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Brazil’s Petrobras approves voluntary retirement program

A logo of the Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company is seen in Rio de Janeiro
FILE PHOTO: A logo of the Brazil's state-run Petrobras oil company is seen in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

April 25, 2019

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – The board of Brazilian state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA has approved a voluntary retirement program that it hopes will save 3 billion reais ($752 million) over 5 years, the company said on Thursday.

In a filing, Petrobras, as the firm is known, said it expected 4,300 employees to take part in the program, which would cost an estimated 1.1 billion reais to implement and would result in cost savings of 4.1 billion reais through 2023.

The board also formally approved the appointment of Andrea Marques de Almeida as chief financial officer, the firm said. Petrobras had preliminarily announced the appointment of Almeida, a former executive at mining company Vale SA, in March.

She is due to take office on May 2.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Grieving New Zealand looks for lessons from Christchurch attack

People visit a memorial site for victims of Friday's shooting, in front of the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch
People visit a memorial site for victims of Friday's shooting, in front of the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

March 18, 2019

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – After days of intense grieving for New Zealand’s worst-ever mass shooting, attention began to turn to how the country’s gun laws need to change and what warning signs might have been missed ahead of a gunman’s attack on two mosques that killed 50 people.

Bodies of the victims of Friday’s attacks in Christchurch were being washed and prepared for burial in a Muslim ritual process, with teams of volunteers flown in from overseas to assist with the heavy workload.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her Cabinet had made in-principle decisions on changes to gun laws which she would announce next Monday, saying now was the time to act on tightening access to firearms.

Simon Bridges, leader of the opposition National Party, said he wanted to get details of the changes to see if there could be bipartisan support in Parliament. The National Party draws support from rural areas, where gun ownership is higher than in urban areas.

“We know that change is required. I’m willing to look at anything that is going to enhance our safety – that’s our position,” Bridges told TVNZ.

In addition to the 50 killed, dozens were wounded at the two mosques in the South Island city during Friday prayers.

Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist who was living in Dunedin, on New Zealand’s South Island, was charged with murder on Saturday. Tarrant was remanded without a plea and is due back in court on April 5, where police said he was likely to face more charges.

Andrew Little, the minister who oversees New Zealand’s intelligence agencies, said monitoring of online activity had been stepped up in the wake of the Christchurch attacks.

“There are people who have been online making statements who have been interviewed by the police; that will continue. There is a level of intervention, there is a heightened level of monitoring,” Little said on TVNZ on Monday night.

Ardern said there would be an inquiry into what government agencies “knew, or could or should have known” about the alleged gunman and whether the attack could be prevented.

“We have to know whether there have been failings, whether there have been gaps,” Little said on TVNZ. “We have to leave no stone unturned to not only deal with the perpetrator and ensure the criminal justice system gets to deal with him, but to understand how this could have happened in this country.”

More than 250 New Zealand police staff are working on the inquiry in the attacks, with staff from the U.S. FBI and Australia’s Federal Police working with local investigators.

In the wake of the deadly attack, other incidents were drawing scrutiny. A gun club in the northern town of Kaitaia burned down early on Tuesday morning, and police were treating the blaze as suspicious. A bomb hoax that closed Dunedin Airport on Sunday night and caused some flights to be diverted was under investigation, police said.

A black laptop bag was thought to have been bought onto the airfield by someone climbing over fences around the Dunedin airport. Police found a note written by the person who left the “hoax device,” which was dealt with by defense force experts.

“The insensitive nature of this act in light of recent events cannot be overstated,” police said in a statement.

(Writing by John Mair; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

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Venezuela hit with new U.S. sanctions after clashes over food aid on border

Meeting of Lima Group in Bogota
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who many nations have recognized as the country's rightful interim ruler, shake hands during a meeting of the Lima Group in Bogota, Colombia, February 25, 2019. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

February 25, 2019

By Roberta Rampton and Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA (Reuters) – The United States targeted Venezuela’s government with new sanctions on Monday and called on allies to freeze the assets of its state-owned oil company PDVSA after deadly violence blocked aid from reaching the crisis-hit country during the weekend.

The United States also took its pressure campaign to the United Nations Security Council, asking that body to discuss the situation in Venezuela, diplomats said.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions were imposed on four Venezuelan state governors allied with the government of embattled President Nicolas Maduro, blocking any assets they control in the United States.

The new sanctions were announced in Bogota as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and opposition leader Juan Guaido met with members of the Lima Group, a bloc of nations from Argentina to Canada dedicated to peaceful resolution of the Venezuelan crisis.

