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Adam Schiff’s selfie in front of John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Nancy Pelosi gets meme treatment

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was the victim of multiple social media memes after he shared a selfie of himself in front of singer John Legend, his wife Chrissy Teigen and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

CHRISSY TEIGEN SAYS WOMEN SHOULD SAY THESE WORDS MORE FREQUENTLY: 'F--- YOU'

Schiff was attending the House Democrats’ annual retreat at the Lansdowne Resort and Spa in Leesburg, Va. Teigen and Legend appeared at the three-day policy retreat and spoke at a panel. The congressman took a selfie as Teigen and Legend were greeting fans. He captioned the photo, “Felt cute, might delete later @Chrissy Teigen @John Legend.”

Some Twitter users jumped on the opportunity to turn Schiff’s selfie into a meme.

A social media user put Schiff’s face on Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade who accidentally crashed into Teigen and Legend as they sat courtside at the game Tuesday.

Another social media user photoshopped Schiff’s face into the star-studded selfie Ellen DeGeneres took when she hosted the Oscars in 2013.

Journalist Soledad O'Brien offered some advice to Schiff on his selfie-taking skills.

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"Oh baby, no. Move that camera back a foot," she wrote.

Another tweet had Schiff photoshopped in front of President Trump when he served a fast food feast to the Clemson Tigers.

Source: Fox News Politics

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'Egg Boy' teen defends egging anti-Muslim Australian senator

An Australian teen known around the world as "Egg Boy" has conceded that egging a far-right senator was not the right thing to do, but says the gesture united a world reeling from a white-supremacist's alleged massacre of 50 Muslims in New Zealand.

Will Connolly gave his first television interview on Monday since becoming an online hero among many for cracking an egg on Sen. Fraser Anning's head as the maverick legislator spoke at a news conference after a gunman killed or wounded 100 worshippers at two Christchurch mosques on March 15.

Anning has been widely criticized for blaming Muslim immigration for the racist attacks.

Connolly said he is embarrassed that the international attention he has attracted with the egging has distracted attention from the victims of Christchurch.

Source: Fox News World

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Rep. Collins Views Less Redacted Muller Report, Slams Dems

Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, viewed the less-redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Monday, saying there is no reason for Democrats not to do the same, the Washington Examiner reported.

Select Democrats allowed to see the less-redacted report have refused to do so in protest of how Attorney General William Barr has handled its release.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler issued a subpoena last week for the full report and its underlying documents, giving the Justice Department until May 1 to turn over the information.

"With the special counsel’s investigation complete, I encourage Chairman Nadler and Democrat leaders to view this material as soon as possible - unless they’re afraid to acknowledge the facts this report outlines,” Collins said, adding that “The report’s 182-page look at obstruction questions includes only four redactions in total, and both volumes reinforce the principal conclusions made public last month."

Collins also criticized Nadler for making “wildly inaccurate claims” about the report by saying Mueller “made it very clear” he wants Congress to reach a determination on whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice, according to The Washington Times.

Collins said that isn’t true, emphasizing that a “plain reading of the report does not at all indicate - let alone make ‘very clear,’ as you claim - the Special Counsel intended for Congress to decide whether President Trump obstructed justice. In fact, it is the exact opposite.”

The Democrats who declined the Justice Department's invitation wrote last week in a letter to Barr that “Unfortunately, your proposed accommodation -- which among other things would prohibit discussion of the full report, even with other committee members -- is not acceptable.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Duterte warns of revolutionary government and arrests

The Philippine president has warned he would declare a revolutionary government and arrest his detractors and outlaws if he says he's pushed to the wall.

His latest outburst prompted critics to ask him to confront real issues instead of playing with a dictator's "playbook."

President Rodrigo Duterte made the threat late Thursday in a speech where he expressed his exasperation with criticism even while he's trying to fight irregularities. Duterte has been known for provocative remarks, which his spokesmen have often played down as hyperbole when they spark a backlash.

Duterte says: "I have enough problems with criminality, drugs, rebellion and all, but if you push me to the extreme, I will declare the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and I will arrest all of you."

Source: Fox News World

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Ibrahimovic back as hot Galaxy face struggling Whitecaps

MLS: Portland Timbers at LA Galaxy
Mar 31, 2019; Carson, CA, USA; LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic (9) jumps to recover the ball during the first half against the Portland Timbers at StubHub Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

April 5, 2019

The rebuilding Vancouver Whitecaps are still searching for their first win of the season, but it won’t come easy at home on Friday night against the L.A. Galaxy and, most likely, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Whitecaps (0-3-1, 1 point) finally got their first point of the season last weekend when they kept Pacific Northwest rivals Seattle off the board in a 0-0 draw at BC Place, preventing the Sounders from winning four straight to start the season for the first time in franchise history.

While Vancouver was still on the back foot for stretches of that match, first-year coach Marco Dos Santos viewed the result as a “positive moment” for a squad that turned over more than half of its roster in the offseason.

But it’s also an improvement he believed would come despite a slow start.

“I feel this is the phase now that everybody is kind of on the same page, not only mentally but physically,” Dos Santos said. “A lot of times I was asked about the mood, or if the players had motivation, questioning if the players were doubting themselves for the first three games. I never felt that. They always worked hard. They always had the right mentality.”

Meanwhile, the Galaxy (3-1-0, 9 points) have had nearly as hot a start as the Sounders despite missing superstar attacker Ibrahimovic for two games with an Achilles tendon injury.

Ibrahimovic still has three goals, including two from the penalty spot in his return last weekend, a 2-1 victory over Portland last Sunday.

And after avoiding artificial surfaces throughout his first MLS season, in part because of concerns over his surgically repaired ACL, he suggested he’s prepared to play on the surface this season, beginning at BC Place.

“That was an issue for me knee,” Ibrahimovic said of the decision last year. “I didn’t even know if I was ready for the turf. Or how the consequence would be. I thought it was a little bit risky. But not because I didn’t want to. Because of the injury. But now I feel good, I feel confident. It’s gone a long time since the injury.”

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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With holograms and breakdancing, a battle for Indonesia’s youth vote

FILE PHOTO: Indonesia's presidential candidate for the upcoming general election Joko Widodo takes pictures with his supporters during his first campaign rally at a stadium in Serang
FILE PHOTO: Indonesia's presidential candidate for the upcoming general election Joko Widodo takes pictures with his supporters during his first campaign rally at a stadium in Serang, Banten province, Indonesia, March 24, 2019. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo

April 4, 2019

By Kanupriya Kapoor

JAKARTA (Reuters) – “Mama, just killed a man,” sings Indonesian President Joko Widodo during a recent ride in a local YouTube celebrity’s car while Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody plays in the background.

The video, which also shows Widodo dressed in a red zip-up jacket and jeans chatting about family life and the pressures of running the world’s third-largest democracy, was the brainchild of a backroom team that has become a vital part of his campaign for re-election on April 17.

The team, comprised mainly of people in their 20s, has a sleek, high-rise office in central Jakarta. On a recent visit, Reuters saw the team’s data of social media activity on the Indonesian presidential election displayed on LED screens covering one wall of a conference room.

Widodo’s aides say the team uses the data to determine the pop-culture references that the president will make in his next speech – he’s done “Games of Thrones” and the “Avengers” already – or the sneakers he might wear to an event to appeal to young voters. Widodo’s sons also sometimes advise him on outfits or speeches, according to one senior campaign aide.

Millennials – those aged 17-35 – account for over one third of Indonesia’s 193 million voters and both Widodo and his challenger, former general Prabowo Subianto, have ramped up efforts to appeal to them.

“Just because of the sheer size of that voter base, the millennials will play an important role in deciding the direction of the election,” said Djayadi Hanan of pollster Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting.

Most opinion polls show Widodo, 57, holding a double-digit lead over his opponent. A recent survey by pollster Roy Morgan showed around 60 percent of young voters favoring Widodo, but both campaigns say that wooing the country’s largely apolitical youth is a challenge.

A former furniture-maker who grew up in a riverside slum and is the first national leader to come from outside the political and military elite, Widodo’s everyman image resonated in 2014 with voters tired of the old guard.

But since taking office, aides say, young supporters “no longer recognized” the president and he was advised to project a more relaxed image.

“Because he has had to become more stately, that ‘village boy’ narrative was missing this time,” said the senior campaign aide, who declined to be identified.

That’s where the backroom team came in.

“We’re able to see in real-time what does well or what people react negatively to … We were very blunt in conveying that to the president,” the aide said, adding that Widodo gets a summary of the social media data almost daily.

JEANS AND SNEAKERS

Where his rival often wears fitted suits and oxford shoes, Widodo sports a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, jeans, and brightly colored sneakers. In March, the president posted an animated comic strip on social media that showed him meeting his younger self and discussing the achievements of his government.

Taking a page from Indian Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s playbook, Widodo has started using a holographic projection of himself to address voters at campaign rallies.

Analysts say Prabowo is less popular among young voters, in part because of a strongman image stemming from his time as special forces chief under authoritarian ruler Suharto. Aides have suggested softening the image of the 67-year-old, so he now wears a khaki shirt and aviator sunglasses at campaign rallies.

“It was rare to see his lighter side and sense of humor. We have tried to expose that side of him,” said campaign spokesman Dahnil Anzar.

Prabowo’s team has also posted a photograph of him with his cat, which was popular online. The cat now has its own Instagram account.

Prabowo’s running mate, businessman and amateur marathon runner Sandiaga Uno, was chosen in part for his massive appeal both online and offline with young and female voters.

As the keynote speaker at a recent event for young entrepreneurs, Uno, 49, joined a group of breakdancers on stage before kicking footballs into a crowd of university students.

Uno’s popularity and extensive campaigning across the country has helped boost Prabowo’s electability, aides say.

DESPERATE PROMISES

Nevertheless, many young voters want policy pledges to address job creation and youth unemployment, not campaign gimmicks.

Unemployment, at about 5 percent, is one of the highest in Southeast Asia, and many of those without jobs are graduates of vocational schools.

In what was widely seen as an attempt to win votes, Widodo last month promised cash benefits to graduates from poor families and the unemployed, but did not offer details. Critics questioned the feasibility of such a plan, citing an already strained national budget.

Prabowo and his running mate have promised “entrepreneurial training” for graduates.

“Our biggest concern is how to get a job after we graduate and who is the leader who can give us that,” said Haliza Aulia Madina, a 19-year-old student studying Arabic in the city of Bandung, who supports Prabowo.

(Additional reporting by Jessica Damiana; Editing by John Chalmers and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Source: OANN

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Russia wants to borrow more, prepares new OFZ auction mechanism

Head of the state debt department at the Russian Finance Ministry Vyshkovsky speaks during an interview in Moscow
Konstantin Vyshkovsky, head of the state debt department at the Russian Finance Ministry, speaks during an interview in Moscow, Russia March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Andrey Ostroukh

March 29, 2019

By Darya Korsunskaya and Andrey Ostroukh

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia wants to borrow more in the second quarter this year, and it plans to implement a new bond-offering mechanism and take advantage of growing global demand for its debt, a senior ministry official said.

After months of uncertainty related to possible new U.S. sanctions on holdings of Russian debt, demand for OFZ treasury bonds soared this year. That’s led the finance ministry to rethink how it raises money for its budget needs.

The ministry has now scrapped offering limits at OFZ auctions after Moody’s rating agency in February lifted Russia’s sovereign rating, giving Russia an investment-grade rating by all three big international rating agencies.

The decision to stop setting offering limits at weekly auctions allowed the ministry to borrow more than planned, Konstantin Vyshkovsky, head of the state debt department at the Finance Ministry, told Reuters in an interview cleared for publication this week.

Russia has already borrowed more than 450 billion rubles ($6.90 billion) envisaged by the first-quarter plan, and “the target for the second quarter will certainly be higher,” Vyshkovsky said.

To raise more money, the ministry is now planning to alter the way it holds OFZ auctions on Wednesdays.

The ministry wants to give OFZ buyers one more chance to snap up the debt after the main session of the auction. Within 30 minutes after setting a cut-off price at the auction, the ministry will let OFZ buyers who placed bets close to that level purchase bonds at the cut-off price, Vyshkovsky said.

FOREIGN INVESTORS

Rouble-denominated OFZ bonds enjoyed strong demand recently as interest grew in emerging markets. A stronger rouble and expectations of no further rate increases by the central bank also helped, Vyshkovsky said.

The absence of more U.S. rhetoric on sanctions against Moscow also supported OFZ bonds.

“Some non-residents decided to take advantage of it as there is an understanding that if the sanctions occur, they are likely to impact new debt only,” Vyshkovsky said. “Now we see a serious inflow of non-residents at the auctions.”

Non-residents accounted for up to a half of all buyers at OFZ auctions in mid-March, he said.

Foreigners’ share among OFZ holders rose to 25.9 percent as of March 1, its highest since early September 2018, central bank data showed. Their share has probably grown as the finance ministry raised record funds in OFZ bonds in March.

“Sanctions risks are the normal reality. In any case, the market got used to it,” Vyshkovsky said.

NEW BONDS

Vyshkovsky said the finance ministry will diversify its OFZ offering this year by presenting new two-year bonds with coupon payments pegged to money-market rates, so-called floaters.

“Floaters are a defensive tool for an investor, demand for which is rising … when the market is expecting interest rates to grow,” Vyshkovsky said. Investors now are interested in buying bonds with a fixed coupon instead.

Vyshkovsky also said that Russia was still planning to issue OFZ bonds denominated in Chinese yuan this year, without elaborating on a possible timing or volumes of the issue.

(Writing by Andrey Ostroukh, editing by Larry King)

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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