Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Federer, Anderson advance to fourth round in Miami

Tennis: Miami Open
Mar 23, 2019; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Roger Federer of Switzerland waves to the crowd after his match against Radu Albot of Moldova (not pictured) in the second round of the Miami Open at Miami Open Tennis Complex. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

March 25, 2019

(Reuters) – Roger Federer overcame a sluggish start to defeat Filip Krajinovic 7-5 6-3 and Kevin Anderson’s booming serve proved too much for Joao Sousa as both seeded players advanced to the fourth round of the Miami Open on Monday.

Serb Krajinovic broke Federer to jump into an early 2-1 lead in the first set and it looked like an upset could be in the works against the 20-time Grand Slam champion.

But momentum swung in the fourth-seeded Federer’s direction when he blasted a cross-court forehand winner to break Krajinovic’s serve to take the closely fought first set.

The 37-year-old Swiss coasted after that thanks to an overpowering serve that Krajinovic struggled to read.

Next up for Federer is a clash with either American qualifier Reilly Opelka or Russian Daniil Medvedev, who were playing their third-round contest when Federer’s match ended.

Anderson mixed 13 aces with just one double fault to seal a 6-4 7-6(6) victory over Portuguese Sousa earlier on Monday.

The towering South African sixth seed will be a heavy favourite on Tuesday when he faces unseeded Australian Jordan Thompson, who beat Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 7-5.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Ken Ferris)

Source: OANN

0 0

OECD seeing less corporate opposition to digital era tax revamp

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Amazon is seen on the door of an Amazon Books retail store in New York
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Amazon is seen on the door of an Amazon Books retail store in New York City, U.S., February 14, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

March 12, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – A global effort to revamp international tax rules for the digital era is receiving less corporate push-back than past attempts, the OECD’s head of tax policy said on Tuesday.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is sounding out businesses and interest groups on Wednesday and Thursday at a public consultation before it begins drafting much-anticipated reform proposals.

Corporate interests have in the past leaned hard against efforts to update international tax rules, which currently allow digital firms to keep tax bills lower than other more traditional companies.

However, OECD head of tax policy Pascal Saint-Amans said there was a change of tone judging from more than 200 comments the Paris-based policy forum received in a first call for input from businesses, accounting firms, tax justice NGOs and academics.

“We have a significant group of business people saying it’s probably time to do something,” Saint-Amans told Reuters ahead of the start of the public hearing.

The emergence of internet giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon has pushed international tax rules to the limit because they are able to book profits in low-tax countries rather than where they customer is located.

Global reform of the rules had been debated for years with little progress until January when nearly 130 countries and territories agreed to tackle some of the most vexing issues, like when a country has the right to tax international transactions.

The OECD reform proposals will tackle on the one hand how to determine when a country should get the right to tax companies and on the other a minimum level of corporate taxation.

In the absence of reform, a growing number of countries are planning their own national taxes targeting mostly U.S.-based digital companies.

While opposed to unilateral national taxes, Washington is a relatively recent convert in favor of a wide-ranging international overhaul, although it wants a solution with a broader focus than just digital companies.

“Bargain will have to be made and … the more extreme proposals will not attract consensus,” the U.S. Treasury’s top international tax official, Chip Harter, told journalists in Paris ahead of the hearing.

He added that the aim was to have the broad outlines of an agreement from the OECD in June, so that G20 finance ministers could give a mandate to thrash out the numerous technical details before a formal deal is signed in 2020.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: OANN

0 0

Ukraine passes language law championed by outgoing president

Activists attend a rally to demand lawmakers vote for a law that grants special status to the Ukrainian language in front of the parliament building in Kiev
Activists attend a rally to demand lawmakers vote for a law that grants special status to the Ukrainian language and introduces mandatory language requirements for public sector workers, in front of the parliament building in Kiev, Ukraine April 25, 2019. Banners reads (L-R) "Vote for the language law", "Protect language, vote for the language law", "Language is a weapon", "Language is our security". REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

April 25, 2019

By Pavel Polityuk

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s parliament approved a law on Thursday that grants special status to the Ukrainian language and makes it mandatory for public sector workers, despite opposition from the country’s large Russian-speaking minority who feel it is discriminatory.

