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The Small Short: Investors bet against 2nd-tier Australian banks after inquiry spares majors

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO - A combination of photographs shows people using automated teller machines (ATMs) at Australia's
FILE PHOTO: A combination of photographs shows people using automated teller machines (ATMs) at Australia's "Big Four" banks - Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (bottom R), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (top R), National Australia Bank Ltd (bottom L) and Westpac Banking Corp (top L). REUTERS/Staff/File photo/File Photo

March 12, 2019

By Paulina Duran and Byron Kaye

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Investors are shorting second-tier Australian banks while the majors enjoy their biggest rally in three years, as the market weighs up the long-term impact of a public inquiry that exposed widespread misconduct in the financial sector last year.

The capital shift shows investors believe higher regulatory costs will hurt smaller lenders more than the big four market leaders, whose business models – if not their reputations – emerged largely unscathed from the year-long inquiry.

Short bets on regional lenders Bendigo and Adelaide Bank <BEN.AX> and Bank of Queensland <BOQ.AX> spiked over a fifth in the weeks since the inquiry delivered its final report on Feb. 1, Refinitiv data shows. Their shares had already fallen about 15 percent in the same period.

Investors are instead putting money on the larger banks’ ability to safeguard profitability in an environment of record low mortgage growth and falling house prices.

“The regional banks will struggle to compete with the major banks,” said Azib Khan, from stockbroker Morgans Financial Ltd.

As the government-backed independent inquiry known as a Royal Commission continued through most of 2018, analysts feared it would result in anything from enforced divestments to strict controls over how much a bank could lend. But its final recommendations focused mostly on cultural changes, sparing the big lenders the prospect of tougher laws.

The inquiry wiped A$72 billion ($51 billion) from the combined valuation of the top four banks – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group <ANZ.AX>, Commonwealth Bank of Australia <CBA.AX>, National Australia Bank <NAB.AX> and Westpac Banking Corp <WBC.AX> – from its February 2018 start to the last trading week of 2018, amid constant headlines about fee-gouging, cavalier sales tactics and poor governance.

Since then, their shares have clawed back A$50 billion. The country’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank, is now only 4 percent below its pre-inquiry level. ANZ’s shares have risen 12 percent in the four weeks since the inquiry delivered its final report last month, their biggest one-month leap since March 2016 and within 5 percentage points of full recovery.

While the inquiry found the smaller lenders generally had behaved better than their bigger rivals, they have suffered sharper falls in lending growth and profitability in the wake of the Royal Commission.

“It’s harder for them to absorb the extra regulatory costs, and they have a lower credit rating than the majors and that means that they’ve got a higher cost of funding,” Khan said.

Recent updates from Bank of Queensland and Bendigo included the banks’ expectations of higher regulatory costs, highlighting the disadvantages of the smaller lenders.

With home loan growth of just 1 percent during the first half of the financial year, Bendigo reported below-expectation profit and flagged higher regulatory spending in the second half. Bank of Queensland also flagged lower half-yearly earnings and warned the second half of the year would be challenging.

“The increase in compliance costs and expensive funding will affect the smaller banks more than the larger banks,” said Sean Sequeira, chief investment officer at Alleron Investment Management.

Sequeira said that while his fund did not hold short positions in the banks, he agreed with the short call on Bendigo.

“They have a portfolio of reverse mortgages that leaves them with a larger exposure to property than banks with standard loan portfolios, which concerns us given the current weakness in housing.”

($1 = 1.4148 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Paulina Duran and Byron Kaye; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Source: OANN

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Florida suspect behind pipe bombs sent to prominent Democrats, media agencies pleads guilty

The man accused of sending a slew of mail bombs to prominent Democrats across the country last year entered a guilty plea in New York federal court on Thursday.

Cesar Sayoc pleaded guilty to all 65 counts against him. He was accused of using a weapon of mass destruction, interstate transportation of an explosive, conveying threat in interstate commerce, illegal mailing of an explosive with intent to kill or injury and carrying explosive during commission of a felony.

In accordance with a plea agreement, he is facing life in prison with an additional 120 months.

