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Chief: Family DNA leads police to mother who abandoned baby

Authorities in South Carolina say DNA submitted to family genealogy sites led them to find and arrest the mother of a baby who was born alive then died abandoned inside a box in a vacant field 29 years ago.

Greenville police Chief Ken Miller says the DNA led them to the probable father of the 6.5-pound (3-kilogram) baby called Julie Valentine.

Miller said at a news conference Thursday that the father named Brook Graham as the baby's likely mother. She was arrested late Wednesday and charged with homicide by neglect.

Authorities say the 53-year-old Graham has two grown children.

Miller says the baby was discovered in February 1990 wrapped in newspaper and bedding in a box by a man picking Valentine's Day flowers for his wife.

Jail records didn't indicate if Graham had a lawyer.

Source: Fox News National

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Poroshenko 2.0: Ukraine leader reboots campaign ahead of presidential run-off

FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Poroshenko speaks during an interview on board his plane on the way from Berlin to Paris
FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko speaks during an interview with Reuters on board his plane on the way from Berlin to Paris at an unknown location in France, April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Sergiy Karazy/File Photo

April 16, 2019

By Matthias Williams and Pavel Polityuk

PARIS/KIEV (Reuters) – Flanked by rock musicians wearing yellow overalls and black t-shirts with skulls on them, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko pumped his fist, danced to the music and waved to supporters outside a soccer stadium in Kiev on Sunday.

Standing on a stage filled with young people, he sent a message to his absent challenger, the comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, ahead of a presidential election run-off on April 21.

“I am pleased that so many young people are with us today. Volodymyr Oleksandrovych, you hear the voice of Kiev, the voice of Ukraine, its youth. The youth is with us. The youth is the driving force of our state,” he said on Sunday.

Poroshenko has rebooted his campaign after Zelenskiy won nearly twice as many votes as him in the first round of the election on March 31, reaching out especially to younger voters disillusioned with corruption and the slow pace of change.

The president apologized for past mistakes like installing business cronies to high office, promised to be more transparent in communicating decisions and pledged to bring more young people onto his staff if voters gave him another chance.

At stake is the leadership of a country on the frontline of the West’s standoff with Russia following the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of a Kremlin-backed insurgency in eastern Ukraine that has killed 13,000 people.

If elected, Zelenskiy has promised to keep Ukraine on a pro-Western course, pursue reforms and tackle corruption. Investors view him as something of an unknown quantity but his team has tried to assure them he will keep the country’s loan program with the International Monetary Fund on track.

In an interview with Reuters on Friday, Poroshenko said his strategy for the first round was reminding Ukrainians to be proud of their country and not listen to Russian depictions of its neighbor as a failed state.

Doing so allowed him to trumpet achievements like securing visa-free travel for Ukrainians to European Union countries, strengthening the army and helping establish a national Orthodox church independent from the Russian clergy.

But for the second round, he has struck a more contrite tone with voters while still painting Zelenskiy as a buffoonish populist.

“First of all, some people are disappointed. And we should open their heart, we should knock on their doors, we should deliver the information that ‘look, we hear what you mean. We understand what you need,'” Poroshenko said.

    “Don’t believe populists, don’t believe in the simple decision to the complicated question. May I remind you, we are the country in a state of war,” he said onboard his plane between whistle-stop visits to Berlin and Paris.

Poroshenko has also sought to shore up his reformist credentials. He rolled out a long-awaited special court to try corruption cases and fired a regional governor accused of incompetence.

Asked if he had more surprises up his sleeve before the second round, Poroshenko replied: “You consider launching an anti-corruption court as a surprise? I think this is a part of my program.

“The answer to your question would be definitely ‘yes’. I have some surprise for the last week,” he said, declining to specify. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

Poroshenko met civil society activists on April 6, promising an overhaul of law enforcement that includes stripping various organizations of their power to probe economic crimes, thus removing a weapon to extract bribes from businesses.