Pence said the United States would stand by Guaido until freedom was restored to the OPEC member. He called for all Lima Group nations to immediately freeze PDVSA’s assets and to transfer ownership of Venezuelan assets in their countries from Maduro’s “henchmen” to Guaido’s government-in-waiting.

He also said tougher measures were coming.

“In the days ahead … the United States will announce even stronger sanctions on the regime’s corrupt financial networks,” Pence said. “We will work with all of you to find every last dollar that they stole and work to return it to Venezuela.”

Guaido, sitting next to Pence at the meeting, asked for a moment of silence for those killed in what he called the “massacre” of the weekend.

At least three people were killed and almost 300 wounded during the protests and clashes on Saturday as U.S.-backed aid convoys attempted to enter Venezuela to deliver food and medicine.

Guaido, recognized by most Western nations as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, has urged the bloc to consider “all options” in ousting Maduro.

Pence repeated an earlier statement that there would be an amnesty for members of the armed forces who throw their support behind Guaido. He said he hopes Maduro and those supported by his “corruption and his brutality” will leave Venezuela peacefully.

“We make clear to them that we will support the interim president’s call for amnesty, an inclusive government, an inclusive future for members of the armed forces, who have laid down their arms and stand with the Guaido government,” Pence said.

Unlike the Lima Group, of which the United States is not a member, the Trump administration has so far declined to rule out the use of military force. But Peruvian Deputy Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela Martinez denied there was any division in the group over the use of force.

Pence also called for Mexico and Uruguay, two-left leaning regional governments, to join most of the region’s other powers in embracing Guaido as Venezuela’s rightful president.

“We believe there can be no bystanders, no one on the sidelines of this, particularly in our hemisphere, and our message today very much was intended to say – to Mexico, to Uruguay, to nations across the eastern Caribbean – that they need to come off the sidelines, they need to take a stand for freedom. Stand with us and with the people of Venezuela,” said Pence.

Washington wants the 15-member U.N. Security Council to formally call for free, fair and credible presidential elections with international observers. Russia, which along with China has major investments in Venezuela’s energy sector and back Maduro, proposed a rival draft resolution.

Violence escalated during the weekend when the convoy of trucks with food and medicines was blocked by soldiers and armed groups loyal to Maduro. He says the aid efforts are part of a U.S.-orchestrated coup against Venezuela.

In the Venezuelan town of San Antonio, near the border with Colombia, residents on Monday chafed at the continued border closure ordered by Maduro’s government last week.

Residents increasingly cross into the neighboring country to work and buy basic goods that are unavailable in Venezuela, which has been wracked by years of hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine. Illegal crossings over back roads known as “trochas” generally require paying tolls to low-level criminals who control them, known as “trocheros.”

“We were hungry when before the border closed. Now it will be even worse,” said Belkis Garcia, 34, walking with her husband along a trail that leads to Colombia. “We have to pay (to cross), so the little money we have for half the food is not enough. We don’t know what will happen if the border continues closed.”

Four people have been killed, 58 have suffered bullet wounds and at least 32 arrested in unrest since Friday, local rights group Penal Forum said in a press conference.

The four governors sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury include the flamboyant Rafael Lacava of state of Carabobo, who in 2018 visited Washington as part of talks that led to the release of Joshua Holt, an American who was imprisoned in Venezuela for nearly two years. Lacava goes by the nickname “Dracula” in reference to his habit of doing late-night patrols and is known for off-the-cuff social media videos.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta, Roberta Rampton, Helen Murphy and Julia Symmes Cobb; additional reporting by Mitra Taj in Lima, Aislinn Laing in Santiago, Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia, Mayela Armas and Anggy Polanco in Urena, and Shaylim Castro in Caracas; editing by Bill Trott and Grant McCool)

Source: OANN

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Vodafone’s New Zealand unit offers redundancy to about 2,000 staff members

Pigeon flies past the logo of Vodafone in Kiev
A pigeon flies past the logo of Vodafone in Kiev, Ukraine, March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

March 11, 2019

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – A unit of Vodafone PLC has offered voluntary redundancy to thousands of staff members in New Zealand, the company said on Monday, as part of plans to review its business ahead of a possible stock market listing next year.

Vodafone New Zealand said about 2,000 employees – with the exception of frontline call center and retail team members – were asked in February if they would consider redundancy.