The move, which obliges all citizens to know the Ukrainian language and makes it a mandatory requirement for civil servants, soldiers, doctors, and teachers, was championed by outgoing President Petro Poroshenko who needs to sign it into law before it takes effect, something he is expected to do.

Language became a much more sensitive issue in Ukraine, where many people speak both Ukrainian and Russian fluently, after Russia annexed Crimea and backed a pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

Poroshenko, who is due to step down soon after actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy trounced him at the ballot box on Sunday, put promotion of the Ukrainian language at the heart of his unsuccessful re-election campaign.

But Zelenskiy, who himself speaks Russian more frequently than Ukrainian, has said he wants to unite rather than divide the country and has said he has questions about the new law.

The new legislation requires TV and film distribution firms to ensure 90 percent of their content is in Ukrainian and for the proportion of Ukrainian-language printed media and books to be at least 50 percent.

Computer software must also have a Ukrainian-language interface although the law also allows the use of English or any other official language of the European Union.

Lawmakers cheered and rose to a standing ovation after the law was passed and sang the national anthem. Hundreds of people waving Ukrainian flags had gathered outside parliament to support the law.

“This is a historic moment, which Ukrainians have been waiting for centuries, because for centuries Ukrainians have tried to achieve the right to their own language,” one of the authors of the bill, Mykola Knyazhytsky, said before the vote.

The make-up of the parliament has not changed since Zelenskiy’s election win and remains dominated by a coalition supportive of Poroshenko.

Poroshenko had originally thought the language law would be approved before the election and would help boost his support, particularly in western regions where the Ukrainian language is predominantly used.

Its approval is potentially awkward for incoming president Zelenskiy, a comedian with no political experience.

Zelenskiy’s stance on the new law is unclear. He said during the campaign he’d do everything to protect and develop the Ukrainian language, but also that he had questions about the new legislation.

In 2012, clashes between riot police and protesters erupted in Kiev after Ukraine’s parliament approved a law that made Russian an official language.

Ukraine also has Romanian, Polish and Hungarian minorities that speak these languages. Last year, its relations with neighboring Hungary soured after parliament passed a law that banned teaching in minority languages beyond primary school level.

A survey conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology showed that the Ukrainian language is used by 32.4 percent of Ukrainian families, while Russian is used by 15.8 percent. About a quarter of Ukrainians use both languages.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Andrew Osborn, Matthias Williams and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Source: OANN

0 0

Wisconsin shapes up as top battleground


**Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.**

On the roster: Wisconsin shapes up as top battleground - I’ll Tell You What: Place your Beto’s - Tlaib blames Dem Islamophobia for anti-Semitism rebuke - GOP Senate scrambles to help Trump save face - Prayers may be in order…

WISCONSIN SHAPES UP AS TOP BATTLEGROUND
U.S. News and World: “The 2020 presidential race is ushering in a new premiere battleground state: Wisconsin. Democrats' selection of Milwaukee as the site for the party's national convention next year cements the Badger State as one of the most significant prizes on the electoral map and represents a burgeoning belief that the Rust Belt will factor more crucially than the Sun Belt in this campaign for the White House. Choosing Milwaukee over the larger southern cities of Miami and Houston also discards the historical notion that the convention host city doesn't matter politically. … The upper Midwestern state's 10 electoral votes are also just as important to President Donald Trump's re-election calculus. Wisconsin, of course, was one of the three traditionally blue states – along with Michigan and Pennsylvania – that Trump was able to flip out of the Democratic Party's column in 2016, securing his astounding upset over Hillary Clinton. Of the three, Republican operatives see Wisconsin as the most friendly turf to retain.”