“How useful such dialogue would have been for the president, for social activists, and for the whole of Ukraine, had it taken place sooner,” Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, wrote on Facebook after the meeting.

“At the same time, I highly appreciate and respect the president for admitting his mistakes. This is a strong step. Mistakes can be corrected by real actions,” she said.

Poroshenko believes he has time to close the gap on Zelenskiy but he will have to work fast.

A survey by pollster Reiting last week showed Zelenskiy on 61 percent of votes and Poroshenko on 24 percent, and 41 percent of Zelenskiy voters said their vote was against Poroshenko rather than for the comedian.

“The claims that he is going through a renewal are understandable. The logic is to broaden his base, to show that the president is changing. But words are not enough,” said Volodymyr Fesenko, director of Kiev’s Penta think-tank.

“Where to get additional votes will be a big problem for Poroshenko. That’s because the protest vote will continue to dominate.”

PRESIDENT OR SHOWMAN

A comedian with no prior political experience, Zelenskiy has run an unorthodox campaign that played particularly well with a more internet-savvy young generation.

Eschewing traditional rallies, it relied instead on quirky social media posts, comedy gigs and allusions to a fictional TV series where he plays a schoolteacher who becomes president.

Fighting for that space, Poroshenko launched a channel on the Telegram messenger app after the first round, announcing it on Twitter with a picture of two women taking a selfie with him.

Zelenskiy began releasing slickly produced videos attacking Poroshenko on Facebook and Instagram, that featured pumping music and were reminiscent of his TV series.

Poroshenko responded in kind, releasing his own videos on social media, though they were shot in a more somber style and had him looking straight to camera.

Zelenskiy has also used social media to crowdsource suggestions from voters on anything from policy initiatives to who should be Ukraine’s next prime minister.

In turn, Poroshenko posted a video calling on voters to sign up to a website or phone in their support on a special hotline for keeping Ukraine on a path towards European integration.

Lawmaker and close ally Iryna Gerashchenko said the campaign changed communications strategy to bring out Poroshenko’s human side.

Ukrainians should be able to see someone “who is open, who has a great sense of humor, subtle, who can joke in different languages, who can be sentimental when he watches (the war film) Cyborgs. It is necessary to remind voters,” she told Reuters.

It culminated with the appearance at the Olimpiyskiy soccer stadium. Poroshenko and Zelenskiy had goaded each other about when and where they would hold a debate. Zelenskiy wanted it at the stadium but insisted the event take place next Friday.

Poroshenko showed up anyway on Sunday, his preferred date, greeting the crowd before going inside to speak to the media next to an empty podium bearing Zelenskiy’s name.

Zelenskiy took to social media on Monday to puncture his opponent’s rebranding exercise, saying it wasn’t enough for the president to indulge in theatrics or tell people he’s listening to their concerns.

“A showman can become a president but it is sad that a president became a showman,” he said in a video.

(Additional reporting by Polina Ivanova, Andrei Makhovsky and Natalia Zinets in Kiev. Editing by Carmel Crimmins)

Source: OANN

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NHL roundup: Lightning stun Bruins, step closer to history

NHL: Boston Bruins at Tampa Bay Lightning
Mar 25, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA;Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (71) celebrates as he scores the game winning goal against the Boston Bruins during the third period at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

March 26, 2019

Anthony Cirelli scored the game-winner with 53 seconds left, Steven Stamkos tallied twice in a four-point game, and the host Tampa Bay Lightning rallied past the Boston Bruins 5-4 on Monday night.

Cirelli scored his 18th goal just as a late power play ended, completing Tampa Bay’s third-period comeback from a 4-2 deficit in a battle between the Eastern Conference’s top two teams.

Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist, and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning, who have won 10 of 12 and improved to 20-4-0 against Atlantic Division foes.

The win was the 59th of the season for Tampa Bay, marking the fourth time a team has reached that plateau in a single season. The Lightning need three wins in their final five games to equal the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings for the most in a single season in NHL history.

