Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

NFL notebook: QB Wilson becomes league’s top-paid player

MLB: Spring Training-Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees
Mar 15, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson works out prior to the game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

April 17, 2019

The Seattle Seahawks and Russell Wilson agreed to a four-year extension worth a reported $140 million, making the franchise quarterback the highest-paid player in the NFL.

The deal, which includes a $65 million signing bonus and no-trade clause, was reached late Monday night. Wilson confirmed the new deal in a Twitter post early Tuesday.

“Hey Seattle, we got a deal,” Wilson said from his bed, next to his wife, Ciara. “Go Hawks. But I’ma see y’all in the morning. Time for y’all to go to bed.”

Wilson’s reported annual average of $35 million tops the blockbuster extension signed last summer by Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers at $33.5 million. Rodgers’ deal included a $57.5 million signing bonus, also topped by Wilson.

–The Oakland Athletics reportedly offered Kyler Murray, their 2018 first-round draft pick, a whole lot of money to give up his football dreams.

Sports Illustrated reported that Oakland offered to add a guaranteed $14 million to his $4.6 million signing bonus to try to persuade the Heisman Trophy winner to play baseball. The A’s also would have added him to their 40-man roster.

Instead, the 21-year-old Murray, who won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma last season, walked away from baseball to enter the 2019 NFL Draft. He could be the first player selected when the draft kicks off on April 25 in Nashville, Tenn.

–The Atlanta Falcons reunited with defensive end Chris Odom and signed offensive lineman John Wetzel, the team announced.

Odom got a two-year deal. The 24-year-old originally signed with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2017 but was eventually cut. He went on to play seven games with Green Bay and is coming off a halted season in the Alliance of American Football league where he registered 2.5 sacks for the Salt Lake Stallions.

Wetzel, 27, inked a one-year deal with the Falcons after spending the past three seasons with Arizona, where he made 24 starts. The 6-foot-7 combo guard/tackle was put on injured reserve last November due to a neck injury.

–Los Angeles Chargers wideout Travis Benjamin received a one-year extension through 2020 as part of a reworked contract, ESPN reported.

Benjamin reportedly will receive a $3 million signing bonus in exchange for agreeing to reduce his 2019 base salary from $5.25 million to $1 million. His 2020 salary wasn’t immediately known.

The new agreement creates $2.75 million in salary-cap space for the Chargers, according to ESPN.

–The New England Patriots signed four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Demaryius Thomas to a one-year deal, according to published reports.

Thomas, 31, could earn up to $6 million on the deal, NFL Network reported. He bolsters New England’s passing attack ahead of next week’s NFL draft.

In nine seasons with Denver and Houston, Thomas has hauled in 688 catches for 9,330 yards and 62 touchdowns. The Broncos traded him to the Texans before last season’s trade deadline, and he finished the year with 59 catches for 677 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games overall.

–Chicago Bears tight end Zach Miller announced his retirement, 18 months after he sustained a horrific knee injury.

He had hoped to return to the game but in an Instagram post said he just physically couldn’t do it.

“The time has come to move on from playing the game of football,” Miller, 34, said in the post. “It has been an incredible journey for myself and my entire family and we can’t thank you enough for your continued support. I would love more than anything to step on Soldier Field one last time but I physically cannot give the game and our fans what they deserve.”

–The NFL will release the 2019 schedule Wednesday night during a televised show on NFL Network.

The unveiling begins at 8 p.m. ET, and it comes one week before the NFL draft, which starts April 25.

The NFL previously announced that the season will kick off Sept. 5 with a game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, a storied rivalry to commemorate the league’s 100th anniversary.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

0 0

Betsy DeVos Eases Rules on Faith-Based Schools Accepting Public Funds

The Department of Education said this week it will allow religious organizations to receive public funds for equitable services, reversing an earlier practice.

The move was in response to a 2017 Supreme Court decision that ruled Missouri was wrong to deny a church-funded preschool a grant to purchase recycled tires that would be used for the school's playground. The court said Missouri's denial was unconstitutional.

"The Trinity Lutheran decision reaffirmed the long-understood intent of the First Amendment to not restrict the free exercise of religion," Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said. "Those seeking to provide high-quality educational services to students and teachers should not be discriminated against simply based on the religious character of their organization."

DeVos sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the department's decision, citing the Supreme Court ruling.