SUSPECT ARRESTED IN FLORIDA IN CONNECTION WITH SUSPICIOUS PACKAGES SENT TO DEMOCRATS

Sayoc, a 56-year-old who lived in Aventura, Florida, was accused of mailing explosives to more than a dozen targets last year. Among them included liberal billionaire George Soros, former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Devices were also mailed to CNN offices in New York and Atlanta. None of the devices ultimately exploded.

Authorities arrested the suspect in October at an auto parts store in Plantation, Florida, located about 20 miles from Opa-locka, where investigators discovered several suspicious packages in a U.S. postal facility.

CESAR SAYOC, PACKAGE BOMB SUSPECT, ALLEGEDLY STARTED PLANNING ‘TERROR CAMPAIGN’ IN JULY, PROSECUTORS SAY

During his court appearance Thursday, Sayoc read aloud a statement and said he "made devices designed to look like" a bomb and sent them through the mail. He sent 16 devices, mailed from South Florida, “with intent to threaten or intimidate.”

Sayoc, who became emotional as he wrapped up his remarks, apologized and said, “I know these actions were wrong."

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

When asked by the judge whether he had planned for the devices “to explode,” Sayoc replied, “no sir.”

The judge set Sayoc’s sentencing date for Sept. 12.

Fox News’ Tamara Gitt, Lissa Kaplan, Maria Paronich, Jennifer Earl, Barnini Chakraborty and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Officials puzzle over U.S. aid cuts to Central America

FILE PHOTO: Central American asylum seekers are escorted out of the Chaparral border crossing gate after being sent back to Mexico by the U.S. in Tijuana, Mexico
FILE PHOTO: Central American asylum seekers are escorted out of the Chaparral border crossing gate after being sent back to Mexico by the U.S. in Tijuana, Mexico, January 30, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

April 2, 2019

By Arshad Mohammed, Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – People inside and outside the Trump administration scrambled on Monday to figure out what aid it plans to cut from three Central American nations and how that is a good idea given that much of the money aims to curb migration.

The State Department said on Saturday it would carry out President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to end U.S. foreign assistance programs with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Without providing evidence, Trump said on Friday the countries had “set up” caravans of migrants in order to export them to the United States. A surge of asylum seekers from the three countries, known collectively as the Northern Triangle, has sought to enter the United States in recent days.

Congressional aides and U.S. officials said they were trying to establish what money would be eliminated, and even some of Trump’s fellow Republicans questioned the wisdom of curbing the aid, much of which aims to reduce violence, gang activity and the illicit drug trade – all factors that send migrants north.

“If we cut all this funding, and a lot of it, quite honestly, is seriously law enforcement that we’re doing down there … I think it’s going to make things tragically worse, not better,” said Representative Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

The State Department did not elaborate beyond its weekend statement that it was “carrying out the President’s direction and ending FY 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle” and would engage Congress. The U.S. fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one congressional aide said it was his understanding the administration planned to reprogram – or dedicate to other purposes – about $450 million in fiscal-year 2018 funds.

In addition, according to the aide, the department planned to review fiscal-year 2017 and 2018 funds that have been obligated, but not spent, and redirect those to other purposes.

The aide and others said, however, that Congress had yet to receive any formal notices from the State Department about exactly which funds are involved, what they were originally for or where the department wants to reprogram them.

Asked if the department knew what programs would be cut, a second congressional aide who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “If they do, they haven’t told us yet. My sense is they are trying to figure that out.”

‘TOTALLY COUNTERPRODUCTIVE’

A former U.S. official in contact with those still in the government said emails were flying around the State Department among officials trying to figure out what was going on.

“Nobody knows what this is,” he said, adding that by midday on Monday, no instructions had been sent to U.S. aid missions in the region on how to implement the decision.

The situation was reminiscent of a 2018 New Year’s Day tweet in which Trump appeared to decree an end to U.S. aid for Pakistan, sending officials scrambling to suspend security aid without even knowing how much they were freezing.

Critics argued the administration’s planned Central America aid cutoff would be tantamount to cutting off its nose to spite its face.

“It’s totally counterproductive,” said Rebecca Bill Chavez, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs during former President Barack Obama’s administration and who is now at the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington.

“If the intent is to slow migration, this is going to have the opposite effect,” she added.

Speaking on ABC News’ “This Week” program on Sunday, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the United States needed more help from the “Northern Triangle” countries and Mexico, where the migrants typically enter the United States.

“You can make all the promises you want but when you’re still sending 100,000 people across the southern border, actions speak louder than words,” Mulvaney said. “We want to work with the Northern Triangle countries but we need their assistance.”

Democrats were scathing about the planned cuts.

“Most of this aid is intended to address the causes of migration – reduce poverty, violence, gangs, improve rule of law, and reform justice systems,” said Senator Patrick Leahy, the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “It is shooting ourselves in the foot to cut off the assistance.”

(Reporting by Arshad Mohammed, Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay and Lesley Wroughton; Writing By Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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MAGAPHOBIA: Elderly man attacked in New Jersey for wearing MAGA hat

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An elderly man was attacked in a supermarket while wearing a MAGA cap, in the latest act of violence and hate towards supporters of President Trump.

The attack occurred at a Shoprite in Somerset, N.J., according to local prosecutors.

The man, whose name has not been released, suffered “minor” injuries, according to NBC 4, a New York-based affiliate of NBC News.

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Bernie Sanders releases 10 years of tax returns, details millionaire status

Democratic U.S. 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders holds an evening public rally along the waterfront in downtown San Diego, California
FILE PHOTO: Democratic U.S. 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders holds an evening public rally along the waterfront in downtown San Diego, California, U.S., March 22, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake

April 15, 2019

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders released 10 years of tax returns on Monday, providing details of his growing status as a millionaire fueled by a sharp jump in income from book royalties since his losing 2016 White House run.

Sanders, a U.S. senator who routinely rails against the “millionaires and billionaires” he says have rigged the system to protect their wealth and power, had an adjusted gross income of $561,293 in 2018, $1,131,925 in 2017 and $1,062,626 in 2016, the returns showed.

Sanders augmented his Senate salary with book royalties in each of those years, particularly in 2016 and 2017 when he made more than $800,000 each year in royalties. Sanders has published three books since the start of his first White House run, including bestsellers “Our Revolution” and “Where We Go From Here.”

In 2009, the first year of returns Sanders released on Monday, he had an adjusted gross income of $314,742.

Sanders had faced mounting pressure to release his taxes, with critics saying the democratic socialist’s millionaire status undercut his populist economic message. He made no apologies for his financial well-being, telling the New York Times recently that “if you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too.”

On Monday, Sanders took a more measured tone in releasing his returns, making reference to his upbringing in a Brooklyn family of limited financial resources.

“These tax returns show that our family has been fortunate. I am very grateful for that, as I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck and I know the stress of economic insecurity,” Sanders said in a statement accompanying the returns.

‘TRANSPARENCY’

The interest in presidential contenders and their taxes has jumped since Republican President Donald Trump shattered decades of tradition during the 2016 campaign by refusing to release his returns – a stance he has continued since entering the White House.

Several in the growing field of Democratic 2020 contenders, including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, and Governor Jay Inslee of Washington, have released their 2018 returns in recent weeks. Most other Democratic contenders have pledged to do the same soon.

But the question had become more pressing for Sanders, who only released one year of returns during his 2016 campaign, as he moved into a strong early position in polls and fundraising among Democrats seeking the 2020 nomination to challenge Trump.

“As a strong proponent of transparency, the senator hopes President Trump and all Democratic primary candidates will disclose their tax returns,” Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement.

Sanders faced criticism for only releasing his 2014 returns during his 2016 Democratic primary battle with Hillary Clinton, a millionaire whom he often derided for giving paid speeches to Wall Street.

The tax returns released on Monday showed Sanders paid a 26 percent effective tax rate on his adjusted gross income in 2018. His effective tax rates in 2016 and 2017, his other high-earning years, were 35 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

As part of his policy agenda, Sanders has proposed a big expansion of the estate tax, lowering the threshold where it kicks in to $3.5 million from $11 million, and placing a 77 percent tax rate on the portion of estates worth more than $1 billion.

(Reporting by John Whitesides; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: OANN

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Trump announces Kelly Knight Craft as nominee for UN ambassador

President Trump on Friday announced Kelly Knight Craft, the current ambassador to Canada, as his nominee to become the next United States ambassador to the United Nations.

"Kelly has done an outstanding job representing our Nation and I have no doubt that, under her leadership, our Country will be represented at the highest level," Trump tweeted. "Congratulations to Kelly and her entire family!"

If confirmed for the role, Craft would succeed former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who abruptly announced her resignation in October last year.

The president's announcement comes roughly a week after State Department spokewoman Heather Nauert withdrew her name from consideration for the position.

“I am grateful to President Trump and Secretary [Mike] Pompeo for the trust they placed in me for considering me for the position of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations," Nauert said in the statement released by the State Department on Saturday. "However, the past two months have been grueling for my family and therefore it is in the best interest of my family that I withdraw my name from consideration."

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Topsy-turvy season gives Oscars a best picture cliffhanger

FILE PHOTO: The 75th Venice International Film Festival
FILE PHOTO: The 75th Venice International Film Festival - photocall for the movie "Roma" competing in the Venezia 75 section - Venice, Italy, August 30, 2018 - Director Alfonso Cuaron with actors Yalitza Aparicio, Nancy Garcia and Marina de Tavira. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

February 21, 2019

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hollywood’s awards season reaches a climax at Sunday’s Oscars with a cliffhanger over the top prize after a topsy-turvy best picture race marked by the fading of early favorites and the tantalizing question of whether Netflix can trump traditional movie studios.

While Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron’s sentimental Netflix movie “Roma” and historical romp “The Favourite” from Fox Searchlight go into the ceremony with a leading 10 nominations each, there’s no guarantee they will come out on top.

“This year’s Oscar best picture race is as wide open as I have ever seen it,” said Matthew Belloni, editorial director of the Hollywood Reporter.

“If ‘Roma’ wins best picture, it will be a watershed moment for Netflix. It will announce the day they have arrived,” he added. No streaming service has ever won the Academy Award for best picture.

The Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday in a live ceremony televised by ABC starting at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET (0100 GMT on Monday).

Award watchers say Universal Pictures’ “Green Book,” a road trip set in the segregated U.S. South in the 1960s, and the studio’s Ku Klux Klan comedy-drama “BlacKkKlansman” from director Spike Lee are also serious contenders for the best picture statuette.

Sentiment for Lee is rising, they say, and he could become the first African-American ever to win a best director Oscar with his film tapping into historical and contemporary U.S. racial tensions.

“‘Green Book’ and ‘BlacKkKlansman’ are more representative of the traditional best picture winner, which is a polished popular film that has an important social message,” said Tom O’Neil, founder of awards website Goldderby.com.

Awards leading up to the Oscars this year have been inconsistent, with “Green Book,” 21st Century Fox rock biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Disney superhero movie “Black Panther” and “Roma” all picking up prizes.

Political comedy “Vice” and Warner Bros. musical romance “A Star is Born,” starring acting nominees Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, round out the best picture contenders, although both films have seen their luster fade.

“In the fall, I would have thought ‘A Star is Born’ would have been coming in as the big favorite, and it has faded out of the conversation for reasons I cannot really place,” said Alison Willmore, critic and culture writer for BuzzFeed News.

Meanwhile, “Green Book” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” have shrugged off a slew of negative publicity, and “Bohemian Rhapsody” star Rami Malek is seen as the favorite to win best actor for his portrayal of late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” director Bryan Singer was accused of sexual misconduct involving underage men in the 1990s in an article published in January by The Atlantic magazine. Singer issued a statement denying the accusations.

Willmore said Malek looked like an Oscar winner. “What Rami Malek does in that movie is acting with a capital ‘A.’ He models himself after this famous figure, he wears prosthetics and he ‘performs’ at Live Aid,” she said.

The family of the real-life black pianist at the center of “Green Book” have said his portrayal, by supporting actor front-runner Mahershala Ali, contained inaccuracies. Ali has said he respects the family and had spoken with them.

Accusations also resurfaced in January of sexual impropriety in the 1990s by the movie’s director, Peter Farrelly. Farrelly apologized for his conduct.

“No film has been more insulted this year than ‘Green Book,’ but no film has won more prizes,” said Variety awards editor Tim Gray.

In other races, Glenn Close looks certain to take her first Oscar, for best actress, for portraying a submissive spouse to her Nobel Prize-winning writer husband in “The Wife.”

“She seems to be a safe bet, which is ironic considering she portrays a woman in ‘The Wife’ who has been cheated out of an award,” said O’Neil.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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The Wider Image: China's start-ups go small in age of 'shoebox' satellites
LinkSpace’s reusable rocket RLV-T5, also known as NewLine Baby, is carried to a vacant plot of land for a test launch in Longkou, Shandong province, China, April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

LONGKOU, China (Reuters) – During initial tests of their 8.1-metre (27-foot) tall reusable rocket, Chinese engineers from LinkSpace, a start-up led by China’s youngest space entrepreneur, used a Kevlar tether to ensure its safe return. Just in case.

But when the Beijing-based company’s prototype, called NewLine Baby, successfully took off and landed last week for the second time in two months, no tether was needed.

The 1.5-tonne rocket hovered 40 meters above the ground before descending back to its concrete launch pad after 30 seconds, to the relief of 26-year-old chief executive Hu Zhenyu and his engineers – one of whom cartwheeled his way to the launch pad in delight.

LinkSpace, one of China’s 15-plus private rocket manufacturers, sees these short hops as the first steps towards a new business model: sending tiny, inexpensive satellites into orbit at affordable prices.

Demand for these so-called nanosatellites – which weigh less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and are in some cases as small as a shoebox – is expected to explode in the next few years. And China’s rocket entrepreneurs reckon there is no better place to develop inexpensive launch vehicles than their home country.

“For suborbital clients, their focus will be on scientific research and some commercial uses. After entering orbit, the near-term focus (of clients) will certainly be on satellites,” Hu said.

In the near term, China envisions massive constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Universities conducting experiments and companies looking to offer remote-sensing and communication services are among the potential domestic customers for nanosatellites.

A handful of U.S. small-rocket companies are also developing launchers ahead of the expected boom. One of the biggest, Rocket Lab, has already put 25 satellites in orbit.

No private company in China has done that yet. Since October, two – LandSpace and OneSpace – have tried but failed, illustrating the difficulties facing space start-ups everywhere.

The Chinese companies are approaching inexpensive launches in different ways. Some, like OneSpace, are designing cheap, disposable boosters. LinkSpace’s Hu aspires to build reusable rockets that return to Earth after delivering their payload, much like the Falcon 9 rockets of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“If you’re a small company and you can only build a very, very small rocket because that’s all you have money for, then your profit margins are going to be narrower,” said Macro Caceres, analyst at U.S. aerospace consultancy Teal Group.

“But if you can take that small rocket and make it reusable, and you can launch it once a week, four times a month, 50 times a year, then with more volume, your profit increases,” Caceres added.

Eventually LinkSpace hopes to charge no more than 30 million yuan ($4.48 million) per launch, Hu told Reuters.

That is a fraction of the $25 million to $30 million needed for a launch on a Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems Pegasus, a commonly used small rocket. The Pegasus is launched from a high-flying aircraft and is not reusable.

(Click https://reut.rs/2UVBjKs to see a picture package of China’s rocket start-ups. Click https://tmsnrt.rs/2GIy9Bc for an interactive look at the nascent industry.)

NEED FOR CASH

LinkSpace plans to conduct suborbital launch tests using a bigger recoverable rocket in the first half of 2020, reaching altitudes of at least 100 kilometers, then an orbital launch in 2021, Hu told Reuters.

The company is in its third round of fundraising and wants to raise up to 100 million yuan, Hu said. It had secured tens of millions of yuan in previous rounds.

After a surge in fresh funding in 2018, firms like LinkSpace are pushing out prototypes, planning more tests and even proposing operational launches this year.

Last year, equity investment in China’s space start-ups reached 3.57 billion yuan ($533 million), a report by Beijing-based investor FutureAerospace shows, with a burst of financing in late 2018.

That accounted for about 18 percent of global space start-up investments in 2018, a historic high, according to Reuters calculations based on a global estimate by Space Angels. The New York-based venture capital firm said global space start-up investments totaled $2.97 billion last year.

“Costs for rocket companies are relatively high, but as to how much funding they need, be it in the hundreds of millions, or tens of millions, or even just a few million yuan, depends on the company’s stage of development,” said Niu Min, founder of FutureAerospace.

FutureAerospace has invested tens of millions of yuan in LandSpace, based in Beijing.

Like space-launch startups elsewhere in the world, the immediate challenge for Chinese entrepreneurs is developing a safe and reliable rocket.

Proven talent to develop such hardware can be found in China’s state research institutes or the military; the government directly supports private firms by allowing them to launch from military-controlled facilities.

But it’s still a high-risk business, and one unsuccessful launch might kill a company.

“The biggest problem facing all commercial space companies, especially early-stage entrepreneurs, is failure” of an attempted flight, Liang Jianjun, chief executive of rocket company Space Trek, told Reuters. That can affect financing, research, manufacturing and the team’s morale, he added.

Space Trek is planning its first suborbital launch by the end of June and an orbital launch next year, said Liang, who founded the company in late 2017 with three other former military technical officers.

Despite LandSpace’s failed Zhuque-1 orbital launch in October, the Beijing-based firm secured 300 million yuan in additional funding for the development of its Zhuque-2 rocket a month later.

In December, the company started operating China’s first private rocket production facility in Zhejiang province, in anticipation of large-scale manufacturing of its Zhuque-2, which it expects to unveil next year.

STATE COMPETITION

China’s state defense contractors are also trying to get into the low-cost market.

In December, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) successfully launched a low-orbit communication satellite, the first of 156 that CASIC aims to deploy by 2022 to provide more stable broadband connectivity to rural China and eventually developing countries.

The satellite, Hongyun-1, was launched on a rocket supplied by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), the nation’s main space contractor.

In early April, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT), a subsidiary of CASC, completed engine tests for its Dragon, China’s first rocket meant solely for commercial use, clearing the path for a maiden flight before July.

The Dragon, much bigger than the rockets being developed by private firms, is designed to carry multiple commercial satellites.

At least 35 private Chinese companies are working to produce more satellites.

Spacety, a satellite maker based in southern Hunan province, plans to put 20 satellites in orbit this year, including its first for a foreign client, chief executive Yang Feng told Reuters.

The company has only launched 12 on state-produced rockets since the company started operating in early 2016.

“When it comes to rocket launches, what we care about would be cost, reliability and time,” Yang said.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Source: OANN

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German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer holds annual general meeting
Werner Baumann, CEO of German pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer AG, attends the annual general shareholders meeting in Bonn, Germany, April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

April 26, 2019

By Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger

BONN (Reuters) – Bayer shareholders vented their anger over its stock price slump on Friday as litigation risks mount from the German drugmaker’s $63 billion takeover of seed maker Monsanto.

Several large investors said they will not support aspirin investor Bayer’s management in a key vote scheduled for the end of its annual general meeting.

Bayer’s management, led by chief executive Werner Baumann, could see an embarrassing plunge in approval ratings, down from 97 percent at last year’s AGM, which was held shortly before the Monsanto takeover closed in June.

A vote to ratify the board’s actions features prominently at every German AGM. Although it has no bearing on management’s liability, it is seen as a key gauge of shareholder sentiment.

“Due to the continued negative development at Bayer, high legal risks and a massive share price slump, we refuse to ratify the management board and supervisory board’s actions during the business year,” Janne Werning, representing Germany’s Union Investment, a top-20 shareholder, said in prepared remarks.

About 30 billion euros ($34 billion) have been wiped off Bayer’s market value since August, when a U.S. jury found the pesticide and drugs group liable because Monsanto had not warned of alleged cancer risks linked to its weedkiller Roundup.

Bayer suffered a similar defeat last month and more than 13,000 plaintiffs are claiming damages.

Bayer is appealing or plans to appeal the verdicts.

Deutsche Bank’s asset managing arm DWS said shareholders should have been consulted before the takeover, which was agreed in 2016 and closed in June last year.

“You are pointing out that the lawsuits have not been lost yet. We and our customers, however, have already lost something – money and trust,” Nicolas Huber, head of corporate governance at DWS, said in prepared remarks for the AGM.

He said DWS would abstain from the shareholder vote of confidence in the executive and non-executive boards.

Two people familiar with the situation told Reuters this week that Bayer’s largest shareholder, BlackRock, plans to either abstain from or vote against ratifying the management board’s actions.

Asset management firm Deka, among Bayer’s largest German investors, has also said it would cast a no vote.

Baumann said Bayer’s true value was not reflected in the current share price.

“There’s no way to make this look good. The lawsuits and the first verdicts weigh heavily on our company and it’s a concern for many people,” he said, adding it was the right decision to buy Monsanto and that Bayer was vigorously defending itself.

This month, shareholder advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis recommended investors not to give the executive board their seal of approval.

(Reporting by Patricia Weiss and Ludwig Burger; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Source: OANN

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Sudan’s military, which ousted President Omar al-Bashir after months of protests against his 30-year rule, says it intends to keep the upper hand during the country’s transitional period to civilian rule.

The announcement is expected to raise tensions with the protesters, who demand immediate handover of power.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, which is spearheading the protests, said Friday the crowds will stay in the streets until all their demands are met.

Shams al-Deen al-Kabashi, the spokesman for the military council, said late Thursday that the military will “maintain sovereign powers” while the Cabinet would be in the hands of civilians.

The protesters insist the country should be led by a “civilian sovereign” council with “limited military representation” during the transitional period.

The army toppled and arrested al-Bashir on April 11.

Source: Fox News World

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FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies said Britain’s decision to allow the firm a restricted role in building parts of its next-generation telecoms network was the kind of solution it was hoping for in New Zealand, where it has been blocked from 5G plans.

Britain will ban Huawei from all core parts of 5G network but give it some access to non-core parts, sources have told Reuters, as it seeks a middle way in a bitter U.S.-China dispute stemming from American allegations that Huawei’s equipment could be used by Beijing for espionage.

Washington has also urged its allies to ban Huawei from building 5G networks, even as the Chinese company, the world’s top producer of telecoms equipment, has repeatedly said the spying concerns are unfounded.

In New Zealand, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes the United States, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) in November turned down an initial request from local telecommunication firm Spark to include Huawei equipment in its 5G network, but later gave the operator options to mitigate national security concerns.

“The proposed solution in the UK to restrict Huawei from bidding for the core is exactly the type of solution we have been looking at in New Zealand,” Andrew Bowater, deputy CEO of Huawei’s New Zealand arm, said in an emailed statement.

Spark said it has noted the developments in Britain and would raise it with the GCSB.

The reports “suggest the UK is following other European jurisdictions in taking a considered and balanced approach to managing supplier-related security risks in 5G”, Andrew Pirie, Spark’s corporate relations lead, said in an email.

“Our discussions with the GCSB are ongoing and we expect that the UK developments will be a further item of discussion between us,” Pirie added.

New Zealand’s minister for intelligence services, Andrew Little, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

British culture minister Jeremy Wright said on Thursday that he would report to parliament the conclusions of a government review of the 5G supply chain once they had been taken.

He added that the disclosure of confidential discussions on the role of Huawei was “unacceptable” and that he could not rule out a criminal investigation into the leak.

The decisions by Britain and Germany to use Huawei gear in non-core parts of 5G network makes it harder to prove Huawei should be kept out of New Zealand telecommunication networks, said Syed Faraz Hasan, an expert in communication engineering and networks at New Zealand’s Massey University

He pointed out Huawei gear was already part of the non-core 4G networks that 5G infrastructure would be built on.

“Unless there is a convincing argument against the Huawei devices … it is difficult to keep them away,” Hasan said.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo commodities trader Glencore is pictured in Baar
FILE PHOTO: The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Glencore shares plunged the most in nearly four months on Friday after news overnight that U.S. regulators were investigating whether the miner broke some rules through “corrupt practices”.

Shares of the FTSE 100 company fell as much as 4.2 percent in early deals, and were down 3.5 percent at 310.25 pence by 0728 GMT.

On Thursday, Glencore said the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating whether the company and its units have violated some provisions of the Commodity ExchangeAct and/or CFTC Regulations.

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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