Biden hints at April announcement - Fox News: “Former Vice President Joe Biden dropped a major hint on Tuesday that he’ll likely launch a Democratic presidential campaign in the coming weeks. Biden was greeted with chants of ‘run Joe, run’ as he took the podium in Washington, D.C. at the annual convention of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) union. Many in the crowd also were waving ‘Run, Joe, Run,’ and ‘Fire Fighters for Biden’ signs. A few minutes later, during his keynote address, Biden said: ‘I appreciate the energy you showed when I got up here. Save it a little longer. I may need it in a few weeks.’ The comment brought a standing ovation from the audience. … Sources familiar with the planning of Biden’s inner circle last week confirmed to Fox News that top advisers to the former vice president are getting their ducks in a row… Those sources pointed to a likely April campaign launch.”

Hogan to speak in New Hampshire in April - WaPo: “Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who is weighing a primary challenge to President Trump, has accepted an invitation from the New Hampshire Institute of Politics to speak at the Politics & Eggs series at Saint Anselm College next month. The Politics & Eggs series is a must-attend event for potential presidential candidates. Amelia Chasse, a spokeswoman for Hogan, said the governor will speak April 23. Hogan is being wooed by Republican critics of Trump to run against him in the 2020 GOP primary. The popular governor, who is barred by state law from seeking a third term, has not ruled out a possible White House run. But he has also made clear that he would not launch a campaign unless Trump is weakened. Last week, Hogan spent two days in Iowa, the first caucus state. He attended meetings for the National Governors Association and said he was not there to lay the groundwork for a presidential run.”

Rahm Emanuel: ‘How not to lose to Donald Trump’ - Atlantic: “But Democrats haven’t won the 2020 election yet—and we’ve got a long way to go. At this stage in the 1992 election cycle, President George H. W. Bush was riding high, buoyed by America’s success in the Gulf War. Less than two years later, Bill Clinton moved into the White House. Trump might prove incapable of engineering such a dramatic reversal of fortune. But if the economy continues to hum and he racks up a couple of wins on foreign policy, the public’s perception of his presidency could shift. Democrats can’t bank on voters being more dismayed by him than they are enamored of us. For that reason, Democrats need to take a strategic approach to the next 20 months. In the last election, Democrats were too quick to dismiss the possibility that voters would take Trump ‘seriously, not literally.’ This time, we should not only take him seriously—we should take him literally when he tells us exactly how he’s going to run his reelection campaign.”

THE RULEBOOK: FLUX CAPACITOR 
“Power being almost always the rival of power, the general government will at all times stand ready to check the usurpations of the state governments, and these will have the same disposition towards the general government.” – Alexander HamiltonFederalist No. 28

TIME OUT: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT SOCRATES
NatGeo: “Socrates is considered by many to be the founding father of Western philosophy—as well as one of the most enigmatic figures of ancient history. He wrote nothing himself, so all knowledge of the Greek philosopher has been handed down through the writings of his contemporaries and his students, primarily his star pupil, Plato. Scholars still grapple with ‘the Socratic problem’: how to distinguish the historical Socrates from the individual portrayed and interpreted by various authors through the ages. But as any law student will attest, his interrogative ‘Socratic method’ of teaching is as alive and well today as it was when the great thinker questioned everything and everyone in Athens in the fifth century B.C. Socrates first distinguished himself as a hoplite, or heavily armed infantryman, in the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. … [Upon his death] [a]s chronicled by Plato, ‘He appeared happy both in manner and words as he died nobly and without fear.’”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance 
Average approval: 
42.4 percent
Average disapproval: 53.2 percent
Net Score: -10.8 points
Change from one week ago: down 0.4 points 
[Average includes: Monmouth University: 44% approve - 52% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 38% approve - 55% disapprove; Gallup: 43% approve - 54% unapproved; IBD: 41% approve - 53% disapprove; NBC/WSJ: 46% approve - 52% disapprove.]

I’LL TELL YOU WHAT: PLACE YOUR BETO’S
This week, Dana Perino and Chris Stirewalt discuss the emerging 2020 field, REO Speedwagon and Mitt Romney's Twinkie birthday cake. Plus, mailbag questions and trivia. LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE HERE

TLAIB BLAMES DEM ISLAMOPHOBIA FOR ANTI-SEMITISM REBUKE 
Fox News: “Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich, defended her colleague Rep. Ilhan Omar from backlash within their own party regarding the Minnesota representative's controversial remarks deemed by some to be anti-Semitic. … In a preview clip of an interview on Showtime’s ‘The Circus,’ Tlaib suggested that ‘Islamophobia’ within their party could be behind the swift condemnation for the comments. ‘You know, I'm trying to figure it out. It's just this past week, I feel, and I know this would be somewhat shocking for some, but I think Islamophobia is very much among the Democratic Party as well as the Republican Party,’ Tlaib answered. ‘And I know that's hard for people to hear, but there's only been four members of Congress that are of Muslim faith. Three of them currently serve in this institution. More of us need to get elected, but more of us need to understand as we come into this institution that I have a lot of work to do with my colleagues.’”

Who’s the boss? - Fox News: “Freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s Twitter bio declares her the ‘Unbossed Congresswoman’ for Michigan’s 13th District. While the moniker has roots in Shirley Chisholm’s successful campaign to become the first black congresswoman, nowadays it also could be seen as a blunt message to Democratic leadership: Nobody is bossing around the class of 2019. … [A] squad of first-year congresswomen are flexing their muscle and posing an implicit challenge to Democratic honchos like Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Their stridently liberal agenda – and power to steer the national conversation via social media and press attention – has fueled tensions inside the party tent that in turn are testing leadership's control while stirring political concerns going into 2020. ‘All of our problems are caused by three people,’ one senior House Democrat lamented to Fox News. That would be New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar and Tlaib – all freshmen, and all uniquely unencumbered by things like decorum or deference to party elders.”

GOP SENATE SCRAMBLES TO HELP TRUMP SAVE FACE
Politico: “Senate Republicans are trying to head off a collision with President Donald Trump over the border wall this week… Some GOP senators are discussing a potential compromise with the White House in order to limit Republican defections on a vote this week to overturn Trump’s emergency declaration, according to GOP senators and aides. The matter was unresolved as of Monday evening, senators said… Republican senators queasy about the legality and precedent of Trump’s unilateral move to fund his wall are exploring whether the president will commit to signing a bill amending the National Emergency Act and curtailing presidential power. In exchange, they would consider standing with the president and potentially vote against the House-passed disapproval measure. …  Two GOP senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, discussed the potential changes to the law with the White House over the weekend.”

Pergram: Republicans’ dessert dilemma - Fox News: “President Trump’s national emergency declaration plunders various appropriations silos, which Congress targeted for specific Pentagon and ‘Military Construction’ projects. The national emergency redistributes money for the wall. GOPers want the wall. But they also don’t want President Trump to pilfer their pet project back home. So, maybe the best solution to the quandary is the appropriations equivalent of an ice cream cake. All lawmakers know right now are the general pots of money from which the Trump administration will loot funds for the wall. But everyone’s in the dark when it comes to specifics.”