"Permitting religious organizations and secular organizations alike to provide secular services to schools does not violate the Establishment Clause, and absent specific language to the contrary . . . the Department generally considers faith-based organizations to be eligible to contract with grantees and subgrantees and to apply for and receive Department grants on the same basis as any other private organization," DeVos wrote.

Source: NewsMax America

0 0

Apple working on games subscription service for gadgets: Bloomberg

FILE PHOTO: Apple company logos are reflected on the glass window outside an Apple store in Shanghai
FILE PHOTO: Apple company logos are reflected on the glass window outside an Apple store in Shanghai, China January 3, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

March 25, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple Inc, which later on Monday is expected to unveil a television and movie streaming service, is also working on a games subscription service for its App Store, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the plans.

The gaming service will not challenge new cloud-based streaming offerings such as Alphabet Inc’s Google Stadia. Instead, it will focus on iPhones and iPads and bundle together paid games from different developers that consumers can access for a monthly fee, according to the Bloomberg report.

Hollywood celebrities are expected to trek to Apple’s Cupertino, California, home to greet the debut of a revamped Apple TV digital storefront. Apple has commissioned programming from A-list names such as Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg.

(Writing by Nick Zieminski in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

0 0

Uber hires more IPO underwriters as it prepares to go public: sources

FILE PHOTO: Uber's logo is displayed on a mobile phone
FILE PHOTO: Uber's logo is displayed on a mobile phone, September 14, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

March 12, 2019

By Carl O’Donnell and Joshua Franklin

(Reuters) – Ride-hailing startup Uber Technologies Inc has hired a string of investment banks to its syndicate of initial public offering underwriters, as it ramps up preparations for a stock market debut, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Smaller rival Lyft Inc is racing to list in the stock market at the end of March. While Uber will not beat Lyft to an IPO, the preparations are aimed at giving it the flexibility to go public as early as the first half of 2019, the sources said.

Uber has added more than half a dozen investment banks, including Bank of America Corp, Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc, Allen & Company, Deutsche Bank AG and JMP Securities, to its IPO underwriting lineup, the sources said.

These banks will support Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which Uber hired late last year to lead its public offering, the sources added. Uber will make additional bank hires in the coming weeks to complete the IPO syndicate, the sources said.

The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Bank of America and Citigroup declined to comment. Uber, Barclays, Allen & Company, Deutsche Bank and JMP Securities did not immediately return requests for comment.

Several investment banks held off pitching Lyft for an IPO role in order to be hired by Uber, a more lucrative and high-profile assignment given its size and status. However, JMP Securities managed to get on both Uber and Lyft’s IPO syndicates, showing that such overlap is possible, albeit mainly with more junior underwriting roles.

Lending relationships between the companies and the banks have also proved important in winning IPO roles.

Lyft’s top-tier of seven underwriters was responsible for around a quarter of capital raised through last year, compared to more than 40 percent for the six top-tier banks that Uber has hired so far, according to Dealogic.

Like Lyft, Uber filed confidentially for an IPO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in December. Its bankers have indicated it could be valued at as much as $120 billion, though some analysts have pegged its value closer to $100 billion based on the earning figures it discloses.

Lyft could be valued close to $25 billion in its IPO, according to the sources.

Earlier on Tuesday, Uber agreed to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit brought nearly six years ago by drivers who claimed they are employees, not independent contractors. Uber still faces thousands of arbitration claims from drivers who are not covered by the settlement.

(Reporting by Carl O’Donnell and Joshua Franklin in New York; additional reporting by Liana Baker in New York; editing by Leslie Adler)

Source: OANN

0 0

From bombers to Big Macs: Vietnam a lesson in reconciliation

The Vietnamese capital once trembled as waves of American bombers unleashed their payloads, but when Kim Jong Un arrives here for his summit with President Donald Trump he won't find rancor toward a former enemy. Instead the North Korean leader will get a glimpse at the potential rewards of reconciliation.

By the time the Vietnam War ended in 1975, tens of thousands of tons of explosives had been dropped on Hanoi and nearly two decades of fighting had killed 3 million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 Americans. Vietnam, though victorious, lay devastated by American firepower, with cities in ruins and fields and forests soaked in toxic herbicides and littered with unexploded ordnance.

Despite the conflict's savagery, what followed was a remarkable rapprochement between wartime foes and it took merely 20 years to restore full relations.