A small proportion have taken up the opportunity, a spokeswoman of the company told Reuters.

“We’re now in the process of working through those expressions of interest and will evaluate them based on ensuring customer service levels are preserved, business continuity maintained, and key skills are retained and developed to drive for our future growth,” she said in an email.

Vodafone New Zealand said in December that it was reviewing all areas of its business to improve its performance and that a new operating model would be finalised in March.

There are no pre-determined number or type of roles that would be impacted, it had said at the time.

Vodafone New Zealand’s newly installed CEO Jason Paris said late last year that the company was being restructured to get it into shape for an initial public offering in 2020.

The firm has about 3,000 employees and 72 retail shops across New Zealand. It has accumulated 2.4 million customers since it started operations in 1998, its website shows.

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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State to Repeal Sales Tax on Gold, Silver Bullion

The West Virginia legislature has approved a bill that would take an important first step towards treating gold and silver like money instead of a commodity by repealing sales and use taxes on bullion.

Sen. Craig Blair (R-Martinsburg) sponsored Senate Bill 502 (SB502). The proposed law defines “investment metal bullion” as “elementary precious metal which has been put through a process of smelting or refining, including gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, and which is in such a state or condition that its value depends upon its content and not its form.” It defines investment coins to include numismatic coins or other forms of money and legal tender manufactured of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, or other metal and of the United States or any foreign nation with a fair market value greater than any nominal value of such coins.

The West Virginia Senate passed SB502 by a vote of 33-0. The House concurred by a 90-9 vote. If Gov. Jim Justice signs the bill, it will go into effect July 1.

Enactment of this law would eliminate a barrier to investing in gold and silver and enable West Virginians to better protect themselves from the inflationary practices of the Federal Reserve.

Several other states are considering legislation to repeal taxes on gold and silver, including Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Kansas.


Gerald Celente reveals what’s ahead as the Federal Reserve is crashing the debt & real estate bubble it created worldwide.

In Practice

Fundamentally,  gold and silver are money. But most governments treat precious metals as a commodity. They don’t accept it as payment. Worse than that, they tax it. Think about the absurdity of this policy.

Imagine if you asked a grocery clerk to break a $5 bill and he charged you a 35 cent tax. Silly, right? After all, you were only exchanging one form of money for another. But that’s essentially what West Virginia’s sales tax on gold and silver bullion does. By removing the sales tax on the exchange of gold and silver, West Virginia would treat specie as money instead of a commodity. This represents a small step toward reestablishing gold and silver as legal tender and breaking down the Fed’s monopoly on money.

Former Congressman Ron Paul testified during in support of a bill to eliminate capital gains taxes on gold and silver that passed in Arizona in 2017.

“We ought not to tax money – and that’s a good idea. It makes no sense to tax money.”

Paul has been a vocal supporter of this movement. He produced a video urging the Wyoming governor to sign a 2018 bill that repealed all taxes on gold and silver. He noted that things move agonizingly slow in Washington D.C. Passing bills like this at the state level are an important step toward real monetary reform.

“It’s just to me sad that we are so far removed from the Constitution. But a little bit here and a little bit there, there is going to be a revolution in monetary policy.”

Paul emphasized that monetary reform is an important step toward reducing the power of the federal government.

“Believe me, the size and scope and interference of government would change a whole lot if we could rein in the monetary system, rein in the Federal Reserve and rein in this spending.”

Practically speaking, eliminating taxes on the sale of gold and silver would crack open the door for people to begin using specie in regular business transactions. This would mark an important small step toward currency competition. If sound money gains a foothold in the marketplace against Federal Reserve notes, the people will be able to choose the time-tested stability of gold and silver over the central bank’s rapidly-depreciating paper currency.

(Photo by Eric Golub / Flickr)

Background Information

The United States Constitution states in Article I, Section 10, “No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” States have simply ignored this constitutional provision for years. It’s impossible for a state to return to a constitutional sound money system when it taxes gold and silver as a commodity.

SB502 tales a step toward establishing gold and silver as legal tender in the state and that constitutional requirement, ignored for decades in every state. This sets the stage to undermine the monopoly of the Federal Reserve by introducing competition into the monetary system.

Constitutional tender expert Professor William Greene said when people in multiple states actually start using gold and silver instead of Federal Reserve Notes, it could create a “reverse Gresham’s effect,” drive out bad money, effectively nullify the Federal Reserve, and end the federal government’s monopoly on money.