Maple Leafs 7, Panthers 5

John Tavares had his first career four-goal game to reach a career-best 45 for the season as Toronto held on to defeat visiting Florida.

Zach Hyman added a goal and two assists while Patrick Marleau and Jake Muzzin also scored for the Maple Leafs. Mitch Marner added three assists, and William Nylander had two. Frederik Andersen made 31 saves for the Maple Leafs.

Jayce Hawryluk and Jonathan Huberdeau each scored twice for the Panthers, and Michael Matheson added a goal.

Stars 5, Jets 2

Dallas erupted for three goals in a five-minute span of the second period, powering a win at Winnipeg to snap a two-game losing streak.

The victory allowed the Stars to increase their lead for the first wild-card in the Western Conference to three points over the Colorado Avalanche and five points over the Minnesota Wild and Arizona Coyotes. Dallas has six games to play in the regular season.

Radek Faksa and Tyler Seguin each produced two-goal games for the Stars, who also got a tally from Esa Lindell. Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine responded for the Jets.

Predators 1, Wild 0

Ryan Johansen’s short-handed goal early in the first period was all the offense Nashville could garner, but also all that it needed in a victory at Saint Paul, Minn.

Predators goalie Juuse Saros made 29 saves for his third shutout of the season. Nashville snapped a modest two-game losing skid and clinched its fifth straight playoff berth.

The Predators are within two points of division leading Winnipeg and two points ahead of third-place St. Louis, though both teams have a game at hand on Nashville.

Blues 3, Golden Knights 1

Zach Sanford had a goal and an assist, and Jordan Binnington made 24 saves to lead St. Louis past visiting Vegas for its fourth straight victory.

Ryan O’Reilly and Ivan Barbashev also scored goals for the Blues, who improved to 26-9-4 since Jan. 1, the best record in the Western Conference during that span.

It was the fifth straight victory for Binnington, who improved to 21-4-1 in his rookie season. The Blues also completed a three-game sweep of the Golden Knights in their regular-season series. William Karlsson scored a power-play goal for Vegas.

Penguins 5, Rangers 2

Matt Cullen scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period, and rookie Teddy Blueger scored twice as Pittsburgh scored five unanswered goals to win at New York.

The Penguins won their third consecutive game and moved into a tie for second place in the Metropolitan Division with the New York Islanders. Justin Schultz also had two goals for Pittsburgh, and Nick Bjugstad scored.

Matt Murray made 33 saves and improved to 6-0-0 lifetime against the Rangers in the regular season. He also improved to 8-2-2 in his past 12 starts. New York got goals from Brendan Lemieux and Vinni Lettieri.

Kings 3, Flames 0

Derek Forbort’s first-minute goal held up as the winner, as visiting Los Angeles rode a 42-save shutout by Jack Campbell to a victory over Calgary.

The Kings, who sit last in the Western Conference and have long since been eliminated from playoff contention, have won three consecutive games. Jonny Brodzinski and Tyler Toffoli scored for Los Angeles in the third period.

Calgary saw its three-game winning streak end in inglorious fashion. The Flames lost an opportunity to ensure having home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but they remain atop the conference.

Red Wings 3, Sharks 2

Dylan Larkin scored in the opening minute, Jonathan Bernier made 39 saves, and visiting Detroit defeated slumping San Jose.

Andreas Athanasiou and Christoffer Ehn also scored for Detroit, which has won four of its past five games.

The Sharks have lost six straight for the first time since March 2017. Evander Kane and Tomas Hertl scored the goals for San Jose, which won six consecutive games prior to the slide. Martin Jones made 20 saves.

Devils 3, Sabres 1

Pavel Zacha scored the go-ahead goal on the power play in the third period, and Cory Schneider made a season-high 45 saves as New Jersey skated to a victory over Buffalo in Newark, N.J.

Blake Coleman also scored with the man advantage, and Miles Wood added an empty-net goal for the Devils, who have won two in a row after losing 10 of their previous 12 (2-9-1).