Now some hope Vietnam will offer Kim a road map for his own detente with the United States and that the formerly besieged capital city will be the site of a dramatic resolution to one of the last remaining Cold War conflicts.

While North Korea remains America's sworn enemy 65 years after the Korean War fighting ceased, Vietnam today stands as a burgeoning partner which even buys lethal U.S. weaponry. Bilateral trade has soared by 8,000 percent over the last two decades and billions of dollars in American investment flows into one of the world's best performing economies.

And while North Koreans are still taught to loathe Americans by their country's propaganda machine, in Vietnam there is little animosity.

"I was born after the war and only hear war stories from American films or books," said Dinh Thanh Huyen, a 19-year-old university student who was waiting in line at a crowded McDonald's in Hanoi. She said she was happy the former enemies have moved on. "History is for us to learn from, not to hold grudges."

Kim could take note of the history of win-win rapprochement and how Vietnam's communist leaders have allowed a capitalistic economy and an open door to the U.S. and other outsiders, all while not sacrificing their tight grip on power. Or he could allow it all to pass him by as he narrows his focus for the Feb. 27-28 summit on tit-for-tat bargaining over nuclear arms and economic sanctions.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke in Hanoi last year about "the once-unimaginable prosperity and partnership" the U.S. has come to enjoy with Vietnam and noted Vietnam was able maintain its form of government.

"I have a message for Chairman Kim Jong Un: President Trump believes your country can replicate this path. It's yours to seize the moment," he said. "This can be your miracle in North Korea as well."

To be sure, Vietnam remains a one-party state with a poor human rights record where even moderate critics and dissenters are frequently jailed.

Since the first Trump-Kim summit last June in Singapore, a few small steps have already been taken along a timeline forged by the U.S.-Vietnamese thaw, including Pyongyang turning over remains of U.S. servicemen killed in the Korean War, the first such hand-over in more than a decade.

It was the same missing in action issue that heralded U.S.-Vietnamese reconciliation, with the repatriation of American war dead creating an environment for improvement in relations in other areas.

Next came step-by-step lifting of economic sanctions, as Washington encouraged Vietnam's so-called "doi moi" reform, initiatives launched in 1986 to shed a state-run economy in favor of a market-oriented one open to foreigners.

North Korea has already shown interest in Vietnam's reforms, sending students and official delegations who returned home with favorable reports. Having enjoyed close relations with North Korea since 1950, Vietnam could be the ideal go-between in nudging Pyongyang to re-engineer its disastrous economy and turn foes to friends.

"Vietnam's model of development 'doi moi' is an important factor in the United States' larger strategy of drawing North Korea out of its self-imposed isolation as part of the larger process of denuclearizing," said Carlyle Thayer, a political scientist at The University of New South Wales.

But Thayer and other experts share strong reservations about how much of the U.S.-Vietnamese "miracle" can be duplicated. There are stark differences in the way the North Korea responded once the fighting stopped.

The North slammed shut its doors and slid into a Cold War bunker — and it remains one of the world's most isolated nations. Vietnam, however, chose to put behind its tragic past and move forward.

Not long after the war, American journalists and official U.S. delegations were allowed entry to a poor, shabby Hanoi, its lovely French colonial buildings moldering from neglect. The only clothes many men had were the baggy green uniforms and pith helmets of the North Vietnamese army. Suspicion was palpable and Westerners, including journalists, were assigned minders to keep tabs on them.

Expecting a hostile reception, the Americans were stunned at the lack of animosity displayed by the average Vietnamese, even those who had lost loved ones to U.S. bombs. Returning American veterans were often signaled out for especially warm welcomes, sometimes tearfully embracing their onetime battlefield enemies while exchanging stories of suffering.

Making such scenes possible were a set of special circumstances. Some were geo-political: Vietnam badly needed a counter-balance that the U.S. could provide to its perennial enemy — neighboring China.

This has taken on special urgency in recent years as Beijing moves aggressively to claim large swaths of the South China Sea. Telling are the exchanges between the U.S. and Vietnamese coast guards and the provision of U.S. patrol boats. Last year the USS Carl Vinson, an American aircraft carrier, made a historic port call in Vietnam, the first of its kind since the war ended.