“Over time, as residents of the state use both Federal Reserve notes and silver and gold coins, the fact that the coins hold their value more than Federal Reserve notes do will lead to a “reverse Gresham’s Law” effect, where good money (gold and silver coins) will drive out bad money (Federal Reserve notes). As this happens, a cascade of events can begin to occur, including the flow of real wealth toward the state’s treasury, an influx of banking business from outside of the state – as people in other states carry out their desire to bank with sound money – and an eventual outcry against the use of Federal Reserve notes for any transactions.”

Once things get to that point, Federal Reserve notes would become largely unwanted and irrelevant for ordinary people. Nullifying the Fed on a state by state level is what will get us there.


Stewart Rhodes joins Matt Bracken & Alex to break down why patriots must be aware of false smears and remember their personal values.

Source: InfoWars

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Golf: Rose ticks all the boxes for a Green Jacket at 83rd Masters

Justin Rose of England chips onto the 2nd hole during practice for the 2019 Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
Justin Rose of England chips onto the 2nd hole during practice for the 2019 Master golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, U.S., April 8, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 8, 2019

By Andrew Both

AUGUSTA, Ga. (Reuters) – World number one Justin Rose is the man to beat at this week’s Masters, where recent history suggests the sport’s heavyweights will populate the leaderboard by Sunday at a major championship that is more predictable than any other.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy is the second favorite from a formidable European contingent, while Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas are the best American bets, even if Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will loom larger in the public imagination.

There has been no long-shot winner at Augusta National since 69th ranked Angel Cabrera collected the Green Jacket in 2009, though even the Argentine’s victory was far from a huge shock given his pedigree as a U.S. Open champion two years earlier.

Nobody ranked outside the top 30 in the world has won since then, and even Patrick Reed, though not one of the favorites last year, was still ranked a healthy 24th and not a completely unexpected champion.

An Augusta winner must be able to draw his driver, fade his irons from hanging lies and have the artistry to hit great recovery shots. He must also be on form and mentally resilient.

Englishman Rose ticks all these boxes.

It is almost as if Augusta National was designed with him in mind.

He has finished top-15 each of the past five years, including a pair of runner-up finishes, most notably a playoff loss to Sergio Garcia in 2017.

Rose has been a machine from tee to green at Augusta, and if the putter co-operates it will take a mighty performance from someone else to beat him.

But to win, he will have to put out of his mind the thought that the clock is ticking.

Though playing as well as ever at age 38, Rose cannot realistically expect too many more chances.

MCILROY IN FORM OF HIS CAREER

Waiting to pounce could be McIlroy, though he too has plenty of pressure as he tries to complete the career grand slam at a tournament where he wilted in the final round last year after starting three strokes behind Reed.

McIlroy’s stock drive is a right-to-left draw, ideal for Augusta, and he has been working with his irons on hitting the soft, high fade that is required with many approach shots.

He has been the best player in the world in 2019 and top-10 finishes the past five years is all the proof needed to be confident he will be in contention again.

However, can he expunge the demons from last year’s collapse and take the final step to the pinnacle?

World number one Johnson is also in sizzling form. His game is not a perfect match for Augusta, but he is good enough to win anywhere, anytime.

The same goes for Thomas.

Others capable of victory include Europeans Francesco Molinari, Jon Rahm, Paul Casey and Tommy Fleetwood, and Americans Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson.

Australians Adam Scott, Jason Day and Marc Leishman, and South African Louis Oosthuizen are also capable.

It would be foolish to write off 43-year-old Woods and 48-year-old Mickelson given their respective records at Augusta, where the former has won four times and the latter three.

That said, time waits for no man and age is not on their side.

A victory would make Mickelson the oldest Masters champion, supplanting Jack Nicklaus, who was 46 when he won in 1986, while Woods would become the second-oldest champion.

A victory by either would be monumental, but a herd of lean and hungry young bucks stand in the way, none of them interested in letting a couple of middle-aged guys steal the show.

Even if those middle-aged guys have seven Green Jackets between them.

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Christian Radnedge)

Source: OANN

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Vietnam artist paints 'peace' portraits of Trump, Kim for Hanoi summit

President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have inspired one Vietnam artist to paint their portraits as a means to spread a message of “love and peace” ahead of the leaders’ summit in Hanoi this week.

Vietnam artist Tran Lam Binh, 36, has created about 10 pop-art portraits of Trump and Kim on canvas and paper using bright pink, blue, orange and yellow colors applied with casual brush strokes. The portraits include heart decorations and the words "Love" and "Peace."

