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski

April 10, 2019

By Angela Moon

(Reuters) – Two out of three hotel websites inadvertently leak guests’ booking details and personal data to third-party sites, including advertisers and analytics companies, according to research released by Symantec Corp on Wednesday.

The study, which looked at more than 1,500 hotel websites in 54 countries that ranged from two-star to five-star properties, comes several months after Marriott International disclosed one of the worst data breaches in history.

Symantec said Marriott was not included in the study.

Compromised personal information includes full names, email addresses, credit card details and passport numbers of guests that could be used by cybercriminals who are increasingly interested in the movements of influential business professionals and government employees, Symantec said.

“While it’s no secret that advertisers are tracking users’ browsing habits, in this case, the information shared could allow these third-party services to log into a reservation, view personal details and even cancel the booking altogether,” said Candid Wueest, the primary researcher on the study.

The research showed compromises usually occur when a hotel site sends confirmation emails with a link that has direct booking information. The reference code attached to the link could be shared with more than 30 different service providers, including social networks, search engines and advertising and analytics services.  

Wueest said 25 percent of data privacy officers at the affected hotel sites did not reply to Symantec within six weeks when notified of the issue, and those who did took an average of 10 days to respond.

“Some admitted that they are still updating their systems to be fully GDPR-compliant,” Wueest said, referring to Europe’s new privacy law, or the General Data Protection Regulation, which took effect about a year ago and has strict guidelines on how organizations should deal with data leakage.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Source: OANN

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Bernie Sanders visibly frustrated as hecklers unload at She The People Forum for women of color

2020 presidential contender Bernie Sanders faced an aggressive and, at times, outwardly combative audience at the She The People Forum devoted to women of color in Houston on Wednesday, as the self-described democratic socialist seemingly struggled to convince attendees of his commitment to minority and underprivileged communities.

The tense moments underscored and bolded the challenges Sanders' campaign still faces despite its frontrunner status. The 77-year-old Vermont senator, long a champion for progressive causes, has sought urgently to win over voters who turned out in massive numbers to support former President Barack Obama.

In a particularly striking moment, host Aimee Allison asked Sanders what he would do to fight white-supremacist violence. In response, Sanders launched into a familiar anecdote that -- perhaps precisely because of its familiarity -- seemed to crash and burn.

"I know I date myself a little bit here, but I actually was at the March on Washington with Dr. [Martin Luther] King back in 1963," Sanders began, as audible groans and jeers broke out at the auditorium at Texas Southern University. One person apparently shouted, "We know!"

BERNIE SANDERS, AT FIERY FOX NEWS TOWN HALL, MAKES NO APOLOGIES FOR MAKING MAD MILLIONS

"And," Sanders continued, as he held his hand up to quiet the crowd and apparently to wag his finger, "as somebody who actively supported Jesse Jackson's campaign, as one of the few white elected officials to do so in '88, I have dedicated my life to the fight against racism, and sexism, and discrimination of all forms."

Sanders faced similar backlash when he responded to an audience question about white supremacy by discussing immigration and the federal minimum wage, as well as his sweeping "Medicare for All" proposal. The audience loudly applauded when Allison reminded Sanders that the "core of the question" concerned violence against minorities.

Separately, co-host Joy Reid asked Sanders how he would win over Hillary Clinton voters, including black women in particular. In response, Sanders trashed Trump as "the most dangerous president" in modern history, and generally called for unity among Democrats as well as "social justice, racial justice, and environmental justice."

That response immediately drew more hecklers, as Reid pressed, "Yeah, and for black women specifically?"

"I'm sorry?" Sanders asked, as the jeers became louder. "For black women specifically," Reid reiterated.

KEY N.H. POLL SHOWS SANDERS TOPPING BIDEN BY WIDE MARGIN

Sanders responded: "Black women will be an integral part of what our campaign, and what our administration is about. Okay? And that means --"

The audience erupted with heckling for a few seconds, as Sanders tossed his arm up in the air in dismay and muttered, "Okay."

"Were you finished with your --," Allison asked when the crowd quieted.

"Yeah," Sanders replied.

Seven other 2020 Democrats spoke at the first-ever She The People forum on Wednesday, including Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Beto O'Rourke, Julian Castro, Tulsi Gabbard and Amy Klobuchar.

Some used the event to make news and largely avoided audience attacks. Booker, for example, definitively declared that his running mate will be a woman.

But, the road was rocky for others. Gabbard, a Hawaii congresswoman, also faced some heat from the crowd during her own remarks.

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"There are a lot of bad people in the world," Gabbard began at one point.

Then came the reply from a heckler: "You’re one of them!”

Fox News' Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Thai army chief warns against protests after disputed election

Thailand's Royal Army Chief General Apirat Kongsompong arrives before an interview with members of foreign media at the Thai Army headquarters in Bangkok
Thailand's Royal Army Chief General Apirat Kongsompong arrives before an interview with members of foreign media at the Thai Army headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

April 2, 2019

By Panu Wongcha-um

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s army chief on Tuesday warned against protests after a disputed election, invoking the revered monarchy and castigating people he said “distort” democracy.

His words were the latest in a series of signals from the military and royalist establishment against opposition parties loyal to ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The inconclusive results to the March 24 election, pitting the party of the junta leader against an opposition alliance, have seen both the pro-army Palang Pracharat party and the opposition claim victory. Final results may not be clear for weeks.

General Apirat Kongsompong said the military would remain neutral in the election, in which his predecessor as army chief, Prayuth Chan-ocha, is seeking to stay in power as an elected prime minister, five years after he seized power in a coup.

“General Prayuth has to be on his own path and the army has to step back,” Apirat said. “We cannot get involved in politics.”

At the same time, Apirat made clear the military would not allow a repeat of past mass street demonstrations in which both supporters and opponents of Thaksin paralyzed Bangkok for months on end.

“I cannot let Thais settle their differences on the streets anymore,” Apirat told reporters, adding that both the eventual winners and losers in the election must settle their differences in parliament.

He also had harsh words for politicians he said “distort” democratic principles to make them incompatible with Thai culture that reveres the king above all else, a clear reference to Thaksin’s party and its allies.

“This is not right,” Apirat said of such politicians. “Thailand is a democracy with the king as the head of state.”

Thaksin-loyal parties have won every election since 2001, even after he was ousted in a 2006 coup.

Thaksin has remained an influential political figure despite having lived in self-imposed exile since he fled Thailand in 2008 to escape a corruption trial that he said was politically motivated.

Last week, six other parties joined with the pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai party in a “democratic front” alliance, which they claim will gain enough seats in parliament to try to form a government and block Prayuth from staying in power.

“People should accept winning and losing,” Apirat said. “Instead, they constructed a democratic side and a dictatorship side, which is not right. We are all Thais.”

The army chief also alluded to an election-eve statement from King Maha Vajiralongkorn, telling reporters on Tuesday “we must choose good people to govern so that bad people don’t have power”.

King Vajiralongkorn’s unexpected statement on March 23, which broke from his late father’s practised silence on politics, mentioned “good” and “bad” people but did not specify any one party or politician.

However, less than a week after the vote, the king issued an official command that stripped Thaksin of all royal honors and decorations he had been given.

The king’s command came on the heels of military moves to discredit Thaksin.

Last week the military said that Thaksin has acted “dishonorably” and stripped him from a pre-cadet school’s achievement award as well as deleting his name from the school’s hall of fame.

(Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: OANN

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Politico: McDonald's Won't Lobby Against Minimum Wage

Fast-food giant McDonald's will no longer participate in lobby efforts against minimum wage increases, boosting the likely passage of a House bill introduced by Democrats that would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, Politico reports.

Genna Gent, McDonald's vice president of government relations, made the announcement in a letter to the National Restaurant Association on Tuesday.

"We believe increases should be phased in and that all industries should be treated the same way," Gent said. "The conversation about wages is an important one; it's one we wish to advance, not impede."

The House bill, The Raise the Wage Act, was considered a long shot when Democrats first introduced it in January. A companion measure in the Senate has 31 Democratic co-sponsors, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

The current federal rate is $7.25.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which argued a $15 per hour U.S. wage would burden small business owners and force cuts to workers' hours, said Tuesday it would be willing to negotiate over raising the hourly wage.

In its letter, McDonald's said it was "committed to playing a meaningful role in the spaces we occupy."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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US pushes NATO allies to join observer force in Syria

President Donald Trump's decision authorizing about 200 U.S. troops to remain in northeast Syria indefinitely is a key step in creating a larger multinational observer force that can keep the peace and prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State group, administration and defense officials said Friday, as U.S. leaders press NATO allies to join.

