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Florida kidnapping thwarted by gallery owner on video; woman arrested

Miami police on Monday arrested a woman who allegedly kidnapped a 6-year-old from an art gallery last week -- in a dramatic scene caught on video.

Katherine E. Hatcher, 50, was arrested and charged with kidnapping after police said she walked out of Swampspace Gallery on March 4.

The unidentified boy was at the gallery to visit the owner, Oliver Sanchez, and his daughter when he saw Hatcher walk into the gallery from the back, WSVN reported citing investigators.

Sanchez said he asked the “disheveled” woman to leave -- and when she did, he said she took the 6-year-old by the arm and left with him, claiming she was his family.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WITH CRIMINAL HISTORY ARRESTED IN CALIFORNIA WOMAN'S MURDER

Sanchez said something didn’t seem right so he followed Hatcher for about a half-block where he proceeded to ask the boy how he knew her.

Once the boy said he didn’t, Sanchez told WSVN that he broke Hatcher’s grip, grabbed him and walked away.

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Miami police released surveillance video of the suspect on Monday asking the public’s help to identify her. A tip leading to her arrest came later that same day.

Hatcher lived at the Camillus House, a local nonprofit that cares for the homeless, the Miami Herald reported.

Source: Fox News National

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Bulgaria police seize 200kg of cocaine recovered from sea

Bulgarian border police have discovered and seized more than 200 kilograms (441 pounds) of cocaine in waters near the country's Black Sea coast.

The District Prosecutor's Office in Dobrich said Wednesday a third cocaine haul in a week — a 16-kilogram bag of the drug — was found attached to a life vest floating in the sea.

The office is investigating whether the drugs are of the same quality as the 195 kilograms of high-grade cocaine also picked from the sea last week.

Police in neighboring Romania announced earlier this month the seizure of pure cocaine near its Black Sea coast, days after over a ton of the drug was found stashed on a boat that capsized in the Danube Delta.

Source: Fox News World

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Sununu opens door to possibly challenging Dem. Sen. Shaheen

CONCORD, New Hampshire – Republican Gov. Chris Sununu on Wednesday opened the door a bit to the possibility of taking on Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen next year rather than running for re-election.

“I don't rule anything out,” the governor said when asked if he would rule out a GOP challenge against Shaheen, a former New Hampshire governor who’s running in 2020 for a third term representing the state in the Senate.

POMPEO RULES OUT 2020 SENATE BID

If Sununu eventually decides to launch a Senate bid, it would give the GOP a high profile and popular candidate who could mount a competitive race against Shaheen, who’s also popular among Granite Staters.

Sununu’s comments generated a lot of buzz among some Republican Party officials in Washington, who would love to play offense in the 2020 cycle as they defend their 53-47 majority in the Senate. Twenty-two of the 34 seats up for grabs next year are held by the GOP.

Two of the top non-partisan political handicappers – the Cook Political Report and Inside Elections – currently rate Shaheen’s seat as "solid Democrat" and "likely Democrat."

A national GOP source told Fox News that party officials are looking toward Sununu as they try to pinpoint a candidate who could stay competitive with Shaheen.

Previously, the two-term New Hampshire governor had said he had “absolutely no interest” in running for the Senate.

But speaking with reporters Wednesday, the governor remarked that he’s not considering a run “right now.”

DOUG JONES GETS FIRST 2020 GOP CHALLENGER

Two recent public opinion surveys indicated a hypothetical matchup between Shaheen and Sununu would be tied.

Sununu highlighted that “one thing that was evident of those polls is people in the state want someone other than Jeanne Shaheen. Otherwise that poll wouldn’t have had her tied with someone who’s right now not even considering running.”

“I think the mandate is very clear. They want someone other than Jeanne Shaheen. Whether it’s myself or another candidate, she’s very vulnerable,” he emphasized.

If Sununu ended up facing off against Shaheen, it would be the third showdown between the two political families.

Then-Gov. Shaheen lost the 2002 Senate election to then Congressman John E. Sununu, the current governor's older brother. Shaheen defeated the incumbent Republican senator in their 2008 rematch.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Jackets roar back to stun Lightning in Game 1

NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Columbus Blue Jackets at Tampa Bay Lightning
Apr 10, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones (3) celebrates with teammates after scoring the game winning goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period of game one of the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

April 11, 2019

Seth Jones’ power-play goal late in the third period capped a thrilling rally, as the Columbus Blue Jackets erased a three-goal deficit and stunned the host Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Wednesday in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Jones scored his second career playoff goal when he rang a shot off the crossbar with 5:55 to play. He took a slick pass from Artemi Panarin and roofed the power-play goal to complete a spree of four unanswered goals, three of which came in the third period.

Josh Anderson had a goal and an assist, and Nick Foligno and David Savard also tallied for the Blue Jackets, who lost all three regular-season meetings with the Lightning by a combined score of 17-3.

In matchup of the two top goaltenders in games won this season, Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 shots for the Lightning.

Tampa Bay, who won the Presidents’ Trophy and tied an NHL single-season record with 62 wins, led 3-0 after one period on goals by Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli and Yanni Gourde.

The Lightning blitzed the Metropolitan Division club in the opening 20 minutes.

Tempers flared early when Tampa Bay’s Dan Girardi blindsided Brandon Dubinsky at 2:55 of the first period. The two fought in the neutral zone, and Columbus’ Scott Harrington grappled with Cedric Paquette, who ended up pinned to the ice by Harrington.

However, Tampa Bay struck first when Jones bobbled the puck at the blue line on the power play, and Killorn stole it, raced in on a breakaway and beat Bobrovsky for a short-handed goal at 4:12.

Bobrovsky’s weak pass around the boards from behind his goal allowed Erik Cernak to get off a long blast, and Cirelli, who scored 19 goals in his rookie season, flipped in the rebound at 11:01.

Gourde tipped in a shot from the slot by Mikhail Sergachev at 17:50 for the three-goal advantage.

Foligno started the rally, beating Vasilevskiy on the blocker side off a breakaway for his seventh playoff marker at 9:15 of the second period to trim the deficit to 3-1.

Savard’s wrister on a quick rush at 7:56 of the third period cut it to 3-2.

Dubinsky’s double-minor for high-sticking Paquette at 9:23 had the Blue Jackets playing defensively on the penalty kill, but Anderson tied it with a short-handed goal at 11:54, setting the stage for Jones’ winner.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Rand Paul Blocking Release Of Mueller Report To Force Investigation Of Clinton, Comey, Brennan

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College coaches among 50 indicted in college entrance exam scandal

U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling is interviewed by Reuters in Boston
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling is interviewed by Reuters in his offices at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

March 12, 2019

Nine current or former college coaches are among the 50 people indicted in a nationwide college admissions scandal, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday in Boston.

The alleged scheme involved getting students admitted to some of the top schools in the country as recruited athletes — regardless of athletic ability — and helping those applicants cheat on their entrance exams, according to the documents.

U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling called it the “largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted by the department of justice.”

He said part of the charges were related to securing admission to elite colleges by bribing coaches under false pretenses.

“In return for bribes, these coaches agreed to pretend that certain applicants were recruited, competitive athletes, when, in fact, the applicants were not. As the coaches knew, the students’ athletic credentials had been fabricated.”

The documents unsealed from the investigation — called Operation Varsity Blues — showed Tuesday that Yale women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith is alleged to have helped non-recruits get into the prestigious Ivy League school by claiming they were recruits.

The charges involved 33 parents “who paid enormous sums to guarantee their children’s admissions to certain schools through the use of bribes and fake academic and athletic credentials,” Lelling said.

One of the schemes involved parents paying William Singer, the founder of a college prep business, $15,000 to $75,000 to have someone take the SAT or ACT for their children. He was expected to plead guilty Tuesday afternoon, according to prosecutors at a press conference.

The schools involved — Stanford, UCLA, Wake Forest, Yale, Georgetown, University of Texas, University of San Diego, USC — are not believed to have taken part in wrongdoing. The indictment documents, for example, suggest Meredith accepted funds via a charitable organization and did not report any of the details of the plot to Yale officials, including payments.

Other named in the indictment are current Texas tennis coach and former Kansas tennis coach Michael Center, Stanford sailing coach John Vandemoer, former Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst, several USC coaches and UCLA men’s soccer coach Jorge Salcedo.

Actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman are among the indicted, according to reports.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Settlements for a still-possible summit in between President Trump and Kim Jong Un UNDERWAY

Negotiations for a still-possible summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un UNDERWAY   Previously MagaFirstNews Reported that Trump called off the summit earlier this month following increasingly harsh rhetoric from North Korea. In reaction, The Treasury Department had come up with new sanctions to levy on almost three dozen targets, including Chinese and Russian entities, […]

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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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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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