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EU’s Vestager says Europe must lead the way with a digital tax

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager talks to the media at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels
European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager talks to the media at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

April 8, 2019

By Richard Lough

PARIS (Reuters) – Europe needs to decide on a digital tax and should lead the way if there is insufficient consensus globally, the EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, said on Monday.

There is still disagreement among EU members over how to implement a so-called “GAFA tax” – named after Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon – to ensure the global internet giants pay a fair share of taxes on their massive business operations in Europe.

France has been driving hard for such a tax, but at a meeting of EU finance meetings over the weekend, Sweden, Finland, Ireland and Denmark blocked a draft EU-wide GAFA tax proposal, officials said.

“We are becoming an increasingly digital world and it will be a huge problem if we do not find a way to raise (digital) taxes,” Vestager told France Inter radio.

Vestager, who is widely talked about as a candidate for the European Commission presidency when Jean-Claude Juncker’s term expires in November, said European countries first needed a deal which could lead to a EU-wide harmonized tax.

“The best thing is a global solution. But if we want to obtain results in a reasonable period of time, Europe must take the lead,” the commissioner added.

Lawmakers in France’s National Assembly, France’s lower house of Parliament, will on Monday begin debating a draft national GAFA tax law. The bill proposes a 3 percent tax on digital advertising and other revenues of tech firms with worldwide revenues of more than 750 million euros ($842 million).

Vestager, a former Danish economy minister, has a high profile in Brussels for attacking tax avoidance and monopoly powers among U.S. multinationals, and is seen as a contender to be the next Commission president.

She hasn’t announced a public bid for the job, but if she does she would likely need the backing of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Asked if she was interested in the Commission presidency, she said: “I take a lot of interest in the future of Europe. My point is that before we decide on any kind of new face for the Commission, we really need to know what we want to do.”

Internet giants are coming under increasing pressure from regulators globally. Separately on Monday, Britain proposed new online safety laws that would slap penalties on social media companies and technology firms if they fail to protect their users from harmful content.

(Reporting by Richard Lough and Simon Carraud; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

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Northern Ireland police release teenagers arrested after journalist killing

Flowers and a candle are left at the exact spot where 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead, in Londonderry
Flowers and a candle are left at the exact spot where 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead, in Londonderry, Northern Ireland April 20, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

April 21, 2019

BELFAST (Reuters) – Police in Northern Ireland on Sunday released without charge two teenagers arrested in relation to the killing of a journalist during a riot in Londonderry.

Lyra McKee, 29, an award-winning journalist who was writing a book on the disappearance of young people during decades of violence in Northern Ireland, was shot dead on Thursday as she watched Irish nationalist youths attack police following a raid.

“Two males, aged 18 and 19 … have been released without charge,” the Police Service of Northern Ireland said in a statement.

(Reporting by Conor Humphries; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Source: OANN

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Trump surveys devastation, pays respects to tornado victims

Standing near the slab that's all that is left of one family's garage, President Donald Trump on Friday surveyed the devastation wrought by a powerful tornado that ripped through a rural Alabama town, uprooting trees, tearing homes from their foundations and killing nearly two dozen people.

"We saw things that you wouldn't believe," said Trump, overlooking a debris field strewn with branches and other wreckage in Beauregard, which bore the brunt of Sunday's storm. Mangled metal siding, wood planks, piping and electric wires lay strewn on the ground, along with remnants of everyday life: clothing, a sofa, a bottle of Lysol cleaner and a welcome mat encrusted with dirt.

Trump and the first lady spent the afternoon meeting with survivors, victims' families and volunteers trying to rebuild after the massive tornado carved a path of destruction nearly a mile wide, killing 23 people, including four children and a couple in their 80s, with ten victims belonging to a single extended family.

The trip was a familiar one for Trump, who, now in the third year of his presidency, has traveled to the sites of numerous disasters and tragedies, including hurricanes, shootings and wildfires.

The day began with an aerial survey of the area by helicopter, which flew over swaths of land where trees had been flattened. Trump and his wife, Melania, also visited a church serving as a makeshift disaster relief center for survivors. He later observed a moment of silence before white wooden crosses commemorating each of the victims.

Head bowed, Trump and his wife held hands as they paused in front of each of the markers. Trump shook his head as he stood in front of one, which had been decorated with a tiny pair of children's sneakers.

