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Uber to pay $20 million to settle long-running legal battle with drivers

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

March 12, 2019

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit brought by drivers nearly six years ago, according to court filings, resolving one of its many legal battles with drivers ahead of a hotly anticipated initial public offering this year.

Drivers for the ride-hailing company argued in the lawsuit they were employees, not independent contractors, as Uber has classified them, and therefore entitled to benefits and reimbursement for their expenses. The settlement amount is one-fifth of the $100 million settlement offer Uber proposed in 2016 to resolve the case, which a judge at the time rejected as an inadequate amount.

(Reporting by Heather Somerville; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Germany defends plans for more interventionist industrial policy

FILE PHOTO: German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier presents the national industry strategy for 2030 during a news conference in Berlin
FILE PHOTO: German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier presents the national industry strategy for 2030 during a news conference in Berlin, Germany, February 5, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo

March 27, 2019

By Michael Nienaber

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has rebuffed increasing criticism of his shift towards a more interventionist industrial policy, saying it will lead to improved global competition “by adapting rules to reality”.

Some senior economists have suggested Altmaier’s new approach to industrial policy, presented last month, imitates China’s state-driven development strategy and is misguided.

The new policy envisages the state supporting and protecting “national champions” in Germany and the European Union so they can better compete with rivals from China and the United States.

In a marked shift from Germany’s traditionally hands-off approach to business, the government plans to pass legislation by the end of 2019 to create a state-owned fund that could foil takeovers of key companies by Chinese and other foreign firms, senior government officials have told Reuters.

“My strategy has fueled a constructive debate,” Altmaier tweeted late on Tuesday in a short defense of his plans.

Altmaier, a confidant of Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Germany would continue to advocate “fair and open” markets while eyeing better framework conditions within the EU to support new technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence.

Germany and France have earmarked 1.7 billions euros to support the local development and production of battery cells for electric vehicles to break the dependence of EU carmakers on Asian suppliers.

Altmaier has also floated the idea of creating a pan-European artificial intelligence company that could be backed by governments through minority stakes, as Germany and France did with their political support for planemaker Airbus.

“MOSTLY MISGUIDED”

Gabriel Felbermayr from the IfW Kiel Institute for the World Economy urged Altmaier to maintain the EU’s “well-functioning” competition policy.

The German government should continue to push for a level playing field in relations with Beijing that means “opening up China rather than imitating it”, Felbermayr said.

Jeromin Zettelmeyer from the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC echoed such criticism.

“While the questions and concerns motivating the document are valid, the proposals are mostly misguided,” said Zettelmeyer who worked as chief economic adviser at Germany’s economy ministry from 2014 to 2016.

He criticized plans to raise the German share of manufacturing, to restrict non-EU imports of intermediate goods and to promote national champions in Germany and the EU.

Proposals to prevent some foreign takeovers and to ramp up state support for certain technologies were easier to justify, given either market failures or the risk of technological dependence on foreign companies susceptible to state interference, Zettelmeyer added.

“But even in these areas, the specific policies proposed may well do more harm than good.”

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Source: OANN

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Report finds gaps in 2015 probe of mass graves in Malaysia

A new human rights report has found gaps in the investigation and possible obstruction of justice involving Malaysia's 2015 discovery of mass graves believed to be of Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis held in trafficking camps in a jungle area on its border with Thailand.

The report, prepared by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia and Fortify Rights, comes after Malaysia's new government in January formed a royal commission of inquiry into the tragedy at Wang Kelian in northern Perlis state that shocked the nation amid allegations of a cover-up.

A commissioner with the Human Rights Commission, Jerald Joseph, said Wednesday there was "fresh political will in Malaysia to right these wrongs" and ensure justice for all trafficking victims.

Source: Fox News World

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Around 1.85 million people affected by Cyclone Idai in Mozambique: U.N.

