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Senate votes against Trump border emergency

In a stunning rebuke, a dozen defecting Republicans joined Senate Democrats to block the national emergency that President Donald Trump declared so he could build his border wall with Mexico. The rejection capped a week of confrontation with the White House as both parties in Congress strained to exert their power in new ways.

The 59-41 tally Thursday, following the Senate's vote a day earlier to end U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen, promised to force Trump into the first vetoes of his presidency. Trump had warned against both actions. Moments after Thursday's vote, the president tweeted a single word of warning: "VETO!"

Two years into the Trump era, a defecting dozen Republicans, pushed along by Democrats, showed a willingness to take that political risk. Twelve GOP senators, including the party's 2012 presidential nominee, Mitt Romney of Utah, joined the dissent over the emergency declaration order that would enable the president to seize for the wall billions of dollars Congress intended elsewhere.

"The Senate's waking up a little bit to our responsibilities," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who said the chamber had become "a little lazy" as an equal branch of government. "I think the value of these last few weeks is to remind the Senate of our constitutional place."

Many senators said the vote was not necessarily a rejection of the president or the wall, but protections against future presidents -- namely a Democrat who might want to declare an emergency on climate change, gun control or any number of other issues.

"This is constitutional question, it's a question about the balance of power that is core to our constitution," Romney said. "This is not about the president," he added. "The president can certainly express his views as he has and individual senators can express theirs."

Thursday's vote was the first direct challenge to the 1976 National Emergencies Act, just as Wednesday's on Yemen was the first time Congress invoked the decades-old War Powers Act to try to rein in a president. Seven Republicans joined Democrats in halting U.S. backing for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in the aftermath of the kingdom's role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Even though there's not likely to be enough numbers to override a veto, the votes nevertheless sent a message from Capitol Hill.

"Today's votes cap a week of something the American people haven't seen enough of in the last two years," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, "both parties in the United States Congress standing up to Donald Trump."

The result is a role-reversal for Republicans who have been reluctant to take on Trump, bracing against his high-profile tweets and public attacks of reprimand. But now they are facing challenges from voters — in some states where senators face stiff elections -- who are expecting more from Congress.

Centrist Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins, who's among those most vulnerable in 2020, said she's sure the president "will not be happy with my vote. But I'm a United States senator and I feel my job is to stand up for the Constitution, so let the chips fall where they may."

Trump's grip on the party, though, remains strong and the White House made it clear that Republicans resisting Trump could face political consequences. Ahead of the voting, Trump framed the issue as with-him-or-against-him on border security, a powerful argument with many.

"A vote for today's resolution by Republican Senators is a vote for Nancy Pelosi, Crime, and the Open Border Democrats!" Trump tweeted. "Don't vote with Pelosi!" he said in another, referring to the speaker of the House.

A White House official said Trump won't forget when senators who oppose him want him to attend fundraisers or provide other help. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on internal deliberations.

"I don't think anybody's sending the president a message," said Jim Risch of Idaho, the GOP chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He blamed the media for "reaching" to view every action "through the prism of the presidency, and that isn't necessarily the way it works here."

Trump brought on the challenge months ago when he all but dared Congress not to give him the $5.7 billion he was demanding to build the U.S.-Mexico wall or risk a federal government shutdown.

Congress declined and the result was the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Against the advice of GOP leaders, Trump invoked the national emergency declaration last month, allowing him to try to tap some $3.6 billion for the wall by shuffling money from military projects, and that drew outrage from many lawmakers. Trump had campaigned for president promising Mexico would pay for the wall.

The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse, and lawmakers seethed as they worried about losing money for military projects that had already been approved for bases at home and abroad. The Democratic-led House swiftly voted to terminate Trump's order.

Senate Republicans spent weeks trying to avoid this outcome, up until the night before the vote, in a script that was familiar -- up until the gavel.

The most promising was an effort from Sen. Mike Lee of Utah for legislation that would impose limits on future presidential actions. That would give senators some solace as they allowed Trump's order to stand. GOP senators huddled with Vice President Mike Pence and seemed optimistic the White House might support their plan. Then Trump called Lee in the middle of a private Republican lunch meeting and, in the time it took the senator to step out of the room to take the call, it was over. Trump was opposed.

Lee and other senators were peeling off against the president. In a last-ditch effort the night before the vote, Lindsey Graham and other senators dashed to the White House to try once again for Trump's support to broker an alternative plan. Trump was frustrated by their arrival. They mostly failed.

Trump did tweet ahead of the vote that he would be willing to consider legislation to adjust the 1976 law at some later time.

That was enough of a signal for GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, who faces a potentially tough re-election in North Carolina, to flip his vote, according to a person unauthorized to discuss the private thinking and granted anonymity.

Tillis had been one of the first senators to say he would oppose the declaration, writing in a Washington Post opinion column last month that there'd be "no intellectual honesty" in backing Trump after his repeated objections about executive overreach by President Barack Obama. But on Thursday, he did.

Trump's public support in that tweet also helped bring on board several other Republicans, including Ted Cruz and Ben Sasse, who had been part of the private huddles, the person said.

For some, said Sen. John Thune, the GOP whip, "the emergency declaration was just a bridge too far."

___

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Jill Colvin, Padmananda Rama and Andrew Taylor in Washington and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed.

Source: Fox News National

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Deutsche Bahn asks Siemens, Bombardier to fix train quality issues

FILE PHOTO: The logo of German railway Deutsche Bahn is seen in a watch at the main train station in Frankfurt
FILE PHOTO: The logo of German railway Deutsche Bahn is seen in a watch at the main train station in Frankfurt, Germany, March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo

April 4, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – German railway operator Deutsche Bahn has asked Siemens and Bombardier to fix quality issues with its newest ICE 4 high-speed trains, the state-owned company said on Thursday.

Some of the trains’ carriage frames do not meet agreed quality requirements, Deutsche Bahn said, adding that safety was not affected.

It will however not accept delivery of any more new ICE 4 trains for the time being, the company said.

(Reporting by Thomas Seythal; editing by Thomas Escritt)

Source: OANN

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Gaza border protests provide artist with inspiration, and raw materials

Palestinian diorama artist Majdi Abu Taqeya works on miniature figures he carves from remnants of Israeli ammunition collected from the scenes of border protests along the Israel-Gaza border, in the central Gaza Strip
Palestinian diorama artist Majdi Abu Taqeya works on miniature figures he carves from remnants of Israeli ammunition collected from the scenes of border protests along the Israel-Gaza border, in the central Gaza Strip March 11, 2019. Picture taken March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

March 19, 2019

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) – One year on from the start of Gaza’s border protests, the weekly clashes with Israeli soldiers have become part of the texture of life in the Palestinian enclave, providing inspiration and even raw materials for local artists.

Diorama artist Majdi Abu Taqeya spends hours creating three-dimensional miniature replicas of the protest scenes, with figures carved from remnants of Israeli ammunition collected from the landscape along the frontier.

Wool and cotton are turned into the white and black smoke that swirls over the five protest camps that have been set up along the fortified frontier since the protests began on March 30, 2018.

Elsewhere on Abu Taqeya’s wooden boards, Palestinian protesters, ambulances, Israeli troops and tanks and even the wire fence itself are all created in miniature. He uses empty shells of bullets, tear gas canisters and sometimes shrapnel of Israeli missiles.

A bullet triggered the idea, the artist said. At the first day of the protests, Abu Taqeya’s youngest brother was shot in his leg and doctors took out the bullet, which he then brought home.

“I turned it into a small statue of a soldier and I gave it to him,” he told Reuters.

“It was then when I got the idea to start recycling the remnants of the occupation,” said Abu Taqeya, a 38-year-old retired naval policeman.

Gaza health authorities said some 200 people have been killed by Israeli fire since Palestinians launched the protests a year ago. They are demanding the right to return to land from which their ancestors fled or were expelled during fighting that accompanied Israel’s founding in 1948.

An Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper along the frontier.

Israel says it uses lethal force to defend the frontier from militants trying to destroy its border fence and infiltrate under cover of the protests. On Monday, U.N. war crimes investigators urged Israel to rein in its troops at the border. [nL8N21549L]

In Nusseirat refugee camp, where Abu Taqeya lives, some neighbors who had been wounded gifted the artist bullets extracted from their bodies.

“This bullet was taken from a girl’s body, I turned it into a bullet with a butterfly on the top,” said Abu Taqeya.

On Thursday, organizers of the protests called for mass rallies on March 30 to mark the anniversary, raising concerns of possible heavy casualty toll. Abu Taqeya urged demonstrators to steer clear of the fence.

“We must not give the occupation any pretext to open fire. These protests must be peaceful,” he said, using a Palestinian term for Israel.

Israel pulled its soldiers and settlers out of Gaza in 2005. Citing security concerns, it still maintains tight control of the Hamas Islamist-run territory’s borders.

(Writing by Nidal Almughrabi, editing by Stephen Farrell and Alexandra Hudson)

Source: OANN

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Cheerleading coaches banned from competition over gag awards

The coaches of a Wisconsin cheerleading squad have been banned from competitions following complaints about a banquet that included gag awards for team members' breasts and buttocks.

The Kenosha News reports that Kenosha Unified School District's superintendent says the Wisconsin Association for Cheer and Pom Coaches is allowing the Tremper High School cheerleaders to compete this weekend to defend their state title.

But the association has barred three coaches from accompanying them.

The American Civil Liberties Union last week demanded action following repeated complaints about the awards from parents and a former coach to school and district officials.

In addition to recognizing the most improved or hardest-working cheerleaders, the ACLU says so-called gag awards at the annual banquets were called "Big Booty" and "Big Boobie."

___

Information from: Kenosha News, http://www.kenoshanews.com

Source: Fox News National

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Explainer: Telecom Italia at crossroads over network’s future

FILE PHOTO: A Telecom Italia's control unit of fiber optics is seen in Perugia
FILE PHOTO: A Telecom Italia's control unit for fiber optics is seen in Perugia, Italy, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi/File Photo

March 28, 2019

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy is pushing to create a single ultrafast broadband operator by merging Telecom Italia’s copper and fiber network with smaller rival Open Fiber to avoid duplicating investments and narrow the digital divide with Europe.

But the future of Telecom Italia’s (TIM) network has become a key bone of contention between the phone group’s top shareholders, Vivendi and activist fund Elliott.

Elliott wants TIM to spin off its network and merge it with Open Fiber. Vivendi is not opposed to a merger but insists on TIM keeping control of its biggest asset.

Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), which co-owns Open Fiber with utility Enel, recently became TIM’s No. 2 shareholder to oversee Rome’s interest in a company seen as strategic. CDP is keen on the single network project.

The idea to spin off TIM’s network has been flirted with multiple times over the last decade and was last seriously attempted in 2013 before it was eventually abandoned.

TIM Chief Executive Luigi Gubitosi said in February all options on the network would be evaluated.

Below are some possible outcomes:

TYING THE KNOT

A merger between TIM’s network and Open Fiber would create a near-monopoly for broadband rollout in Italy, but such a move could prove difficult to implement. TIM’s network is valued at up to 15 billion euros ($17 billion), analysts say, versus a valuation for newcomer Open Fiber of more than 2 billion euros.

Each day that passes the value of the copper-part of TIM’s network loses value as more customers migrate to fiber.

TIM is saddled with more than 25 billion euros of debt and employs around 50,000 people in Italy. Stripping out TIM’s network would leave a services stub with a potentially bloated workforce and debt pile that would struggle to compete with leaner rivals.

Elliott said a network spin-off would unleash up to 7 billion euros in hidden value, attract new investors and drive a re-rating of shares — estimates some critics called optimistic.

Vivendi does not want TIM to lose control of the network because it is deemed strategic for deployment of fifth-generation (5G) mobile services. Industry regulator AGCOM last year said it was opposed to TIM keeping control of the network as it would still have “a significant competitive advantage”.

THE RAB CONUNDRUM

Italy has said it could regulate a potential single network like an energy grid offering state-guaranteed investment returns on a regulated asset base (RAB) model to tempt players on board and create Europe’s first RAB-rewarded broadband grid.

Proponents say that because of the massive costs involved in rolling out fiber across the country, operators will require a RAB-like system to guarantee investments and funding.

Critics say such a system is hard to implement since it requires a monopoly and convincing all network players to club assets. Broadband services, unlike energy, are not basic commodities, and customers may choose to opt for cheaper or alternative services, such as mobile Internet, if prices rise.

FIBER ONLY

An alternative could be a merger of Open Fiber with TIM’s fiber-only assets which would be a cleaner and simpler fit. Former TIM CEO Amos Genish and Enel CEO Francesco Starace had discussed this option, sources have said.

FRIENDLY COEXISTENCE

Another option is for TIM and Open Fiber to cooperate commercially and carry out co-investments but without going to the altar. Talks in that regard have been ongoing.

One possibility is for Open Fiber to build its network in non-economically viable areas and then rent it to TIM who would channel clients on to the line. In return TIM would give Open Fiber access to its network in mainly urban areas.

($1 = 0.8909 euros)

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak and Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Keith Weir)

Source: OANN

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Dershowitz says 'shame on Mueller,' calls Russia probe findings bad news for CNN

Alan M. Dershowitz, the attorney and Harvard Law professor emeritus, slammed Robert Mueller on Sunday, saying the special counsel engaged in a “cop out” by stating that his report neither exonerated President Trump nor concluded he'd committed a crime related to obstruction of justice.

Dershowitz said Mueller seemed to try having it both ways. “It sounds like a law-school exam,” he said, adding that the report sounded wishy-washy. “Shame on Mueller.”

The special counsel “did not draw a conclusion” as to whether obstruction of justice took place, according to a letter with the key findings released Sunday by Attorney General William Barr.

READ THE MUELLER REPORT FINDINGS

Dershowitz also said it was a great day for Trump and a “very bad day for CNN” given how many of the left-leaning cable network's personalities and guests predicted the probe would lead to a slew of indictments for collusion and obstruction. “They should be hanging their heads in shame.”

Barr's four-page letter, addressed to top Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, offered key insight into the nearly two-year-long investigation, the results of which were submitted to the Justice Department on Friday.

Dershowitz said the job of the prosecutor is to make a binary decision, yes or no: yes means indictment and no means “shut up.”

He also said Mueller failed to have the "guts" to say yes or no, despite all the time and money spent on the probe.

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Mueller was assigned to the job in May 2017 by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversaw much of his work. Mueller's office "issued more than 2,800 subpoenas" and executed nearly 500 search warrants throughout the duration of the investigation, which lasted close to two years.

The office also "obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses" during the probe.

Source: Fox News Politics

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“Experts” Clueless on America’s Economy

The February jobs report came in significantly below expectations. First quarter GDP estimates are way down. And we’re seeing other numbers that indicate a rotting economic foundation.

But nobody is worried.

In fact, most of the attention continues to be focused on the trade deal as if it is going to push the economy to new heights. In his most recent podcast, Peter dug into some of the numbers and came to the conclusion that most of the analysts and pundits are utterly clueless about what’s really going on.

Last week, the Dow Transports wrapped up 11 straight days of declines. That hasn’t happened since 1971. And the last time the transports fell 10 straight days was in 2009 – during the great recession. Of course, we also got a bad February jobs report with just 20,000 jobs added. And Q1 GDP estimates remain below 1%.  But by-and-large, pundits looked passed all of this bad news and continued to focus on the trade deal. As Peter pointed out, the trade deal seems to have become the economy’s white knight.

“Everybody is just ignoring these numbers because they are just blindly optimistic either they think it’s going to be this great trade deal or just because they’re so convinced. Everybody, Republicans, in particular, have convinced themselves that this is a great economy, this is a booming economy, and it’s their fault. It’s more wishful thinking.”

Peter said they are not looking at reality.

Speaking of reality, the February jobs report came in way below expectation. The estimate was for about 181,000 new jobs. It was the fewest job gains since September 2017 when major hurricanes temporarily curtailed employment.

Wage rates are up, but as Peter noted, there are two sides to that coin. From the employer’s perspective, this isn’t good news because it’s just another added cost. He pointed out that Whole Foods committed to paying all of its employees $15 per hour, but the company recently announced it was cutting hours. So, employees could actually end up taking home less pay despite the increase in their hourly wage.

Peter said he thinks the next step will be layoffs.

“Because as it becomes more expensive to keep your workers, well, then you fire your workers. I mean, employers will look for ways to reduce their overhead.”

Peter said this is a hint of stagflation. This is how it looks.

“Wages could be going up, but that doesn’t mean employment is going up. Employment can be going down as wages are going up, and so what good is a higher wage if you’re not earning it?”

Peter also talked about gold. The yellow metal has rallied after its recent correction. Peter said that it is going to go a lot higher.

“The reason it hasn’t already gone higher is because people still don’t understand the situation that we are in. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen people more clueless, more oblivious to a problem than they are now.”

Just because we haven’t had a crisis yet doesn’t mean one isn’t on the horizon. Sometimes you can underestimate how long it’s going to take. Peter used a dam as an analogy. What if you think it’s going to break so you don’t want to build your house under it. People may make fun of you and say, “It’s fine. Stop worrying.” And then they start building there. The community grows. Years go by and nothing happens. Then, 15, 20 years later, the dam breaks and the community gets wiped out.

“It turns out I was right. I was just early. But if I built my house someplace else, I didn’t get wiped out. Maybe it seemed like I was wrong because for a while what I was warning about didn’t happen because I underestimated how long it would take the dam to break. But the fact of the matter is it broke.”

We need to look beneath the surface. We have to take into account sound economic theory.

“We had an orgy on debt. We have destroyed the economic foundations of this country. We have hollowed out our industrial base. There have been real problems that have been growing beneath the surface as a result of these budget deficits and trade deficits that everybody have been ignoring because they are focusing on the wrong thing.”


Paul Joseph Watson reveals that the Basilica of Saint-Denis was heavily damaged in Paris by vandals in one of the city’s suburban “no-go” zones where primarily Muslim migrants are held by the government.

Source: InfoWars

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Extraordinary European Union leaders summit in Brussels
FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrives at an extraordinary European Union leaders summit to discuss Brexit, in Brussels, Belgium April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Friday he had assured China’s Huawei Technologies that it would not face discrimination in the rollout of Italy’s 5G telecoms network.

Conte was speaking on a visit to China where he said he met Huawei’s chief executive, Ren Zhengfei. The prime minister’s comments were carried in Italy by TV broadcaster Sky Italia.

“I told him that we have adopted some precautions, some measures to protect our interests that demand very high levels of security … not only from Huawei but any company entering into the 5G arena,” he said.

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spying. Huawei has categorically denied this.

(Writing by by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Angelo Amante)

Source: OANN

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U.S. President Trump departs for travel to Indianapolis from the White House in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs for travel to Indianapolis, Indiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Friday was expected to announce his intention to revoke the United States’ status as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty, which was signed in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama but never ratified by Congress, two U.S. officials said.

Trump was expected to announce the decision in a speech in Indianapolis, to the National Rifle Association, the officials said. The NRA, a powerful gun lobby group, has long been opposed to the treaty, which was negotiated at the United Nations.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Bill Trott)

Source: OANN

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A remote controlled robot for the 'Isotopium: Chernobyl' game is seen at the game's location in Brovary
A remote controlled robot for the ‘Isotopium: Chernobyl’ game is seen at the game’s location in Brovary, Ukraine April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

April 26, 2019

By Margaryta Chornokondratenko

KIEV (Reuters) – A Ukrainian computer game that brings to life a town abandoned after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster may not sound like everyone’s idea of fun but has attracted 60,000 people globally since its launch in October.

Players of “Isotopium: Chernobyl” drive tanks around the ghost town of Prypyat near Chernobyl, knocking out competitors as they search for an energy source called isotopium and collecting points every time they find some.

While the game takes its theme from the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine, which marked its 33rd anniversary on Friday, it was also inspired by the 2009 science fiction film “Avatar”.

Newcomers to the game think they have entered a virtual world when in fact they are controlling a real robot, equipped with a camera and computer, which makes its way around a model of the town rendered down to the tiniest detail.

“When playing our game, for the first 5-10 minutes many players don’t understand that it is not fictional,” said the game’s co-founder Sergey Beskrestnov. “They message us saying: ‘You have cool texture, you have good graphics, your designer is good, well done. You have a cool operating system.’

“People then reply: ‘It is not an operating system, it is real,’ and the player can’t believe it is real,” said Beskrestnov, speaking mid-game from Prypyat city square as he towers over surrounding five-storey buildings.

Kiev-born Beskrestnov was just 12 years old when on April 26, 1986 a botched test at the nuclear plant in the then Soviet Union sent clouds of smoldering nuclear material across large swathes of Europe, forced over 50,000 people, including Beskrestnov’s family, to evacuate and poisoned unknown numbers of workers involved in its clean-up.

Beskrestnov and his partner Alexey Fateyev used Google maps and hundreds of pictures from the Chernobyl area to recreate Prypyat landmarks, including residential buildings, a hotel, concert hall, amusement park and a stadium.

The game’s real-scale model occupies a 180 square meter (1,938 sq. ft) basement of a residential building in the Ukraine city of Brovary, just 150 km (93 miles) from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and 30 km east of Kiev.

Miniature radioactivity warning signs, graffiti on the walls of abandoned buildings and tables and chairs left scattered inside a small cafe all add to the creepy atmosphere of a once lively town.

“It’s a really neat concept …,” Shaun Prescott wrote in a review of the game published by PC Gamer magazine in January. “Controlling the tanks is kinda cumbersome, but they are tanks, after all.”

An attentive player will notice at least one inaccuracy – the real Chernobyl nuclear power plant is not located in town as it is in the game.

It costs $9 to immerse in the atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic town for an hour but only 20 people at a time can play simultaneously. Beskrestnov’s company, Remote Games, said 62,615 people around the world have registered to play the game, including around 15,000 in France and 10,000 in the United States.

A camera fixed on top of a moving tank broadcasts high quality signal in real time, allowing players from as far apart as Australia and Canada enjoy the game without facing any time delay in delivering video signals.

Its creators next ambition is to devise a game featuring the colonization of Mars in which 1,000 people will be able to simultaneously control robots on different missions involved in the operation.

“Many people advise us to contact Elon Musk directly because it resonates his dreams and ideas,” Beskrestnov jokes.    

(Editing by Susan Fenton)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks sign is show on one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California
FILE PHOTO: A Starbucks sign is show on one of the companies stores in Los Angeles, California, U.S. October 19,2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

April 26, 2019

(Reuters) – Initial optimism over first-quarter results from Starbucks Corp was waning fast on Wall Street on Friday, as analysts questioned the longer-term prospects of its new sales push given subdued overall customer traffic numbers especially in China.

The company on Thursday beat brokerage estimates for quarterly same-store sales on the back of demand for its new Cloud Macchiato, Matcha tea and cold brews in the United States.

However, BTIG’s Peter Saleh was one of a number of sector analysts who said while customers forking out for higher-priced new drinks had helped drive growth in same-store sales, “anemic” traffic at cafes remained a concern.

He and others pointed to a 1 percent decline in footfall at cafes in the Chinese market, viewed as crucial to the chain’s growth for the foreseeable future.

More broadly, transaction numbers, the substitute analysts use for customer traffic, were unchanged in all three of the company’s global regions.

Shares in the company, which hit a record high after the results on Thursday, fell 1 percent in morning trade.

“We remain cautious given near-term headwinds surrounding China, including cannibalization, increasing competition (and) a slowing economy,” Wedbush analyst Nick Setyan said.

Starbucks has also poured money into beefing up its delivery network in China as it battles with local startup Luckin Coffee, whose speedy growth led it to file for an IPO in the United States earlier this week.

New menu items and partnerships with delivery services, the heart of the company’s strategy to win back customers lost to artisanal coffee shops and cheaper fast-food rivals, did help Starbucks’ sales in its home market.

However, analysts said growth in China may continue to be subdued.

Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog said she expects store expansion in China to take priority over comparable sales growth.

She downgraded her rating on Starbucks’ to “market perform” from “outperform”, arguing that the company facing tough sales comparisons later on in 2019 from last year and the current rich valuation of shares meant the stock had limited room to rise.

“Investors will be hesitant to invest new money in a stock with a topline that, while still strong, is unlikely to meaningfully accelerate,” Herzog said.

Still, the company’s solid same-store growth in the United States, improving profit margins and a lower tax rate for the rest of the year led at least 6 Wall Street brokerages to raise their price targets on the stock to as high as $81.

11 of 29 brokerages rate Starbucks “buy” or higher, 17 “hold” and 1 “sell” or lower. Their median price target is $75.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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A man accused of fatally beating a 4-month-old boy after finding out the infant wasn’t his son had been previously deported from the United States five times, most recently in late 2016, immigration officials said.

Carlos Zuniga-Aviles, a 33-year-old Honduran national, has used multiple aliases, including the fake name of Jose Agurcia-Avila he gave police in Memphis, Tennessee, following his arrest in the boy’s death earlier this month, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told WMC-TV.

ICE officials have since filed an immigration detainer against Zuniga-Aviles, who was initially deported back to Honduras in February 2010. He was also returned to the Central American country in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE NEW YORK POST

“ICE will seek to take him into custody to reinstate his removal order following the resolution of the criminal charges he currently faces,” the statement reads. “Mr. Zuniga-Aviles has been removed from the US five prior times: his most recent removal by ICE to Honduras took place in December 2016.”

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

Zuniga-Aviles later returned to the U.S. following his removal, a felony under federal law, immigration officials said. It’s unclear exactly when he returned, but he was living with his girlfriend and the woman’s 4-month-old son in Memphis at the time of his arrest, WREG reports.

DAD OF MAN KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT BLASTS CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM’S TRIP TO CENTRAL AMERICA: ‘IT’S DISGUSTING’

The infant, Alexander Lizondro-Chacon, was pronounced dead at a hospital from blunt force trauma to the head after his mother, Mercy Lizondro-Chacon, called police on April 12 to report that the boy was having trouble breathing, according to an affidavit of complaint obtained by the Commercial Appeal.

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This article originally appeared in the New York Post. For more from the Post, click here.

Source: Fox News National

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