90K BOTTLES OF RUSSIAN VODKA BELIEVED TO BE FOR KIM JONG UN SEIZED BY DUTCH CUSTOMS

A self-proclaimed Trump obsessive, Binh has turned out nearly 50 paintings of the U.S. president since the business mogul’s White House run began in 2015. Binh has even displayed some paintings at an exhibition on the sidewalk outside the White House.

Artist Tran Lam Binh is seen with some of his creations in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 25, 2019. (Associated Press)

Artist Tran Lam Binh is seen with some of his creations in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 25, 2019. (Associated Press)

"I liked his expression when he was running for president," Binh said. "He seemed like the world's most contemporary artwork. He's at a relatively advanced age, but very youthful, dynamic, fashionable and with inner strength that shows the greatness of a man who can change the world — and so I began my paintings."

"I liked his expression when he was running for president. He seemed like the world's most contemporary artwork. He's at a relatively advanced age, but very youthful, dynamic, fashionable and with inner strength that shows the greatness of a man who can change the world — and so I began my paintings."

— Tran Lam Binh, 36, Vietnamese painter

Binh, who has also sculpted a 6 ½ foot statue of the president, began expanding his portfolio in 2017 from exclusively Trump-inspired portraits to include a second world leader: Kim Jong Un.

Artist Tran Lam Binh puts the final touches to a portrait of U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 25, 2019. (Associated Press)

Artist Tran Lam Binh puts the final touches to a portrait of U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 25, 2019. (Associated Press)

Binh said that while he won’t sell the portraits for profit, he wants to invite Trump and Kim, “if they have time,” to his studio and view his work.

"I will invite them for coffee and paint portraits of them and give them the paintings as a token with a message of love and peace," he said.

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Trump and Kim's summit in Hanoi this week is their second in less than a year, after meeting in Singapore last June. The leaders are expected to discuss several topics, specifically North Korea’s commitment toward denuclearization.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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A worker walks on the roof of a new home under construction in Carlsbad
FILE PHOTO: A worker walks on the roof of a new home under construction in Carlsbad, California September 22, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 26, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. economy is growing at a 2.08% annualized pace in the second quarter based on upbeat data on durable goods orders and new home sales in March, the New York Federal Reserve’s Nowcast model showed on Friday.

This was faster than the 1.92% growth rate calculated by the N.Y. Fed model the week before.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: OANN

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Extraordinary European Union leaders summit in Brussels
FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrives at an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels, Belgium April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday he had assured China’s Huawei Technologies that it would not face discrimination in the rollout of Italy’s 5G telecoms network.

Conte was speaking on a visit to China where he said he met Huawei’s chief executive, Ren Zhengfei. The prime minister’s comments were carried in Italy by TV broadcaster Sky Italia.

“I told him that we have adopted some precautions, some measures to protect our interests that demand very high levels of security … not only from Huawei but any company entering into the 5G arena,” he said.

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

(Writing by by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Angelo Amante)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Trump departs for travel to Indianapolis from the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Friday was expected to announce his intention to revoke the United States’ status as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty, which was signed in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama but never ratified by Congress, two U.S. officials said.

Trump was expected to announce the decision in a speech in Indianapolis, to the National Rifle Association, the officials said. The NRA, a powerful gun lobby group, has long been opposed to the treaty, which was negotiated at the United Nations.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: OANN

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A remote controlled robot for the 'Isotopium: Chernobyl' game is seen at the game's location in Brovary
A remote controlled robot for the ‘Isotopium: Chernobyl’ game is seen at the game’s location in Brovary, Ukraine April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

April 26, 2019

By Margaryta Chornokondratenko

KIEV (Reuters) – A Ukrainian computer game that brings to life a town abandoned after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster may not sound like everyone’s idea of fun but has attracted 60,000 people globally since its launch in October.

Players of “Isotopium: Chernobyl” drive tanks around the ghost town of Prypyat near Chernobyl, knocking out competitors as they search for an energy source called isotopium and collecting points every time they find some.

While the game takes its theme from the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine, which marked its 33rd anniversary on Friday, it was also inspired by the 2009 science fiction film “Avatar”.

Newcomers to the game think they have entered a virtual world when in fact they are controlling a real robot, equipped with a camera and computer, which makes its way around a model of the town rendered down to the tiniest detail.

“When playing our game, for the first 5-10 minutes many players don’t understand that it is not fictional,” said the game’s co-founder Sergey Beskrestnov. “They message us saying: ‘You have cool texture, you have good graphics, your designer is good, well done. You have a cool operating system.’

“People then reply: ‘It is not an operating system, it is real,’ and the player can’t believe it is real,” said Beskrestnov, speaking mid-game from Prypyat city square as he towers over surrounding five-storey buildings.

Kiev-born Beskrestnov was just 12 years old when on April 26, 1986 a botched test at the nuclear plant in the then Soviet Union sent clouds of smoldering nuclear material across large swathes of Europe, forced over 50,000 people, including Beskrestnov’s family, to evacuate and poisoned unknown numbers of workers involved in its clean-up.

Beskrestnov and his partner Alexey Fateyev used Google maps and hundreds of pictures from the Chernobyl area to recreate Prypyat landmarks, including residential buildings, a hotel, concert hall, amusement park and a stadium.

The game’s real-scale model occupies a 180 square meter (1,938 sq. ft) basement of a residential building in the Ukraine city of Brovary, just 150 km (93 miles) from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and 30 km east of Kiev.

Miniature radioactivity warning signs, graffiti on the walls of abandoned buildings and tables and chairs left scattered inside a small cafe all add to the creepy atmosphere of a once lively town.

“It’s a really neat concept …,” Shaun Prescott wrote in a review of the game published by PC Gamer magazine in January. “Controlling the tanks is kinda cumbersome, but they are tanks, after all.”

An attentive player will notice at least one inaccuracy – the real Chernobyl nuclear power plant is not located in town as it is in the game.

It costs $9 to immerse in the atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic town for an hour but only 20 people at a time can play simultaneously. Beskrestnov’s company, Remote Games, said 62,615 people around the world have registered to play the game, including around 15,000 in France and 10,000 in the United States.

A camera fixed on top of a moving tank broadcasts high quality signal in real time, allowing players from as far apart as Australia and Canada enjoy the game without facing any time delay in delivering video signals.

Its creators next ambition is to devise a game featuring the colonization of Mars in which 1,000 people will be able to simultaneously control robots on different missions involved in the operation.

“Many people advise us to contact Elon Musk directly because it resonates his dreams and ideas,” Beskrestnov jokes.    

(Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks sign is show on one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California
FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks sign is show on one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 19,2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Initial optimism over first-quarter results from Starbucks Corp was waning fast on Wall Street on Friday, as analysts questioned the longer-term prospects of its new sales push given subdued overall customer traffic numbers especially in China.

The company on Thursday beat brokerage estimates for quarterly same-store sales on the back of demand for its new Cloud Macchiato, Matcha tea and cold brews in the United States.

However, BTIG’s Peter Saleh was one of a number of sector analysts who said while customers forking out for higher-priced new drinks had helped drive growth in same-store sales, “anemic” traffic at cafes remained a concern.

He and others pointed to a 1 percent decline in footfall at cafes in the Chinese market, viewed as crucial to the chain’s growth for the foreseeable future.

More broadly, transaction numbers, the substitute analysts use for customer traffic, were unchanged in all three of the company’s global regions.

Shares in the company, which hit a record high after the results on Thursday, fell 1 percent in morning trade.

“We remain cautious given near-term headwinds surrounding China, including cannibalization, increasing competition (and) a slowing economy,” Wedbush analyst Nick Setyan said.

Starbucks has also poured money into beefing up its delivery network in China as it battles with local startup Luckin Coffee, whose speedy growth led it to file for an IPO in the United States earlier this week.

New menu items and partnerships with delivery services, the heart of the company’s strategy to win back customers lost to artisanal coffee shops and cheaper fast-food rivals, did help Starbucks’ sales in its home market.

However, analysts said growth in China may continue to be subdued.

Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog said she expects store expansion in China to take priority over comparable sales growth.

She downgraded her rating on Starbucks’ to “market perform” from “outperform”, arguing that the company facing tough sales comparisons later on in 2019 from last year and the current rich valuation of shares meant the stock had limited room to rise.

“Investors will be hesitant to invest new money in a stock with a topline that, while still strong, is unlikely to meaningfully accelerate,” Herzog said.

Still, the company’s solid same-store growth in the United States, improving profit margins and a lower tax rate for the rest of the year led at least 6 Wall Street brokerages to raise their price targets on the stock to as high as $81.

11 of 29 brokerages rate Starbucks “buy” or higher, 17 “hold” and 1 “sell” or lower. Their median price target is $75.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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