Schneider has turned aside 79 of 81 shots to defeat Buffalo in both encounters this season. The 33-year-old’s lone blemish came in unconventional fashion, as Sam Reinhart scored from center ice in the first period.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Steelers GM: Brown trade requires ‘significant compensation’

NFL: Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers
FILE PHOTO: Dec 30, 2018; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) looks on during warm-ups before the Steelers host the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

February 20, 2019

The Pittsburgh Steelers will attempt to trade disgruntled receiver Antonio Brown this offseason, but general manager Kevin Colbert told reporters Wednesday that they aren’t going to give away the All-Pro.

“We’re not going to move a significant player for less than significant compensation,” Colbert said.

After meeting with team president Art Rooney II on Tuesday, Brown announced on Twitter that both sides had decided to part ways.

“Had a great meeting with Mr.Rooney today we discussed a lot of things and we cleared the air on several issues! We both agreed that it is time to move on but I’ll always have appreciation and gratitude towards the Rooney family and @steelers organization! #CallGod #Boomin,” Brown tweeted.

Colbert told reporters that the Steelers weren’t yet engaged in trade talks, but he expected they would pick up. Still, he said Brown conceivably could return to Pittsburgh if there is “no trade that does not benefit the team.”

The GM also said Brown will not be allowed to select the team to which he is traded.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported in January that Pittsburgh likely would seek a second-round draft pick for the 30-year-old Brown. But Wednesday, his colleague Tom Pelissero said Brown probably would net the Steelers only a mid-round pick after months of drama.

Brown, 30, is due a $2.5 million roster bonus on March 17. Pittsburgh can avoid payment by releasing or trading the seven-time Pro Bowl selection before that date.

He has three years remaining on a five-year, $72.7 million contract extension he signed before the 2017 season.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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TSX futures fall on global cues

The Toronto Stock Exchange sing is seen in Toronto
The Toronto Stock Exchange sign is seen in Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

February 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Stock futures for Canada’s main index edged lower on Tuesday, taking cues from world markets, which took a breather after scaling a five-month high.

March futures on the S&P/TSX index inched down 0.02 percent at 7:10 a.m. ET.

World shares took a breather on Tuesday having scaled a five-month high, while Britain’s pound charged to a one-month top on renewed speculation that UK Prime Minister Theresa May was being bundled towards delaying Brexit.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX rose 44.02 points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 16,057.03 on Monday.

Dow Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures were down 0.37 percent at 7:10 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures edged down 0.21 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures were down 0.28 percent. [.N]

TOP STORIES [TOP/CAN]

Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-biggest lender, reported a lower-than-expected adjusted quarterly profit on Tuesday, hurt by higher non-interest expenses and lower income from its domestic business.

Bank of Montreal reported a 10 percent increase in first quarter earnings, benefiting from a strong performance at its personal & commercial banking business in the United States.

Thomson Reuters on Tuesday reported a 9 percent rise in quarterly revenue, stripping out the impact of currency, helped by higher sales at its Legal and Tax & Accounting businesses.

ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS [RCH/CA]

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc: RBC raises price target to C$86 from C$80.

George Weston Ltd: RBC raises price target to C$139 from C$138.

Trevali Mining Corp: CIBC cuts rating to neutral from outperformer.

COMMODITIES AT 7:10 a.m. ET [COM/WRAP]

Gold futures: $1,324.3; fell 0.17 percent [GOL/]

US crude: $55.48; was unchanged 0 percent [O/R]

Brent crude: $65.2; rose 0.68 percent [O/R]