School children and a man carrying food aid cross a river after Cyclone Idai at Coppa business centre in Chipinge
School children and a man carrying food aid cross a river after Cyclone Idai at Coppa business centre in Chipinge, Zimbabwe, March 26,2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

March 26, 2019

BEIRA, Mozambique (Reuters) – About 1.85 million people have now been affected by Cyclone Idai and its aftermath in Mozambique alone, the United Nations’ humanitarian agency OCHA said on Tuesday, as aid workers raced to fathom the massive scale of the deadly disaster.

“Some will be in critical, life threatening situations. Some will sadly have lost their livelihoods, which whilst an appalling tragedy is not immediately life threatening,” OCHA coordinator Sebastian Rhodes Stampa said.

(Reporting by Emma Rumney, Writing by Joe Bavier, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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Stanford University tosses out student involved in admissions bribery scandal

Stanford University has quietly "rescinded admission" for a student who allegedly lied about sailing credentials in her application to the elite school, and then was exposed during the college admissions bribery scandal that broke last month.

The unidentified female student was reportedly accepted in part due to the sailing experience she claimed to have, although she never participated on the Stanford sailing team and was not recruited through the normal athletic process. After she was admitted, a $500,000 donation was made to the university's sailing program, according to federal court documents.

The Stanford Daily reported that the donation was facilitated by head sailing coach John Vandemoer, who was fired after pleading guilty to the charges against him for accepting bribes in exchange for recommending students' admission. In exchange for pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering, the coach is set to serve an 18-month prison sentence.

LORI LOUGHLIN BONDS WITH DAUGHTER ISABELLA AFTER COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL LEFT OLIVIA JADE 'DISTRAUGHT'

Stanford University said in a statement it was investigating three students connected to the school in the scandal, two of whom did not end up attending Stanford, though the sailing coach accepted a total of $270,000 in bribes from their family members. In a short update posted on April 2, the school announced it expelled the third student associated with the scandal, who was attending Stanford at the time.

"We determined that some of the material in the student’s application is false and, in accordance with our policies, have rescinded admission," the statement read. "Any credits earned have also been vacated. The student is no longer on Stanford’s campus."

LORI LOUGHLIN SIGNS AUTOGRAPHS AHEAD OF COURT HEARING IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL

The admissions scandal led to dozens of high-profile celebrities, entrepreneurs, and coaches being indicted when the news broke following an FBI investigation titled Operation Varsity Blues. William Rick Singer was found to be running a multi-million dollar organization facilitating bribes from wealthy parents to primarily Ivy League athletic officials in exchange for getting their children admitted.

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Actresses such as Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin have been in and out of court in the weeks since, and could face prison time. They are facing federal charges for which the maximum sentence is five years.

On Monday, it was revealed that Huffman was among 14 people who have agreed to plead guilty to charges connected to the scandal.

She and her husband, actor William H. Macy, were accused of making a $15,000 donation to Singer's organization to have someone correct their daughter's answers on the SAT.

In a statement, Huffman said that she felt "deep regret and shame" over what she had done, and wanted to "apologize to the students who work every day to get into college, and to their parents who make tremendous sacrifices to support their children and do so honestly.”

Source: Fox News National

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Christchurch attack survivors offered New Zealand residency

FILE PHOTO: People comfort each other before the Friday prayers at Hagley Park outside Al-Noor mosque in Christchurch
FILE PHOTO: People comfort each other before the Friday prayers at Hagley Park outside Al-Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand March 22, 2019. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

April 23, 2019

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand will grant permanent residency to all survivors of the mass shooting at two Christchurch mosques in which 50 Muslim worshippers were killed, it said on Tuesday.

Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, has been charged with 50 counts of murder for New Zealand’s worst peacetime mass shooting in which 50 other people at Friday prayers were wounded.

The government had said it was considering giving visas to survivors, but no decision was announced. Tuesday’s news was only released as a link on the immigration website, which some say was done to avoid any backlash by opponents of immigration.

Immigration New Zealand said a new visa category called the Christchurch Response (2019) visa had been created. People who were present at the mosques when they were attacked on March 15 can apply, as can immediate family members.