Trump has, at times, struggled with his role as consoler-in-chief during trips to survey damage and meet with tragedy victims. He memorably tossed paper towels into a crowd as he surveyed damage following hurricanes in Puerto Rico — a move that some saw as inappropriate given the circumstances — and marveled at a yacht that floodwaters had deposited on a family's property during a trip to the Carolinas.

"At least you got a nice boat out of the deal," Trump told the family. He was caught on camera telling a person to whom he had just handed food to "have a good time."

This time, however, Trump appeared to avoid any such distractions aside from some hubbub caused by his decision to sign Bibles, which Providence Baptist Church had been distributing, along with clothing and other supplies, including diapers, toiletries and personal care products.

Before signing autographs or posing for photos with the volunteers there, Trump thanked law enforcement officials and other first responders, as well as Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is assisting state and local response efforts.

"I wanted to come the day it happened," he said, adding that Gov. Kay Ivey had asked him to wait.

Before leaving the church, Trump posed for a photograph with a fifth-grade volunteer and signed the child's Bible, said Ada Ingram, a local volunteer. Ingram said the president also signed her sister's Bible.

The pastor, Rusty Sowell, said the president's visit was uplifting and will help bring attention to a community that will need a long time to recover.

"This is a marathon, not a sprint," Sowell said.

Earlier, Trump spent time with three families who lost loved ones, hearing their stories and dispensing hugs. He also met privately with survivors and family members, including a woman mourning the loss of 10 relatives.

"What they've been through is incredible," Trump said after emerging from the meeting.

Before Trump arrived in Beauregard, Renee Frazier stood amid bricks and lumber that used to be her mother's home and waved as the helicopter carrying Trump passed overhead. Minutes before, Frazier, whose mother survived the tornado, had been arguing with relatives who opposed Trump's visit, calling it more about politics than compassion.

Frazier disagreed.

"I want the president here to see what happened to my mom's house," she said. "I want him right here on this land because my mom is about love and unity."

Down the road, where several people died, Trump supporter Bobby Spann said he hoped the president had learned "how to be a Southerner and how to respect people" during his brief visit.

Spann said he also hoped Trump realized how much help is needed.

"Houses need to be replaced. You can't help the dead folks, but you can try to help the ones that's still living," said Spann, chewing on a yellowroot twig. The tornado had partially peeled away the roof of Spann's mobile home.

Trump had said before the visit that he'd instructed FEMA to give Alabama "the A Plus treatment" as it recovers — rhetoric that stood in contrast to Trump's response to disasters on less politically friendly territory. Alabama supported Trump by a wide margin in the 2016 presidential election, and he carried about 60 percent of the vote in Lee County, where Beauregard is located. Blue Trump flags flying outside homes are a frequent sight in the town, and many were seen waving Friday.

In the months after wildfires scorched California, a Democrat-led state that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, Trump threatened to cut off federal aid unless the state embraced forest management policies he championed.

He also engaged in a sustained back-and-forth with lawmakers from hurricane-whipped Puerto Rico, whose pro-statehood governor identifies as a Democrat. Trump repeatedly blamed the U.S. territory for its problems and noted how much money recovery efforts had cost the federal government.

The administration also considered redirecting disaster aid from those places to pay for Trump's long-promised border wall but ultimately decided to target other funding sources.

___

Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/colvinj

Source: Fox News National

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GOP Hits Romney for Criticizing Trump

Several Republicans hit back at Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, over the weekend after he said he was “sickened” by President Donald Trump’s actions as detailed in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

Romney said it was “good news that there was insufficient evidence to charge” Trump with conspiracy following the report’s release and that “the alternative would have taken us through a wretching process with the potential for constitutional crisis.”

However, he went on to slam Trump, writing, “Even so, I am sickened at the extent and pervasiveness of dishonesty and misdirection by individuals in the highest office of the land, including the President.”

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Friday ridiculed Romney for his loss to President Barack Obama in 2012 – Trump took a similar swipe on Saturday – while Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani called Romney, “a hypocrite.”

“Know what makes me sick, Mitt? Not how disingenuous you were to take @realDonaldTrump $$ and then 4 yrs later jealously trash him & then love him again when you begged to be Sec of State, but makes me sick that you got GOP nomination and could have been @POTUS” Huckabee tweeted.

Giuliani took aim at Romney during an appearance on CNN Sunday.

“Stop the bull. Stop this pious act that you weren’t trying to dig up dirt on people, putting dirt out on people,” he said. “What a hypocrite.”

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Jordan PM says economy strengthening, on track with growth

Jordan's Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz speaks during a news conference in Amman
FILE PHOTO: Jordan's Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz speaks during a news conference in Amman, Jordan June 19, 2018. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

February 26, 2019

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan’s Prime Minister Omar al Razzaz said his country’s economy has begun to strengthen less than a year after embarking on tough fiscal reforms needed to bring down debt crucial to spur growth hit by conflict in the region.

Ahead of a major London donors conference on Thursday, Razzaz told Reuters on Tuesday the kingdom would be presenting its policy steps and commitment in proceeding with IMF-backed fiscal and structural reforms crucial to rejuvenate the economy.

King Abdullah appointed Razzaz last June to defuse the biggest protests in years over tax hikes pushed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce Jordan’s large public debt.

Razzaz, whose task was to revive confidence, succeeded in prodding parliament last November to pass a new tax law, a main plank of austerity measures to ease a fiscal crunch and spur stagnant growth hovering at around 2 percent in recent years.

Razzaz said the widened tax base alongside cuts in public expenditure had raised state revenues and reduced strains on state finances struggling to curb a public debt of around $40 billion.

“The fundamentals of the economy are all starting to look better, the macro-economic and fiscal indicators are better,” said Razzaz, who will be leading his country’s delegation to the London conference.

A recent IMF statement this month at the end of its last mission to review a three-year program to support Jordan’s economic and financial reforms said the country’s economic outlook showed “renewed momentum despite persistent challenges”.

Jordan has navigated years of instability at its borders, including wars in Iraq and Syria and conflict in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

But the instability has hit the economy of a country that is poor in resources and hosts close to over one million Syrian refugees. Unemployment among Jordanians stands at 18.4 percent, according to Jordan’s department of statistics.

The country’s fiscal consolidation plan aims to reduce public debt to 77 percent of gross domestic product by 2021 from 95 percent now.

“The bitter medicine that we needed to take we have done. Jordan has done everything it can on the fiscal front to allow for growth to happen,” Razzaz said, adding that the onus was now on the international donor community to push the country to “realize sustainable growth”.

Razzaz said Jordan had for a while been negotiating with major donors and the World Bank for new concessionary loans, grants and guarantees that repay maturing debt to reduce high debt servicing that weighed heavily on its $13 billion budget.

“These together make Jordan’s debt sustainable and we can bring it down further,” Razzaz added.

The IMF also called on the London conference to unlock much-needed budget grants and concessional financing to support Jordan’s reforms and large financing needs, accentuated by accommodating the many Syrian refugees.

The economy was set to recover steadily in the coming five years beyond a forecast 3 percent growth this year, helped by a pickup in exports and the reopening of border crossings with its war-torn neighbors, Iraq and Syria.

Credit agencies and analysts say the economy is underpinned by strong Western donor support and geopolitical factors that provide an economic and political cushion for the country.

Razzaz said there were already signs that exports were rising as the kingdom regained markets lost during the years of conflict along its borders.

“Even our export numbers are starting to show now, month after month, a move up, especially with Iraq,” Razzaz said.

The country’s macro-economic fundamentals and political stability had allowed it to escape relatively unscathed from the turmoil that spread across the region in recent years.

“Jordan has proved how resilient it is in withstanding external shocks, surviving and turning them into opportunity while hosting refugees and doing it right,” Razzaz said.

(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Source: OANN

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Con Edison faces potential fine over breaches of safety rules

A logo of New York power utility Consolidated Edison Inc is seen in New York
A logo of New York power utility Consolidated Edison Inc is seen in New York July 1, 2012. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

March 15, 2019

(Reuters) – Energy company Consolidated Edison Inc could face a possible fine over accusations of lapses in safety rules related to gas infrastructure work in New York City, a local regulator said on Friday.

After receiving allegations in a 2016 anonymous letter that utility contractors had cheated on operator qualification exams, the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) said it directed gas companies to look into it.

Con Edison found evidence of cheating at two contractors, the PSC said, and violations of construction requirements at work done by the contractors.

“The investigation found that the company failed to inspect work completed by its contractors during construction and at sufficient intervals to ensure compliance, and that it allowed work to be completed by plastic fusers and plastic fusion inspectors who were not qualified to do the work,” the regulator added.

A spokesman for Con Edison said the company was reviewing the order and would provide an appropriate response.

“Several years ago, we became aware of, and then reported to the PSC, suspected cheating by contractors on exams administered by an external party. Subsequent company inspections identified issues related to the work performed by those contractors,” spokesman Allan Drury said.

Con Edison has been ordered to respond to the regulator within 45 days.

(Reporting by Harshith Aranya in Bengaluru, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

Source: OANN

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Chicago police union president ‘looking for justice’ after Jussie Smollett charges dropped

As Chicago prepares for dueling rallies over the fallout from Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx's office to drop charges against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, the head of the city's police union is demanding justice in the case.

Kevin Graham, president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, told "America's Newsroom" that authorities believed their case against Smollett was "solid" and thought they would have gotten a conviction.

"This case should have stood trial," Graham said.

CHICAGO PROSECUTOR KIM FOXX OPEN TO OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION INTO JUSSIE SMOLLETT CASE

Foxx has faced criticism since prosecutors dismissed all 16 felony counts against Smollett, who is black and gay. The "Empire" actor was accused of faking a racist, anti-gay attack on himself in January. Authorities said that in return for the charges being dropped, Smollett agreed to forfeit the $10,000 he put up to get out of jail and completed community service.

Graham said his union is planning a protest outside Foxx's office Monday, not over the dismissal of the Smollett charges, but from what he called a history of the office: "not prosecuting cases or not prosecuting them fully, having low bonds on people."

"We are turning people back out onto the streets, and that's pretty hard when you're using the court system as a penalty box like a hockey game," he told "America's Newsroom."

As members from the union protest outside of Foxx's office, a counter-demonstration in support of the embattled prosecutor is expected to be held by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other clergies. Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition said the civil rights leader will join fellow clergy, elected officials, attorneys and community activists for the rally supporting Foxx.

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx speaking at a news conference in Chicago.

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx speaking at a news conference in Chicago. (AP)

Jackson said in a statement that the criticism of Foxx is "unreasonable, unjustified and politically motivated."

Graham, who called the counter-protest "bewildering" because "we're all looking for justice," said that outrage and dueling protests could have been avoided if Foxx's office had simply gone through with prosecuting the case.

"I think many of these people who are having this counter protest, that's what they've been looking for in Chicago -- justice," he said. "And they should be standing behind the police and the F.O.P."

The police union head said the Illinois law system is "very complicated," and that the decision to charge Smollett with a Class 4 felony for filing a false police report that cost the city $130,000 shows a need for "improvements in the law." He also remained hopeful that federal officials look at the case, with particular regard to the envelope that was set with the accusation that Smollett was going to be harmed.

CHICAGO PROSECUTOR KIM FOXX CHIDED BY NATIONAL ATTORNEYS GROUP AFTER JUSSIE SMOLLETT CHARGES DROPPED

"We feel that is a good case for the FBI to look at, that the U.S. attorney could prosecute if they find the facts and circumstances to be what the Chicago PD found," he told "America's Newsroom."

After an intense public backlash, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said Friday night that she is open to an outside investigation into her office’s dramatic decision to dismiss all charges against Smollett.

In an op-ed for The Chicago Tribune, Foxx admitted that a third-party review into the high-profile case would help maintain transparency.

“I am not perfect, nor is any other prosecutor out there, but ensuring that I and my office have our community’s trust is paramount,” Foxx, who ran on a platform of transparency, wrote.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

While Graham said he was going to wait on a board of directors meeting Tuesday before saying if he believes Foxx should resign, the police union head said he's gotten calls and emails from "around the country" from those who felt justice was not done. He also said that additional law enforcement agencies are meeting to discuss action's by Foxx's office and failure to "prosecute some of the crimes that are going on in Cook County."

"I do think she's going to have a problem if this isn't addressed," he told "America's Newsroom."

Fox News' Barnini Chakraborty in Chicago and  The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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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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