U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON TUESDAY

0830 Building permits: number for Dec: Expected 1.290 mln; Prior 1.322 mln

0830 Build permits: change mm for Dec: Prior 4.5 pct

0830 Housing starts number for Dec: Expected 1.250 mln; Prior 1.256 mln

0830 House starts mm: change for Dec: Prior 3.2 pct

0900 Monthly home price mm for Dec: Prior 0.4 pct

0900 Monthly home price yy for Dec: Prior 5.8 pct

0900 Monthly Home Price Index for Dec: Prior 269.2

0900 Caseshiller 20 mm SA for Dec: Expected 0.3 pct; Prior 0.3 pct

0900 Caseshiller 20 mm NSA for Dec: Prior -0.1 pct

0900 Caseshiller 20 yy for Dec: Expected 4.5 pct; Prior 4.7 pct

1000 Consumer Confidence for Feb: Expected 124.7; Prior 120.2

1000 Rich Fed Composite Index for Feb: Prior -2

1000 Rich Fed, Services Index for Feb: Prior 6

1000 Rich Fed Manufacturing Shipments for Feb: Prior -8

1030 Texas Service Sector Outlook for Feb: Prior -4.8

1030 Dallas Fed Services Revenues for Feb: Prior 14.9

(Reporting by Hrithik Kiran Bagade in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)

Source: OANN

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Forest fire burns thousands of acres in New Jersey Pinelands

Authorities say fire whipped by high winds has spread over thousands of acres of state land in New Jersey's Pine Barrens, a forested area of coastal plain that stretches more than 1 million acres.

State environmental protection department officials say the blaze was reported Saturday afternoon in Penn State Forest in Woodland Township.

Department spokesman Larry Hajna (HAY-nah) said Sunday afternoon the blaze had grown to 10,000 acres (40 sq. kilometers) with about 75 percent containment. Officials said plumes of smoke were visible from as far as Freehold, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) away.

Hajna says a portion of Route 72, the main road across the Pinelands, has been closed. No homes or businesses are endangered and no injuries or mandatory evacuations have been reported. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Source: Fox News National

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Turkish voters go to polls in critical municipal elections

Voters in Turkey began casting ballots in Sunday's municipal elections, which are seen as a barometer of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's popularity amid a sharp economic downturn in the nation that straddles Europe and Asia.

More than 57 million eligible voters are making choices in 200,000 polling stations across the country to elect the mayors for 30 large metropolitan cities, 51 provincial capitals and 922 districts. They are also voting to elect local assembly representatives as well as tens of thousands of neighborhood or village administrators.

Erdogan's past electoral successes have been based on economic prosperity, but with a weakening currency, inflation at double-digit figures and food prices soaring, his conservative, Islamic-based ruling party could lose control of key mayoral seats.

The municipal elections are also a first test for Erdogan since he won elections last year that ushered in a new system that gave him wide powers.

Opposition parties are mostly coordinating strategies and running under alliances in an effort to maximize the chances to unseat ruling party officials.

The main battleground appears to be for Ankara, the capital, where opinion polls have suggested that Mansur Yavas, an opposition alliance candidate, could upset a quarter of a century rule by Erdogan's Justice and Development Party and its predecessor. Mehmet Ozhaseki, former minister of environment and urban planning, is running on the ticket for Erdogan and his nationalist allies.

In Istanbul, Erdogan named former Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who served previously as transport minister, to run against Ekrem Imamoglu from the opposition.

"Whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey," Erdogan has said in election rallies. His rise to power began as Istanbul mayor in 1994.

Erdogan has campaigned tirelessly for his party's candidates, portraying the country's economic woes as an attack by western nations on Turkey and has framed the race a matter of "national survival." On Saturday, he spoke at six rallies in Istanbul, which Turkish television stations broadcast live.

Erdogan has been using fiercely polarizing rhetoric against opposition candidates. The ruling party has accused Ankara mayoral candidate Yavas of forgery and tax evasion while also threatening to depose mayors from a pro-Kurdish party if they win seats in the country's predominantly Kurdish southeast.

Since 2016, Erdogan's government has replaced elected mayors in about 100 municipalities held by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, replacing them with government-appointed trustees and claiming the ousted officials had alleged links to outlawed Kurdish militants.

The pro-Kurdish party aims to win back those seats. It is also strategically sitting out critical races in Turkey's major cities, including Istanbul and Ankara, with the aim of sending votes to their secular opposition rivals to help challenge Erdogan's party.

___

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.

Source: Fox News World

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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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