The president also agreed to allow the Pentagon to keep about 200 troops at the al-Tanf garrison in southern Syria, where they train local forces and help root out remaining IS militants in the region.

Trump's decision endorses a plan pressed by U.S. military leaders for some time, calling for an international force of 800 to 1,500 troops that would monitor a safe zone along Syria's border with Turkey. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to provide details about a troop deployment before details are finalized.

Trump in December announced he was pulling all 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria quickly, but has gradually reversed course. He made this decision Thursday after being told European allies insisted on some U.S. forces remaining on the ground as part of the observer force.

His sudden order to pull all U.S. troops from Syria had shocked U.S. allies and angered the Kurds in Syria, who are vulnerable to attack by Turkey. It also contributed to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's decision to resign, and drew fierce criticism in Congress. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, called the decision a "betrayal of our Kurdish partners."

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been leading discussions with allies on assembling the observer mission. He told reporters Friday he is confident they will step up and commit troops.

"I'm confident we can maintain the campaign" in Syria, Dunford said.

Asked about the decision to keep 400 U.S. troops in Syria, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan described it as "good progress." He spoke to reporters shortly before meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in the Pentagon. He said the meeting with Akar would be about "next steps."

Officials said the number of U.S. troops assigned to the safe zone could change, but that roughly 200 is an informed number. They said U.S. troops would remain in the area indefinitely to keep the U.S.'s Kurdish allies and Turkish forces from clashing, prevent forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad from seizing the territory and minimize the risk of a resurgence of the Islamic State. A defense official said Turkish and Syrian opposition forces would not be allowed in the safe zone.

Turkey views Kurdish members of the Syrian Democratic Forces who have fought alongside the U.S. against the Islamic State as terrorists.

The SDF is currently involved in a standoff over the final sliver of land held by IS in eastern Syria, close to the Iraq border.

The U.S. is not seeking a United Nations mandate for the deployment and currently does not envision asking NATO to sponsor the mission, an administration official said, adding that the troops would not be "peacekeepers," a term that carries restricted rules of engagement. The current goal is to have the force stood up by the end of April.

___

AP writers Deb Riechmann and Bob Burns contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Cambodian authorities have ordered a one-hour reduction in the length of school days because of concerns that students and teachers may fall ill from a prolonged heat wave.

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said in an announcement seen Friday that the shortened hours will remain in effect until the rainy season starts, which usually occurs in May. The current heat wave, in which temperatures are regularly reaching as high as 41 Celsius (106 Fahrenheit), is one of the longest in memory.

Most schools in Cambodia lack air conditioning, prompting concern that temperatures inside classrooms could rise to unhealthy levels.

School authorities were instructed to watch for symptoms of heat stroke and urge pupils to drink more water.

The new hours cut 30 minutes off the beginning of the school day and 30 minutes off the end.

School authorities instituted a similar measure in 2016.

Source: Fox News World

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Explosions have rocked Britain’s largest steel plant, injuring two people and shaking nearby homes.

South Wales Police say the incident at the Tata Steel plant in Port Talbot was reported at about 3:35 a.m. Friday (22:35 EDT Thursday). The explosions touched off small fires, which are under control. Two workers suffered minor injuries and all staff members have been accounted for.

Police say early indications are that the explosions were caused by a train used to carry molten metal into the plant. Tata Steel says its personnel are working with emergency services at the scene.

Local lawmaker Stephen Kinnock says the incident raises concerns about safety.

He tweeted: “It could have been a lot worse … @TataSteelEurope must conduct a full review, to improve safety.”

Source: Fox News World

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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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At least one person is reported dead and homes have been destroyed by a powerful cyclone that struck northern Mozambique and continues to dump rain on the region, with the United Nations warning of “massive flooding.”

Cyclone Kenneth arrived just six weeks after Cyclone Idai tore into central Mozambique, killing more than 600 people and displacing scores of thousands. The U.N. says this is the first time in known history that the southern African nation has been hit by two cyclones in one season.

Forecasters say the new cyclone made landfall Thursday night in a part of Mozambique that has not seen such a storm in at least 60 years.

Mozambique’s local emergency operations center says a woman in the city of Pemba was killed by a falling tree.

Source: Fox News World

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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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