THERESA MAY’S REVISED BREXIT DEAL FACES SECOND DEFEAT
Fox News: “British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal was given another thumping defeat in Parliament on Tuesday, despite her last-minute efforts to secure concessions from E.U. leaders -- just weeks before Britain is set to leave the bloc. The withdrawal agreement, hashed out with European leaders in 2018, was defeated 391-242, despite a dramatic, last-minute trip to Strasbourg by May on Monday, after which she had declared she had secured legally binding changes to the deal in an effort to appease parliamentarians. It was the second such defeat for the bill, after it was rejected 432-202 in January -- the largest defeat for a prime minister in the history of the House of Commons. May and her allies had sought to rally MPs to the deal in the hours before the vote, with a series of speeches urging lawmakers to back the deal to make sure Britain can leave the bloc with a deal on March 29.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Rep. Al Green brushes off Pelosi pushback, says he’ll pursue Trump impeachment Fox News

Former Vice President Dick Cheney challenges Pence face-to-face over Trump foreign policy Fox News

David Brooks: ‘If Stalin had a smartphone’ - NYT

N.Y. AG issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and Investors Bank for Trump projects - NYT

AUDIBLE: OOF 
“I was so far off in the wings that I felt like a Ugandan swimmer at the Olympics.” – John Kasich said in reference to the 2016 Republican debates while at the South by Southwest festival over the weekend.  

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“Chris, Let me start by saying I enjoy hearing your comments on Special Report. It reminds me of the insights we used to get from Charles Krauthammer. Your commentary on the Debt Farce is spot on.  So how do we break this situation and force the politicians to make the painful and difficult decisions that will basically alienate some fraction of the voters against them? To me this is the key right now.  The politics say that we will never address the deficit until we default and have to inflate our way out of the problem and pay off the creditors with worthless script that is ‘backed by the full faith and credit of the US government.’” – Peter Eick, Houston

[Ed. note: Good salesmanship is very much about timing. The guy selling beer and tanning oil at the beach does better on Saturday afternoon than the guy selling aspirin and aloe vera. But Sunday morning is a different story. I believe that the dereliction of both parties on the subject of fiscal responsibility has created substantial peril for the republic, but I also believe that it has created a substantial opportunity for other politicians. Our balanced budgets at the end of the previous century were the result of the dawn of the information age and the end of the Cold War, but they were also caused by the independent candidacy of Ross Perot, who poked both major parties with a very sharp stick on the subject of debt and borrowing. Voters want balanced budgets and creative candidates will sooner or later find a way to make it a winning issue.]      

“As a [Massachusetts] resident perhaps I'm in no position to ask this question but... what is up with the … districts which elected Reps. [Ilhan Omar] and [Rashida Tlaib]? Was there really no viable opponent in either case? Or was it a matter of low turnout deciding for the district as a whole, as was the case with [Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez]? Thanks!” – Frank Townley, Dover, Mass.

[Ed. note: Omar’s Minneapolis district and Tlaib’s Detroit district are among the most Democratic in the nation. It would be about as likely for a Republican to win there as it would be for a Democrat to prevail in North Georgia or Eastern Kentucky. And as is the case in many such districts, red and blue, the primary is the only real contest. In the case of both Omar and Tlaib, crowded primary fields and a breakdown in party machinery allowed unlikely winners to slip past more mainstream choices. In Tlaib’s case, the situation was compounded by the resignation of longtime Congressman John Conyers amid a #metoo scandal. While Ocasio-Cortez felled an entrenched incumbent in New York, her fellow insurgents had easier rows to hoe.]   

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

PRAYERS MAY BE IN ORDER…
WKRC: “The season of Lent means Christians are fasting and giving up certain pleasures or vices. One Ohio man is taking a page from history. For 46 days, Del Hall is drinking only beer. … Hall says he’s taking a nod from monks in the 1600’s that would fast during the season by a bock beer diet. ‘Being master brewers, they decided they would take a popular style of beer in Germany, bock beer, make it extra hearty and that would be their liquid bread and that’s what they call it,’ Hall said. ‘So the monks in Bavaria, they would call doppelbock liquid bread and basically it would sustain them through the 46 days of Lent.’ … ‘So I'm just curious if I'm up to the challenge, if I'm going to be able to do it or not.’ The beer connoisseur will still consume water during the fast and will be checking in with a doctor.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“Trump’s people have already shown a delicate touch in dealing with his bouts of loopiness.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing for the Washington Post on Feb. 23, 2017. 