Applicants must have been living in New Zealand on the day of the attack, so the visa will not be available to tourists or short-term visitors. Applications can be made from Wednesday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the attack was an act of terrorism and passed firearm laws banning semi-automatic weapons.

A Sri Lankan minister said on Tuesday that the Easter bombings at churches and hotels that killed 321 people appeared to be retaliation for the New Zealand mosque attacks.

The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for the coordinated blasts.

(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: OANN

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Cleaning offers rare glimpse of Notre Dame statues in Paris

Religious statues set atop Notre Dame Cathedral have come down for the first time in over a century as part of a restoration of the monumental Paris church's towering spire.

A 100-meter-high (105-yard) crane lowered the copper statues representing the 12 apostles and four evangelists onto a truck, giving the public a ground-level look for the first time on Thursday.

The figures regular posts look over the Paris from Notre Dame's 96-meter-high peak.

The 3-meter-tall statues are being sent to southwestern France for work that is part of a 6 million-euro ($6.8 million) renovation project on the cathedral spire and its 250 tons of lead.

Source: Fox News World

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Joe Biden’s brain surgeon said his former patient is “totally in the clear” as speculation over the candidate’s health — with Biden possibly becoming the oldest president in U.S. history — is likely to become a campaign issue.

The former vice president, who had been perceived by many as the strongest potential contender for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, formally announced his candidacy Thursday.

But Biden’s age – 76 – is expected to become a source of attacks from a younger generation of Democrats not because of obvious generational differences, but possibly for actual health concerns if Biden gets into office.

WHY THE MEDIA ARE CONVINCED JOE BIDEN WILL IMPLODE

Biden himself agreed last year that “it’s totally legitimate” for people to ask questions about his health if he decides to run for president, given his medical history — which has included brain surgery in 1988.

“I think they’re gonna judge me on my vitality,” Biden told “CBS This Morning.” “Can I still run up the steps of Air Force Two? Am I still in good shape? Am I – do I have all my faculties? Am I energetic? I think it’s totally legitimate people ask those questions.”

“I think they’re gonna judge me on my vitality. …  I think it’s totally legitimate [that] people ask those questions.”

— Joe Biden

But Dr. Neal Kassell, the neurosurgeon who operated on Biden for an aneurysm three decades ago, told the Washington Examiner that Biden appears to be “totally in the clear” — and even joked that the operation made Biden “better than how he was.”

“Joe Biden of all of the politicians in Washington is the only one that I’m certain has a brain, because I have seen it,” Kassell said. “That’s more than I can say about all the other candidates or the incumbents.”

“Joe Biden of all of the politicians in Washington is the only one that I’m certain has a brain, because I have seen it.”

— Dr. Neal Kassell

BIDEN’S CLAIM HE DIDN’T WANT OBAMA TO ENDORSE TRIGGERS MOCKERY

At the same time, however, Biden hasn’t been forthcoming about his health at least since 2008 when he released his medical records as a vice presidential candidate. The disclosure that time revealed some fairly minor issues such as an irregular heartbeat in addition to detailing previous operations, including removing a benign polyp during a colonoscopy in 1996, the outlet reported.

It remains unclear if Biden had more aneurysms. Some medical experts say that people who have had an aneurysm can have another one.

An aneurysm, or a weakening of an artery wall, can lead to a rupture and internal bleeding, potentially placing a patient’s life in jeopardy.

Biden won’t be the only Democrat grappling with old age. Sen. Bernie Sanders, another 2020 frontrunner, is currently 77 years old and agreed with Biden last year that their ages will be an issue in the race.

“It’s part of a discussion, but it has to be part of an overall view of what somebody is and what somebody has accomplished,” Sanders told Politico.

“Look, you’ve got people who are 50 years of age who are not well, right? You’ve got people who are 90 years of age who are going to work every day, doing excellent work. And obviously, age is a factor. But it depends on the overall health and wellbeing of the individual.”

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Sanders released his medical records in 2016, with a Senate physician saying in a letter that the senator was “in overall very good health.”

Source: Fox News Politics

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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

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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

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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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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

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