Vietnam also no longer faced a threat from the United States, whereas North Korea perceives that it does, making abandonment of its nuclear program difficult, perhaps even in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

But an underlying human element was also at work.

"During the Vietnam War Hanoi always drew a distinction between the peace-loving American people and the imperialist American government," Thayer said. "There was a basis for future reconciliation."

The face-to-face encounters that followed, serving to ease mutual hostility, never occurred with North Korea. Instead, generations of North Korean children sat in classrooms looking at posters of Americans portrayed as big nosed goblins. A massive anti-American rally loomed large on the annual calendar.

"The Vietnamese saw over the years of our war that many American people and veterans spoke out against the war," said Bob Mulholland, a prominent Vietnam combat veteran.

And there were powerful advocates of reconciliation, including Sens. John Kerry and the recently deceased John McCain as well as other veterans who quietly returned to Vietnam to help the shattered country.

Although the Vietnam War has begun to fade from the collective memory in both countries, it is not the "forgotten war" that the Korean conflict has long been known as. With peace and greater prosperity have come fresh connections forged by a younger generation.

Near the McDonald's in Hanoi's old quarter, not far from a Starbucks, the area is closed to traffic each weekend and entertainers, including American buskers, take to streets now strung with U.S. and North Korean flags. Vietnamese youth can be seen mingling with young American travelers.

Just a short stroll away, tourist Brian Walker was taking in Hanoi's Military War Museum, fronted by the wreckage of an American B-52 shot down while bombing the city.

"For many Americans, it may be a country of a bloody war that we took part in," said 28-year-old social worker from New York City. "But coming here, all I see is people with big smiles, good food and a beautiful landscape."

___

Gray reported from Bangkok.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

Knowles hires JPMorgan for activist defense: source

FILE PHOTO: JP Morgan Chase & Co. corporate headquarters in New York
FILE PHOTO: A view of the exterior of the JP Morgan Chase & Co. corporate headquarters in New York City May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/Files/File Photo

April 4, 2019

By Shariq Khan and Shivani Singh

(Reuters) – Audio components maker Knowles Corp has hired JPMorgan investment bankers to advise it on its defense against demands by shareholders Caligan Partners LP and Falcon Edge Capital LP to seek a review of its Precision Devices unit, according to a source familiar with discussions between the parties.

The source also said the two funds, which together hold more than 6.7 percent of Knowles and are seeking to nominate two new members to its board, are still prepared to work cooperatively with the company on solutions.

Shares in Knowles have risen about 3 percent since Caligan and Falcon went public with their demands at the end of last week, after settlement talks between the shareholders and the company stalled.

JPMorgan’s involvement in the conflict was first reported earlier on Thursday by Dealreporter.

The source said the funds were unwilling to agree to demands by Knowles that the funds enter a two-year stand-still agreement in return for a single board seat.

After an overwhelming vote in favor of de-staggering the company’s board at its last annual meeting, six of Knowles’ board members will be up for re-election at a 2020 shareholders’ meeting. A two-year standstill agreement would require the activists to vote in favor of all board proposals till 2021.

While Caligan and Falcon were open to settling for one seat instead of two, the stand-still demand, described as “off-market” in the funds’ letter https://thefutureofknowles.com/doc/BoardLetter.pdf dated March 29, was a dealbreaker, the source said.

Caligan and Falcon Edge also posted a presentation https://thefutureofknowles.com/doc/Who%20Knowles%20Intelligent%20Audio%20-%204.3.19.pdf on Wednesday, demanding the company release detailed financials for its struggling Intelligent Audio segment.

The funds said they believe Knowles’ stock could reach at least $28 per share in value by the end of the year if the company listened to their feedback.

JPMorgan, Caligan Partners, Falcon Edge and Knowles Corp declined to comment.

(This story corrects headline to remove reference to legal counsel.)

(Reporting by Shariq Khan and Shivani Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Source: OANN

0 0

War Room – 2019-Apr 09, Tuesday – Trump Approval Rating Goes Up Despite Mainstream Media Attacks

Unite America First’s Will Johnson hosts this edition of War Room. He breaks down the MSM stranglehold on the public's attention is failing with their lies about the crisis on our southern border and exposes the lies told by leftists and top race-baiters to ignite racial tensions to elicit action.

Source: The War Room

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



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

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

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

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

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

School authorities instituted a similar measure in 2016.

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

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

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

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

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist