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Rare protests erupt against Hamas' 12-year rule over Gaza

Hamas is facing the biggest demonstrations yet against its 12-year rule of the Gaza Strip, with hundreds of Palestinians taking to the streets in recent days to protest the dire living conditions in the blockaded territory.

With little tolerance for dissent, the Islamic militant group has responded with heavy-handed tactics. It has arrested dozens of protesters, beaten activists and violently suppressed attempts by local media to cover the unrest.

Hamas has accused the rival West Bank-based Palestinian Authority of orchestrating the protests — a charge that organizers vehemently reject.

"There is no political agenda at all," said Amin Abed, 30, an organizer who has been forced into hiding. "We simply want to live in dignity," he said by telephone. "We just ask Hamas to ease the economic hardships and tax burdens."

Hamas, which seeks Israel's destruction, seized control of Gaza in 2007 from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade, a step meant to prevent Hamas from arming.

The blockade, and three wars with Israel, have ravaged Gaza's economy but done nothing to loosen Hamas' grip on power.

Unemployment is over 50 percent and much higher for young university graduates like Abed. Tap water is undrinkable, electricity is limited and travel abroad severely restricted. Hamas' cash-strapped government recently raised taxes on basic goods like bread, beans and cigarettes.

Protesters accuse Hamas of corruption and imposing the hefty taxes to enrich itself. They used social media to organize protests last week with the slogan "We want to live!"

The protests come just as Hamas marks the one-year anniversary of its weekly demonstrations along the frontier with Israel. The demonstrations, aimed largely at easing the blockade, have accomplished little, even as some 190 Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded by Israeli fire.

This is not the first time people have taken to the streets against Hamas. Two years ago, protesters demonstrated against the chronic power cuts on a cold January day before Hamas violently dispersed them. This time around, the sporadic rallies have continued for five days, despite a similarly violent response.

"These protests were the largest, the longest and the most violent in terms of Hamas' suppression," said Mkhaimar Abusada, political science professor at Gaza's al-Azhar University.

"This was a message of anger to Hamas that the situation is unbearable and that it must reconsider all its policies," he added.

On Monday, Amnesty International reported that hundreds of protesters have been beaten, arbitrarily arrested, tortured and subjected to ill-treatment. Journalists and human rights workers, including a researcher for the London-based organization, were also roughed up, Amnesty said.

"The crackdown on freedom of expression and the use of torture in Gaza has reached alarming new levels," said Amnesty's Middle East deputy director Saleh Higazi.

Osama al-Kahlout, a journalist with the local news site Donia al-Wattan, last week published a photo of a protester on crutches raising a sign that said "I want to live in dignity." The next day, he was detained as he went live on Facebook during another protest.

Al-Kahlout said police smashed furniture, seized his belongings and beat him on the way to the police station. "I'm a journalist," he said. "I don't regret covering it."

He said he was released after a meeting with the police chief in which officials "advised" journalists not to cover the protests.

Heba el-Buhissi, 31, who filmed the raids at her family home, said a policeman fired a warning shot in the air as others cursed and yelled at her after she started filming. Her videos show a group of Hamas police beating her cousin with wooden batons.

Other amateur videos have shown protesters burning tires and hurling stones toward Hamas forces. Hamas gunmen can be seen jumping out of vehicles and beating people with clubs. Other videos show Hamas going door to door and carrying out mass arrests.

El-Buhissi filmed the incident last Thursday when she saw Hamas dispersing some of her neighbors who had hoisted banners against tax hikes. Her family opened the home to allow youths to escape the police.

"This is what drove the police crazy, and that's why they stormed our houses," she said. "I felt I have to film to prove what was going on."

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists reported Monday that 42 Palestinian journalists "were targeted" by Hamas forces in the past five days. The abuses included physical assaults, summons, threats, home arrests and seizure of equipment.

The official Palestinian Authority news agency Wafa reported Monday that the spokesman of Abbas' Fatah movement in Gaza, Atef Abu Saif, was badly beaten by Hamas.

It showed pictures of Abu Said with a bandaged leg, bruises and blood-stained clothes lying on a hospital bed.

Ammar Dwaik, director of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Gaza, said Hamas forces have dispersed 25 protests with excessive force and arrested about 1,000 people. He said some 300 people remain in custody.

"This is worst crackdown in Gaza since the Hamas takeover in 2007 in terms of its scope and cruelty," Dwaik said.

On Tuesday, Hamas issued a brief statement "rejecting the use of violence and repression against any Palestinian for practicing his legitimate right of expression."

But Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official, used tougher language in a Twitter post, accusing Israel and the Palestinian Authority of conspiring to organize protests. "The attempts of the Palestinian Authority and the occupation to drive a wedge between the people and the resistance have failed," he said.

The demonstrations appeared to subside on Monday, but organizers say the protests will continue until Hamas cancels taxes on dozens of goods, creates a national employment program and releases everyone who has been arrested in the crackdown.

Abed, the protest leader, said Hamas has stormed his family's house and delivered an arrest warrant for him to his father.

"Hamas doesn't want us to scream. It wants us to die in silence," he said.

Source: Fox News World

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New data shows 4% drop in Puerto Rico population since Maria

New Census Bureau data shows Puerto Rico lost nearly 4% of its population after Hurricane Maria — the greatest population drop in the recorded history of the island, according to one demographer.

Data released Thursday shows the U.S. territory's population dropped by 129,848 people between July 2017 and July 2018. The hurricane struck two months into that period, in September 2017. The population loss was due to both deaths and people moving away, although emigration accounted for most of the drop. The heaviest population drops occurred in metropolitan areas such as the capital of San Juan, the city of Ponce and surrounding areas.

"It's the largest population drop seen in a single year ever registered in Puerto Rico," demographer Raúl Figueroa said.

The census numbers show there were 6,449 more deaths than births during the 12 months in question, a normal figure, even though there were several thousand more deaths than normal in the months immediately following the hurricane.

Many of those excess deaths following the hurricane were of sick and elderly people who would have died sometime in the year in the question, Figueroa said. Deaths for the year may have been concentrated right after the storm due to the lack of electricity, services and fresh water.

He said he thinks emigration slowed in 2019 and the population has begun to slowly recover.

Many Puerto Ricans left for Florida and New York, home to communities of people from the territory.

Sister Carmen Negrón of the Society of the Sacred Heart sells handmade rosaries and religious icons in a narrow passage in the Plaza del Mercado in the Rio Piedras area of San Juan. She said she has noticed a drop in sales due to what seem to be fewer people in the area.

"This area's been shrinking," Negron said. "Sales are down."

The San Juan area lost 81,087 people, a 3.9% drop, in the 12 months covered by the Census Bureau report.

Paseo de Diego, the central thoroughfare in Rio Piedras, was filled years ago with stores that are closed and empty today.

"You see fewer people around, fewer young people," said Wilfredo Montañez, who was sitting on a bench in the plaza.

Magaly Robles has been selling roast potatoes outside the plaza for 15 years. A native of the Dominican Republic, she said that because she has a job, she has no intention of moving again.

"Lots of people have left since Maria," Robles said. "Many of my friends have gone and not come back."

Source: Fox News World

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Wash Post: US to Shutter International Immigration Offices

The Trump administration's efforts to reform the nation's immigration system are continuing with a planned closure of all international U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices.

According to The Washington Post, USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna wrote an email to staff Tuesday that referenced the plan to shutter the 21 locations.

Closing the offices would help "maximize our agency's finite resources," he wrote, the Post reported.

"I believe by doing so, we will better leverage our funds to address backlogs in the United States while also leveraging existing Department of State resources at post. Change can be difficult and can cause consternation. I want to assure you we will work to make this as smooth a transition as possible for each of our USCIS staff while also ensuring that those utilizing our services may continue to do so and our agency operations continue undisrupted."

USCIS started in 2003 and, according to its website, operates more than 200 offices worldwide. It employs 19,000 government employees and contractors to handle several facets of the immigration system, from reissuing lost green cards to helping foreign nationals apply for U.S. citizenship. 

The 21 offices being closed fall under the USCIS's International Operations Division (IO) and are more specifically known as the Refugee, Asylum, and International Operations Directorate. The IO employes 240 people in the U.S. and abroad.

A senior official at the Department of Homeland Security told the Post that closing the international offices is being done to save money. The White House on Monday unveiled its 2020 budget proposal, which contained cuts to several government agencies.

The USCIS announced in February its Moscow office would close, while an office in Cuba has already shuttered.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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China’s bankers in uncharted waters as Shanghai launches U.S.-style tech board

FILE PHOTO: A man walks past electronic board showing benchmark Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices, on pedestrian overpass at Pudong financial district in ShanghaI
FILE PHOTO: A man walks past an electronic board showing the benchmark Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indexes, on a pedestrian overpass at the Pudong financial district in Shanghai, China June 22, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song

April 25, 2019

By Samuel Shen and Julie Zhu

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – As Chinese investment banker Liu Guangfu prepares to file an application for his client to list on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style technology board, he is heading into uncharted waters: how to price the new shares and sell them to the right investors.

Until now, guidance set by Chinese regulators on the pricing of initial public offerings (IPO) has led to artificially depressed valuations, making it easy for bankers to find investors.

“Selling IPO shares was easy before,” said Liu, whose client, a maker of high-end equipment, is seeking an IPO on Shanghai’s new Science & Technology Innovation board, which is due to launch as early as June.

“Now, you need to find interested investors and talk about the future of the company, and the industry. It’s time-consuming and costly.”

Liu and other Chinese bankers are entering a new world as Shanghai launches its new board, complete with the country’s first registration-based IPO system that is seen by some as the boldest reform yet in China’s capital markets.

The pilot project, likely to be expanded if it proves successful, is making China’s bankers nervous though, as they are more used to the paternalistic guidance of regulators than the debates – often contentious – between executives, bankers and investors that form the basis for deals priced in leading IPO centres such as Hong Kong and New York.

“It’s a huge challenge to us,” said Chang Houshun, managing director at Sinolink Securities in Shanghai, who described previous IPO underwriting efforts as “mechanical”.

The reforms will do away with government control of IPO quality and timing, and allow still loss-making new company start-ups to list.

It will also end the unofficial, but always observed, pricing cap of 23 times a company’s trailing profits – a ceiling that tended to ensure new floats a hefty 44 percent jump on debut, the maximum allowed.

Without government guidance, Chinese bankers, like their western peers, have to set IPO prices that reflect a company’s growth potential and risks, as well as the market mood and issuers’ expectations.

The seismic rule change will likely accelerate market consolidation and weed out weak players, Chang said: “You will see China’s Goldman, Citi and JP Morgan emerge. Apart from several dominant players, not many will be left.”

BASIC SKILLS

That fear and a desire to win new business has triggered a scramble among Chinese brokerages to hone their skills.

Many are replenishing their capital since the new market – unlike Hong Kong or New York – requires underwriters to share the risk and subscribe for between 2 percent and 5 percent of each IPO they sponsor on the new board.

Underwriters must then hold the stake for at least two years.

At least one brokerage, Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co Ltd, has reorganised its investment bankers into industry teams to try to develop specialist knowledge in sectors including technology and healthcare – skills not needed before. The company is also raising funds via a $1.16 billion listing in Hong Kong.

“We’re moving toward the structure of a global investment bank,” said Tu Zhengfeng, managing director of Shenwan Hongyuan’s underwriting unit.

“It’s increasingly important to identify a company’s intrinsic value, and you need expertise to do that.”

The brokerage is also building its distribution capacity, which was redundant when IPO shares were almost always hotly sought after by investors as pricing favoured a strong market debut.

Roadshows – a staple of western deals, where executives meet would-be investors – have long been considered formalities in Chinese IPOs.

“Now, you need to tell investors a company’s story well – investment highlights, why it’s worth buying, and how prices are set,” said Tu.

Zhao Jun, investment banker at China Securities Co Ltd, said bankers also need a stronger network of contacts to source IPO candidates, especially in the tech sector.

“Now, we need to consult with industry experts, work closely with our analysts, and even communicate with some investors who can help us understand the technology,” Zhao said.

ANXIETY

Peng Yigang, a senior executive at Shanghai Stock Exchange’s listing department, said there was a general feeling of anxiety among applicants and bankers.

“Many people come to us, asking for an answer (regarding their IPO applications). I said, sorry, we cannot give you an answer. Under the registration system, regulators no longer give you any answers. The market will decide,” he told a recent seminar.

Nearly 100 companies have submitted applications to list on the tech board.

To be sure, many bankers are sceptical that regulators will give up providing guidance completely, at least during the early stage, when demand will likely far exceed supply, potentially lifting valuations to extreme levels and raising the risk of a frothy market.

Previous attempts to help start-ups to list, such has Shenzhen-based Chinext, have largely foundered because early speculation sent prices soaring, only to later collapse spectacularly, souring investor sentiment to a point from which it never recovered.

Indeed, Hu Ruyin, former chief economist of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, said the broader opening up of financial markets in China posed a significant threat to the industry because it has had little experience pricing risks.

“Before you swim in the sea, you must learn how to swim in the pool. Otherwise, you would be drowned.”

(Reporting by Samuel Shen and Julie Zhu; Editing by Jennifer Hughes and Neil Fullick)

Source: OANN

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Man in north China drives into pedestrians, killing 6

Authorities in northern China say a man trying to kill his wife and daughter has crashed his car into pedestrians and killed six people.

Authorities in Zaoyang city, northern Hubei province, say restaurant owner Cui Lidong attempted to kill his wife and daughter Friday morning before hitting people on the street with a car.

The 44-year-old Cui was then shot dead by police.

The Zaoyang government statement says six people were killed, including one child. Eight people, including four children, were injured.

Cui's wife and daughter are among the injured.

Source: Fox News World

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@RealDonaldTrump facing more battles ahead as Dems outraged over #MuellerReport before its release #MAGAFirstNews with @PeterBoykin

@RealDonaldTrump facing more battles ahead as Dems outraged over #MuellerReport before its release #MAGAFirstNews with @PeterBoykin OUTRAGE BREWS OVER MUELLER REPORT BREWS BEFORE ITS RELEASE: Amid high anticipation, the Justice Department on Thursday is expected to release a redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, and Democrats have ... See More already cried foul ... Attorney General William Barr is set to hold a 9:30 a.m. ET news conference, accompanied by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw the Mueller investigation after the special counsel's appointment in May 2017. Neither Mueller nor other members of his team will attend, according to special counsel spokesman Peter Carr. Congressional Democrats have criticized the timing of the news conference, accusing Barr of trying to spin the report and conducting a media campaign on behalf of Trump before Congress and the public see it. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., said the panel was expected to receive a copy of the report between 11 a.m. and noon. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tweeted that Barr "has thrown out his credibility & the DOJ’s independence with his single-minded effort to protect @realDonaldTrump above all else. The American people deserve the truth, not a sanitized version of the Mueller Report approved by the Trump Admin." TRUMP SEEKS VINDICATION, BUT FIGHT OVER MUELLER REPORT ONLY BEGINNING: Although Attorney General Barr has already revealed that Mueller's report absolved the Trump team of illegally colluding with Russia, Democrats have signaled that the release will be just the beginning of a no-holds-barred showdown with the Trump administration over the extent of report redactions, as well as whether the president obstructed justice during the Russia investigation ... Trump’s legal team is preparing to issue a comprehensive rebuttal report on Thursday, to challenge any allegations of obstruction against the president, Fox News has learned. The lawyers originally laid out their rebuttal in response to written questions asked by Mueller’s team of the president last year, according to a source close to Trump's legal team. Karl Rove: Months of Democrats demanding redacted Mueller report ahead 60 PEOPLE CHARGED IN OPIOID STING: Federal authorities said Wednesday they have charged 60 people, including a doctor accused of trading drugs for sex and another of prescribing to his Facebook friends, for their roles in illegally prescribing and distributing millions of pills containing opioids and other drugs ... U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman of Cincinnati described the action, with 31 doctors facing charges, as the biggest known takedown yet of drug prescribers. Robert Duncan, U.S. attorney for eastern Kentucky, called the doctors involved "white-coated drug dealers." Authorities said the 60 includes 53 medical professionals tied to some 350,000 prescriptions and 32 million pills. The operation was conducted by the federal Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force, launched last year by the Trump administration. - The Associated Press NORTH KOREA TEST-FIRES TACTICAL WEAPON: North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on Wednesday watched as his country test-fired a new tactical guided weapon, state-run media reported ... The Academy of Defense Science launched the weapon, The Associated Press reported, citing the Korean Central News Agency. The rogue regime’s leader reportedly spoke about the implication of the test-fire, saying that “the development of the weapon system serves as an event of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power of the People's Army." DEMS AVOIDING REP. OMAR? - It appears some Democrats may already perceive controversial freshman lawmaker Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., as potentially toxic to their careers ... At least two Democrats have reimbursed the campaign contributions made by Omar, who has been at the center of numerous controversies since she was sworn in last January. North Carolina’s 9th congressional district candidate Dan McCready refunded $2,000 to Omar in March after she donated to his campaign last November ahead of the 2018 midterms, WSOC reported Wednesday. A spokesman for McCready told the news station he'd refunded Omar’s contribution because “he believes there is no place for divisiveness in politics, and McCready did not feel it is appropriate to accept the donation.” A winner still has not been declared in the 9th congressional district race, which became ensnared in accusations of absentee ballot fraud after Election Day. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., also rejected Omar’s $2,000 donation that was made March 27.

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NATO chief says Brazil, other Latin American countries could become ‘partners’

FILE PHOTO - NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg addresses joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington
FILE PHOTO - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress as Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi listen in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 3, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

April 3, 2019

By David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NATO can look at the possibility of other Latin American states joining Colombia in becoming alliance partners, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday, while appearing to rule out U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Brazil could one day become a full member of the North Atlantic security body.

“Until 2017, NATO didn’t have any partners in Latin America and then in 2017 we got our first partner, which was Colombia, and to be a close partner of NATO is something that is good for NATO and the partner country,” the NATO leader told Reuters in an interview ahead of a NATO ministerial meeting in Washington.

“So of course, it is a possibility to look into the possibility of having also other countries in Latin America become partners which then provides a platform, a framework for close political and practical cooperation,” he said.

At a joint White House news conference last month, Trump said he had told visiting far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro he would designate Brazil a “major non-NATO ally” and possibly go further by supporting a campaign to make Brazil “maybe a NATO ally,” something that would imply full membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

NATO membership is currently limited to countries of western Europe, Turkey, Canada and the United States, although NATO partner countries include Australia and New Zealand, as well as European non-members Sweden and Finland.

Ask if a country such as Brazil could become a member, Stoltenberg said:

“No. Partners are not members. But partners are very close partners. We work very closely with them, practically and politically, and that’s a very good way to strengthen cooperation with NATO and countries that are not members of the alliance.”

Asked about Brazil becoming a partner, he said:

“Well someone has to propose it and it also has to be a request from Brazil, but … we just agreed with Colombia to make Colombia a close partner with NATO and of course it’s absolutely possible to have more partners in Latin America, but it has to be an expressed wish from Latin America and of course (it’s) something we have to discuss then among the 29 allies.”

Earlier Stoltenberg addressed the U.S. Congress and delivered an impassioned defense of the partnership he called “the most successful alliance in history,” which has often been derided by Trump since he took office in 2017.

Colombia reached an agreement in 2017 to become the only Latin American nation to join NATO as a “global partner,” a relationship short of “ally” status, which means it would not necessarily have to take part in collective military action.

Other NATO global partners apart from those mentioned by Stoltenberg include Afghanistan, Iraq, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia and Pakistan.

Becoming a “major non-NATO ally” in itself implies a status upgrade that would give a country preferential access to purchases of U.S. military equipment and technology.

Supporting Brazil for alliance membership would be a considerable step further, one that Trump recognized would mean he would “have to talk to a lot of people.”

NATO membership is governed by Article 10 of its 1949 founding treaty, which limits invitations to European states, subject to the approval of existing members and meeting alliance criteria.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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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