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

YouTube Facilitates Softcore Child Porn Exploitation Network, Says Content Creator

A YouTube content creator is accusing the video platform of facilitating a soft-core child porn exploitation network right out in the open.

YouTuber Matt Watson AKA “MattsWhatItIs” says he’s discovered “a wormhole into a soft-core pedophilia ring on Youtube,” in a viral video that’s garnered nearly 1 million views in under 24 hours.

“Youtube’s recommended algorithm is facilitating pedophiles’ ability to connect with each-other, trade contact info, and link to actual [child porn] in the comments,” the video’s description reads.

He claims certain searches eventually yield suggested videos which then allow users to tap into the international underground network.

TechCrunch confirmed it was “easily able to replicate the YouTube algorithm’s behavior that Watson describes in a history-cleared private browser session which, after clicking on two videos of adult women in bikinis, suggested we watch a video called ‘sweet sixteen pool party.'”

“Videos we got recommended in this side-bar included thumbnails showing young girls demonstrating gymnastics poses, showing off their ‘morning routines,’ or licking popsicles or ice lollies.”

Furthermore, MattsWhatItIs claims the videos are being monetized, with ads from major corporations such as McDonald’s, Disney, Purina, Ikea and other companies appearing in the content.

Due to the sensitive nature of the content, Infowars will not directly embed MattsWhatItIs’ analysis, but his video is available HERE for your viewing.

“It doesn’t matter that they flag videos and turn off the comments, these videos are still being monetized, and more importantly they are still available for users to watch,” says MattsWhatItIs.

Though the videos on the surface are innocuous, the content is characterized as sexual by the users’ many pedophiliac comments, which also include specific timestamps indicating when the girls are in what they view as sexually suggestive positions.

Google and YouTube did not return Infowars’ request for comment as of writing.

A spokesman for YouTube told TechCrunch it’s “reviewing its policies in light of what Watson has highlighted, adding that it’s in the process of reviewing the specific videos and comments featured in his video — specifying also that some content has been taken down as a result of the review.

“However, the spokesman emphasized that the majority of the videos flagged by Watson are innocent recordings of children doing everyday things. (Though of course the problem is that innocent content is being repurposed and time-sliced for abusive gratification and exploitation.),” TechCrunch reported.


Trump delivers remarks on his continued fight against sex trafficking and explains why the border wall can help with that problem.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

China’s premier pledges to widen financial opening to foreign investors

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a news conference following the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a news conference following the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

March 28, 2019

BOAO, China (Reuters) – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday China will widen market access for foreign banking and insurance firms and expand the opening of the services sector, especially the financial sector, to foreign investors.

He added China will publish a revised negative list for foreign investors and issue rules for foreign acquisitions of Chinese listed firms.

Li made the remarks in a speech at the annual Boao forum held on China’s southern island of Hainan.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Writing by Yawen Chen; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Source: OANN

0 0

New Cuban constitution gets 87 percent approval

Cuban authorities say a new constitution has been approved by nearly 87 percent of voters, a relatively low figure for a country where official proposals routinely receive higher than 90 percent approval.

The heads of Cuba's National Electoral Commission said 7,848,343 people voted Sunday on a new constitution that preserves the single-party socialist system and centrally planned economy while updating some financial, electoral and criminal laws.

Some 300,000 votes were counted as invalid because they were blank or defaced. And 706,400 people voted against the new constitution.

The commission said 6,816,169 people voted in favor of the new charter. The current constitution was approved by 97.7 percent of voters in a referendum in 1976, the peak of a system dedicated to displays of national unity.

Source: Fox News World

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



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

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

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

WHY THE MEDIA ARE CONVINCED JOE BIDEN WILL IMPLODE

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

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

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

— Joe Biden

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

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

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

— Dr. Neal Kassell

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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

Source: Fox News Politics

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

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

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist