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UAW leader puts Detroit Three ‘on notice’ ahead of contract talks

United Auto Workers (UAW) union President Gary Jones addresses UAW delegates at the 'Special Convention on Collective Bargaining' in Detroit,
United Auto Workers (UAW) union President Gary Jones addresses UAW delegates at the 'Special Convention on Collective Bargaining' in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

March 13, 2019

By Nick Carey

DETROIT (Reuters) – The leader of the United Auto Workers union on Wednesday warned that job security and preventing the shift of U.S. jobs to Mexico would be top priorities in contract talks with Detroit’s automakers slated for later this year.

“There will be no more quiet closing of plants, no more shipping jobs to Mexico and abroad without a sound,” Jones said in a speech to delegates the union’s bargaining convention in Detroit. “They are on notice.”

This year’s contract talks between the UAW and General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV are likely to be contentious, with both sides focused on healthcare costs and the use of temporary workers.

The auto industry is expected to hit a downturn following an unprecedented run of strong sales dating to the end of the Great Recession.

The talks will come after GM’s announcement in November it will close five North American plants producing less-popular sedans.

Just last week, the last Chevrolet Cruze rolled off the line at GM’s plant in Lordstown in northeastern Ohio.

The closing has drawn a lawsuit from the United Auto Workers union and significant political blowback, including from Republican U.S. President Donald Trump.

Boosting American manufacturing jobs was a cornerstone of Trump ‘s successful 2016 campaign and Ohio is a key state for his 2020 reelection chances.

The UAW has vowed to fight for GM to reopen Lordstown with a new vehicle.

During his speech on Wednesday, Jones said to workers at Lordstown and other plants slated for closure: “We have your back.”

Analysts, however, say the chances of a new product being assigned to Lordstown are slim as Lordstown was one of several money-losing GM plants running well below capacity.

GM Chief Executive Mary Barra has said the cuts will help the company’s long-term financial stability. The automaker expects they will improve annual free cash flow by $6 billion by the end of 2020 – and fund new electric and self-driving vehicles.

(Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: OANN

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Spain’s Socialists tipped to win April 28 election with 31 percent of vote: poll

A man walks past an electoral poster of Spain's Socialist (PSOE) leader and current PM Sanchez outside the PSOE headquarters in Madrid
A man walks past an electoral poster of Spain's Socialist (PSOE) leader and current Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez outside the PSOE headquarters in Madrid, Spain, April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Susana Vera

April 13, 2019

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Socialist Party is tipped to win the country’s April 28 elections in a poll published on Saturday, which showed the Socialists taking more than 31 percent of the vote.

The GAD3 poll for Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia showed the Socialist Party would be close to securing a majority with the support of two other parties.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists could reach the 176 seats needed to hold a majority in the parliament with support from leftist Podemos and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the poll results showed.

A right-wing coalition of the conservative People’s Party, centre-right Ciudadanos and relatively new far-right party Vox would secure around 160 seats, falling short of a majority.

(Reporting by Sam Edwards. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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Nadler says there is ‘plenty of evidence of obstruction’ in Mueller report, believes Don Jr. should have been charged

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-NY, argued on Sunday that, despite Special Counsel Robert Mueller deciding not to charge President Trump with obstruction of justice, he believes there is still plenty of evidence of obstruction by the president.

Nadler, who filed a subpoena Friday for Mueller’s full, unredacted report, said that Mueller only restrained from charging Trump with obstruction of justice because of the longstanding Justice Department opinion that a sitting president can’t be indicted.

“Mueller says that although a thorough FBI investigation might very well show evidence of obstruction of justice with the president, ‘we’re not going to do that because of the Department of Justice’s legal opinion that a president, a sitting president, can't be indicted and it would be unfair to lay out the facts justifying an indictment without giving the president the opportunity and a trial to clear his name,’” Nadler said on Sunday during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press.”

NADLER REQUESTS MUELLER TESTIFY BEFORE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ‘AS SOON AS POSSIBLE’

He added: “[Attorney General William] Barr misinterpreted that, or misrepresented that I should say, to say they didn't find obstruction. There’s plenty of evidence of obstruction.”

Nadler expects the Justice Department to comply with his committee's subpoena for the full report by May 1.

That's the same day Barr is set to testify before a Senate committee and one day before he is to appear before Nadler's panel. Nadler also has summoned Mueller to testify by May 23.

A Justice Department spokeswoman, Kerri Kupac, called Nadler's move "premature and unnecessary."

Barr sent Congress a redacted version of the Mueller report, blacking out several types of material, including classified information, material pertaining to ongoing investigations and grand jury evidence.

Nadler last week said he was open to working with the department on accommodations, but he also said the committee "needs and is entitled to the full version of the report and the underlying evidence consistent with past practice."

SPECIAL COUNSEL ROBERT MUELLER'S RUSSIA PROBE REPORT RELEASED BY JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Mueller laid out multiple episodes in which Trump directed others to influence or curtail the Russia investigation after the special counsel's appointment in May 2017, and Trump made clear that he viewed the probe as a potentially mortal blow — "the end of my presidency."

Nadler on Sunday questioned why Mueller did not level charges against the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., for taking a meeting with Russian operatives in Trump Tower to allegedly get compromising information on Trump’s 2016 Democratic presidential opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“I do not understand why he didn't charge Don Jr. and others in that famous meeting with criminal conspiracy,” Nadler said. “[Mueller] said that he didn't charge them because you couldn't prove that they didn't willfully intend to commit a crime, well you don't have to prove that.”

He added: "All you have to prove for conspiracy is that they entered into a meeting of the minds to do something and had one overt act. They entered into a meeting of the minds to attend a meeting to get stolen material on Hillary. They went to the meeting. That’s conspiracy right there."

The New York lawmaker also added that the idea of the House impeaching the president is still on the table even as some of his Democratic colleagues in the House have warned against any premature actions.

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“If proven some of this would be impeachable yes. Obstruction of justice, if proven, would be impeachable,” Nadler said. “We’re going to see where the facts lead us.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has insisted on a methodical, step-by-step approach to the House's oversight of the Trump administration, and she refuses to consider impeachment without public support, including from Republicans, which seems unlikely.

Speaking Friday in Belfast as Pelosi wrapped up a congressional visit to Ireland, she declined to signal action beyond Congress' role as a check and balance for the White House.

"Let me assure you that whatever the issue and challenge we face, the Congress of the United States will honor its oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States to protect our democracy," she told reporters. "We believe that the first article — Article 1, the legislative branch — has the responsibility of oversight of our democracy, and we will exercise that."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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The pregnancy of Meghan, Britain’s Duchess of Sussex

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, exits a hotel in the Manhattan borough of New York City
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, exits a hotel in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., February 19, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

March 11, 2019

LONDON (Reuters) – The Duchess of Sussex, former U.S. actress Meghan Markle, is due to give birth this Spring to her first child with husband Prince Harry, 34, Queen Elizabeth’s grandson.

The baby, who will be seventh in line to the British throne, is expected in April after Meghan, 37, disclosed she was six months pregnant in January.

Here is a timeline of some major events Meghan has attended during her pregnancy:

Oct. 15: Harry and Meghan, who married in May 2018, announce they are expecting their first child in the spring of 2019 while in Australia on their first overseas tour as a married couple.

Oct 24: Meghan cut back on some of the couple’s busy program during the tour to Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific but did join her husband for engagements on a trip to Fiji.

Nov. 19: The Duke and Duchess attended the annual Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium.

Dec. 10: At a star-studded event, Meghan presented the designer of her wedding dress with a prize at the London Fashion Awards.

Dec. 18: Meghan joked she was feeling “very pregnant” during a Christmas visit to a care home where she joined residents making decorations and singing festive songs.

Dec. 25: Harry and Meghan joined the other senior members of the British royal family at a traditional Christmas Day church service at Sandringham, eastern England.

Jan. 14: During a trip to Birkenhead in northern England, Meghan told well-wishers that she was six months pregnant but said the gender of her baby would be a surprise.

Jan. 16: Meghan and Harry attended the Cirque du Soleil’s “Totem” show at London’s Royal Albert Hall, an event aimed at raising awareness and funds for Harry’s Sentebale charity.

Feb. 1: Crowds braved freezing conditions in Bristol for a visit by the royal couple who visited the western city’s Old Vic, built in 1766 and the oldest continuously working theater in the English-speaking world.

Feb. 7: Harry and Meghan attended an awards ceremony for the Endeavour Fund which supports the physical and mental recovery of injured and sick servicemen and women

Feb. 12: The couple attended a play at London’s Natural History Museum about the young Charles Darwin’s 19th Century expedition on HMS Beagle, in aid of forest conservation, an issue supported by Harry.

Feb. 24: On what was expected to be their last overseas trip before the birth of their baby, the royals arrived in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains where they showed their support for rural girls’ education.

Feb. 25: As part of their Morocco visit, the couple attended a cooking event and sampled food made by chef Moha Fedal, host of Morocco’s version of the Masterchef TV show.

March 8: Meghan joined a panel discussion held by The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust to mark International Women’s Day at King’s College, London.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)

Source: OANN

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Futures muted with U.S.-China trade negotiations in focus

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shortly after the opening bell in New York
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

March 28, 2019

By Shreyashi Sanyal

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures treaded water on Thursday, as investors awaited more details on the progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations amid lingering fears of slowing economic growth.

A Reuters report said China has made unprecedented proposals on a range of issues including forced technology transfer, though sticking points still remained and there was no definite timetable for a deal.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer looked forward to “productive meetings” as they arrived in Beijing leading a delegation for trade talks.

Meanwhile, Wall Street continued to be in the grip of global growth worries in the face of weak economic data and the Federal Reserve’s decision last week to abandon projections for any interest rate hikes this year.

Wall Street’s main indexes came under pressure on Friday when the U.S. Treasury yield curve inverted for the first time since 2007. If it remains inverted for long, it could indicate that a recession is likely in one to two years. [US/]

Treasury prices continued its rally on Thursday, pushing the benchmark 10-year yields to fresh 15-month lows.

At 7:15 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 4 points, or 0.02 percent. S&P 500 e-minis were down 0.25 points, or 0.01 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 0.25 points, or 0 percent.

Credit rating agency S&P Global became the latest to cut its 2019 euro zone growth forecast to 1.1 percent from 1.6 percent.

Investors will look to gauge the pace of economic growth in the United States from the Commerce Department’s final estimate of fourth-quarter gross domestic product. The report is set to be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and is expected to show the economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.4 percent.

Energy stocks fell in premarket trading as crude prices dropped, extending losses into a second consecutive session, following a surprise rise in U.S. crude inventories.

Boeing Co edged up 0.2 percent, extending the previous day’s gains, after the planemaker unveiled software fixes to defend its 737 MAX airliners.

Nielsen Holdings Plc fell 9.9 percent in light volumes after a report that private equity firm Blackstone Group backed out of an auction to buy the ratings company.

Lululemon Athletica Inc rose 12.3 percent after company forecast full-year profit above analysts’ estimates.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Amy Caren Daniel in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

Source: OANN

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WATCH: AG Barr spars with a reporter during news conference ahead of Mueller report release

Attorney General William Barr sparred with a reporter during a brief press conference Thursday in which he laid out the release of the Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into the Russia probe.

During his prepared statement to the press, Barr explained his and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s decision to clear President Donald Trump of any obstruction in relation to Mueller’s investigation. He said that Trump faced “an unprecedented situation.”

BARR AFFIRMS MUELLER PROBE FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF RUSSIA-TRUMP COLLUSION, PREPARES TO RELEASE REPORT

“As he entered office and sought to perform his responsibilities as president, federal agents and prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office and the conduct of some of his associates,” Barr read of his statement, adding that there was “relentless speculation” in the media about the president’s culpability. “Yet, as he said from the beginning, there was in fact, no collusion.”

In her question to Barr, CBS News White House Correspondent Paula Reid brought up his use of the word “unprecedented” and how his comments were “quite generous to the president and his feelings and emotions.”

“It just seems like there is a lot effort – to go out of your way to acknowledge how this was difficult for him,” she added.

Barr appeared to bristle at the question, responding with his own: “Is there another precedent for it?”

“No,” the reporter answered.

“OK so unprecedented is an accurate description,” he said.

The reporter tried to ask Barr about people who are concerned that he is trying to protect the president.

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Barr did not acknowledge her question and moved on.

The attorney general said Thursday that his department would be released the lightly redacted report to the public by 11 a.m. that morning.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Swalwell: Dems Working on Law So Trump Can't Escape Indictment

Democratic lawmakers are rewriting a law to ensure President Donald Trump won't escape "criminal liability" if he is re-elected and time runs out to indict him, Rep. Eric Swalwell said Tuesday.

"I don't think any person should be above the law," the California Democrat, who is mulling a run at the presidency, told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "What concerns me right now is the president may escape criminal liability because he could win reelection and the statute of limitations could run out."

The current policy rules out indicting a sitting president, Swalwell added, so "we should rewrite the law. The statute of limitations can continue to run, so once you're out of office, you can be indicted."

And the law, he added is "in the works because there are "indictments waiting for this president."

Swalwell said he also has every confidence lawmakers will see special counsel Robert Mueller's report, as Congress just voted unanimously to see it and Trump is "outnumbered."

The lawmaker also said Tuesday he believes Trump colluded with Russia, and he thinks there is circumstantial evidence.

"The president knew the Russians were seeking to help him," said Swalwell. "So he went out as a candidate, invited them to hack more, did not tell his family not to take any of these meetings. He was told by Roger Stone that Wikileaks was also going to be putting out materials damaging to his opponent and he went on the stage and said I love Wikileaks. This is circumstantial evidence which in a court of law can be treated as the same as direct evidence. Yes, he's colluded."

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Cambodian authorities have ordered a one-hour reduction in the length of school days because of concerns that students and teachers may fall ill from a prolonged heat wave.

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said in an announcement seen Friday that the shortened hours will remain in effect until the rainy season starts, which usually occurs in May. The current heat wave, in which temperatures are regularly reaching as high as 41 Celsius (106 Fahrenheit), is one of the longest in memory.

Most schools in Cambodia lack air conditioning, prompting concern that temperatures inside classrooms could rise to unhealthy levels.

School authorities were instructed to watch for symptoms of heat stroke and urge pupils to drink more water.

The new hours cut 30 minutes off the beginning of the school day and 30 minutes off the end.

School authorities instituted a similar measure in 2016.

Source: Fox News World

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Explosions have rocked Britain’s largest steel plant, injuring two people and shaking nearby homes.

South Wales Police say the incident at the Tata Steel plant in Port Talbot was reported at about 3:35 a.m. Friday (22:35 EDT Thursday). The explosions touched off small fires, which are under control. Two workers suffered minor injuries and all staff members have been accounted for.

Police say early indications are that the explosions were caused by a train used to carry molten metal into the plant. Tata Steel says its personnel are working with emergency services at the scene.

Local lawmaker Stephen Kinnock says the incident raises concerns about safety.

He tweeted: “It could have been a lot worse … @TataSteelEurope must conduct a full review, to improve safety.”

Source: Fox News World

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

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NEED FOR CASH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STATE COMPETITION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: OANN

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At least one person is reported dead and homes have been destroyed by a powerful cyclone that struck northern Mozambique and continues to dump rain on the region, with the United Nations warning of “massive flooding.”

Cyclone Kenneth arrived just six weeks after Cyclone Idai tore into central Mozambique, killing more than 600 people and displacing scores of thousands. The U.N. says this is the first time in known history that the southern African nation has been hit by two cyclones in one season.

Forecasters say the new cyclone made landfall Thursday night in a part of Mozambique that has not seen such a storm in at least 60 years.

Mozambique’s local emergency operations center says a woman in the city of Pemba was killed by a falling tree.

Source: Fox News World

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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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