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

Saudi’s Kingdom Holding to invest Careem proceeds in Europe, Saudi: CEO

FILE PHOTO: Careem employees walk past the company headquarters in Dubai.
FILE PHOTO: Careem employees walk past the company headquarters in Dubai, UAE December 13, 2018. REUTERS/Satish Kumar/File Photo

March 29, 2019

By Stephen Kalin

DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabian investment firm Kingdom Holding will put the proceeds from the sale of its stake in ride-hailing startup Careem toward $600 million in investments in the kingdom and Europe, its chief executive told Reuters on Friday.

Kingdom, which is 95 percent owned by billionaire Price Alwaleed bin Talal, sold its stake in Careem this week for 1.25 billion riyals ($333 million). It will receive 565 million riyals in cash, plus convertible bonds in Uber Technologies worth 685 million riyals.

“We have five companies on the table that are being discussed, deliberated. Hopefully we will be able to come to a conclusion on where to invest within the next eight weeks,” Talal Ibrahim al-Maiman said in a phone interview.

Some of the companies are in Saudi Arabia and some are in Europe, he said. “We’re talking about $600 million or so.”

“We will not deploy all the cash in one go, but this is the first tranche,” he added. “It’s a combination of debt and equity.”

Kingdom’s investments will be directed 70 percent into income-generating dividend-distributing investments and 30 percent into technology and potential growth companies, he said.

Kingdom was among the first investors in Careem, the Middle East rival of Uber, which acquired it this week in a $3.1 billion deal ahead of a hotly anticipated initial public offering.

Lyft, another Uber rival, was valued at $24.3 billion in the sector’s first IPO on Thursday and shares opened up more than 20 percent on Friday. Kingdom has a 2.98 percent stake in the firm.

“If we assume exit, which we cannot of course because there’s a lock-up period, we’ve made an IRR (internal rate of return) of 53 percent on Lyft,” Maiman said.

“We’ve made almost 100 percent in Careem, so we’ve done very well. It’s been really a good week for Kingdom.”

Maiman said Kingdom would consider raising its investments in Lyft or Uber “if we see an opportunity there”.

He added: “I think it would be a while before Lyft looks outside North America… but the Middle East would probably be one of the best international markets versus, for example, South America or the like.”

(Reporting By Stephen Kalin; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Source: OANN

0 0

Kim Jong Un under fire for flagrantly violating sanctions with his mysterious, growing fleet of luxurious vehicles

Despite the robust United Nations sanctions that have long been slapped upon North Korea – banning sales of luxury goods and vehicles to the nuclear weapons-procuring and human rights-abusing government – leader Kim Jong appears to have no problem curating an extravagant car collection, and flagrantly flashing the violations for the world to see.

“Chairman Kim’s expanding inventory of European and U.S.-manufactured or customized luxury and up-armored limousines represents the most obvious series of flagrant sanctions violations to date,” Hugh Griffiths, who for the past five years has a coordinated a U.N. panel of experts to monitor North Korea’s sanction-circumventing maneuvers, told Fox News. “This is because these vehicles are quite literally paraded at foreign summits, diplomatic meetings and other high-profile events in Singapore, Pyongyang and elsewhere."

A report released last week by a U.N. panel noted that investigations are underway concerning North Korea's acquisition of luxury goods, such as Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus vehicles. The panel found that the world’s largest container shipping line continued to “unwittingly transport prohibited items.”

KIM JONG UNWILLING TO SIT DOWN WITH TRUMP AGAIN, NORTH KOREA STATE MEDIA SAYS

Griffiths said the violations are hardly being kept secret.

"This is no clandestine activity taking place on the high seas, or at night, as is often the case with the illegal ship-to-ship transfers of coal or petroleum,” he said. “These vehicles are being paraded in front of the world's media.”

As was highlighted in the U.N. panel’s reports, the North Korean regime is illicitly exporting prized possessions in clandestine fashion, using anonymous shipping containers diverted from their stated destinations.

“There is a very real risk that if North Korea is able to divert such large items – even though the Security Council sanctions resolutions say that all cargo entering North Korea should be inspected – then North Korea will have few problems importing smaller but critical dual-use items for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” Griffiths noted.

FILE PHOTO: South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wave during a car parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, September 18, 2018. Pyeongyang Press Corps/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo - RC1E579359C0

FILE PHOTO: South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wave during a car parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, September 18, 2018. Pyeongyang Press Corps/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo - RC1E579359C0 (Pyeongyang Press Corps/Pool via REUTERS)

Last October, Kim raised eyebrows when he rolled up in a new black Rolls-Royce to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. It was unclear how he'd managed to assemble such a swanky set of British-originated wheels.

The Rolls Phantom, worth almost $500,000, appears to have been produced between 2012 and 2017, according to the new U.N. report, at a British plant in Goodwood. How it got to North Korea remains an open question.

Previously, Kim had been seen cruising to high-profile meetings in a Mercedes Maybach S600 Pullman Guard limousine, estimated to be worth more than $1.5 million with its armaments and assortment of modifications. Moreover, a number of Lexus LX570 all-wheel-drive vehicles were being sported by the North Korean delegation at an inter-Korean summit a month earlier in Pyongyang.

But there might be much, much more to Dear Leader’s illicit fleet.

“It is not publicly known exactly how many vehicles Kim Jong Un possesses, but it is estimated that there are 100 to 300 vehicles inside special garages in North Korea,” said Dong Yong Kim, an expert investigator in international and security affairs and retired South Korean Air Force Officer and weapons director at the Korean Air and Space Operations Center. “Some were collected by his father and grandfather, all three have a different taste in cars.”

For one, grandfather Kim ll Sung was known to love U.S.-made Lincoln and Cadillac, with at least one such antique Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham spotted in use by a North Korean diplomat recently. In 2010, the year before the death of Kim's father Kim Jong il, Dong Yong said that a “special container” was documented to have crossed from China into North Korea carrying more than $3 million worth of Audis and a Mercedes.

U.N. panel questions N.K. leader's luxury cars. (Credit Image: © Yonhap News/Newscom via ZUMA Press)

U.N. panel questions N.K. leader's luxury cars. (Credit Image: © Yonhap News/Newscom via ZUMA Press) (Yonhap News/Newscom via ZUMA Press)

“When Kim Jong ll was alive, he was known to be a Mercedes maniac,” Dong Jong continued, while the young reigning dictator has inherited that appreciation with his own “Western-obsessed” flavor. “Kim lived his childhood obsessed with many Western cultures. He loved basketball, is known for drinking only Perrier sparkling water and eating only Emmental Swiss cheese.”

NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR ON KIM JONG UN’S 'LIES,' SURVIVING TORTURE, AND SUPPORTING TRUMP POLICY

Derived from what Kim has brandished through various summits and meetings in recent times, and based on Dong Jong’s extensive analysis, Kim at minimum owns a 2010~2011 Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard, Maybach 62 S, a Rolls-Royce Ghost, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a Lexus LX570, a Mercedes G wagon and a Mercedes Maybach S600 Guard.

Yet his car collection is believed to be far from the factory floor. Known to be “security phobic,” the strongman is said to always have 12 highly elite bodyguards around him and all transportation vehicles are “bullet-proof, fire-proof, gad-proof and explosive proof.”

“These vehicles are capable of blocking most handguns and rifles with Full etal Jacket,” Dong Jong asserted. “And in terms of performance, two significant modifications are applied. One is an Electronic Computer Unit (ECU) chip to squeeze in more horsepower, the second is extra brake tuning.”

And then there another important annexation to the car collection.

Kim is also said to have a bevy of tailored toilet vehicles that trail him wherever he goes – never using a public restroom – which serves a double purpose of not enabling any sneaky outsiders to obtain health information from any waste matter left behind. This also helps cultivate his public perception as something of a mythical almighty.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves from inside a car surrounded by bodyguards as he leaves the Dong Dang railway station in Dong Dang, Lang Son Province, last month. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo credit should read NHAC NGUYEN/AFP/Getty Images)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves from inside a car surrounded by bodyguards as he leaves the Dong Dang railway station in Dong Dang, Lang Son Province, last month. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP) (Photo credit should read NHAC NGUYEN/AFP/Getty Images) (NHAC NGUYEN/AFP/Getty Images)

But whether Kim himself can actually drive remains a subject of vigorous debate. As Dong Jong pointed out, textbooks issued to young schoolchildren in North Korea are focused on the “heroic ability” of their national chief, and even claim that Kim was able to drive a car at the age of 3; by 9, the story goes, he was racing boats against foreigners.

But the rumor among the defector community in Seoul is that Kim on occasion drives one of his VIP Benz cars late in the night in Pyongyang, and at one time complained that fellow drivers “were dumb,” a declaration that led to more tickets being handed out by police.

<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/apps-products" target="_blank" rel=Dec. 28, 2011: In this image made from KRT television, a hearse is driven during a funeral procession of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in the snow in Pyongyang.">

<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/apps-products" target="_blank">Dec. 28, 2011: In this image made from KRT television, a hearse is driven during a funeral procession of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in the snow in Pyongyang.</a> (AP)

Dong Yong also pointed to the murky nature of purchases made by North Korea’s foreign diplomats. “There are many more unknown and unreported cases,” he said. “If you look at North Korea embassies overseas, those embassies all own at least one Mercedes-Benz.”

KIM JONG UN’S TRAIN TRAVEL TO VIETNAM HIDDEN BY CHINESE CENSORS

For one, the North Korean Embassy in Malaysia is alleged to have procured at least five high-end vehicles: Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Jaguar XJ, Audi A6, Lexus LS, and BMW X5; the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia reputedly owns two luxury vehicles: Jaguar XJ and Lexus LS with the number plate 28-01-DC, Dong Jong reported.

“The number 28 means North Korea – country designation – while 01 means the rank of embassy meaning ambassador, and the last two alphabets DC stand for 'Diplomatic Corps' in Malaysia,” he surmised. “It is rare to see one ambassador owns two luxury vehicles country like North Korea.

He added, for emphasis, "North Korea’s GDP per capita is about $1,800 (USD) which is lower than Syria.”

Given the hefty economic sanctions imposed on the Hermit Kingdom, Pyongyang’s auto industry is confined to just one mysterious manufacturer, Pyeonghwa Motors, which is only able to produce from a small pool of Asian makers. It is unknown how many cars are made there annually. The tally is widely assumed to be only a few thousand, if that, with Pyeonghwa Motors plagued by rumors it went out business some years ago. Now, the company may serve more as a nationalistic symbol.

Few in the impoverished nation are able to afford even a domestic car. While the price tag for a North Korean car hovers around $10,000, the yearly income for most is less than $1,300.

“North Korea always advertises its vehicles as the world’s best, but Kim Jong Un and his cabinet would never ride in them,” Dong Jong observed. “Because most people can’t afford to buy a car there, most people travel by bicycle or just walk.”

The onus is now on U.N. Security Council member states to determine what should happen to these high-end vehicles, and it is up to governments to put pressure on global banks, traders and insurers to go after the culprits, but Griffiths underscored that the panel’s work is far from over.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on a recent train ride, a change of pace for a man used to commuting in luxury vehicles.  (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on a recent train ride, a change of pace for a man used to commuting in luxury vehicles.  (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

“We will continue to investigate how the latest Maybach Mercedes and the Rolls-Royce got to North Korea, as well as the companies and individuals responsible for these transfers,” he said. “Past panel reports show that the same networks exporting prohibited military equipment from North Korea to Africa were also involved in the import of some of the Mercedes-Benz to North Korea."

According to Dong Jong, what has been exposed so far about the regime chief’s car collection is merely the “tip of the iceberg,” and he anticipates that there is at least one major global company – yet to be named – responsible for injecting illegal opulence into the closed country.

“Providing luxurious cars to Kim Jong Un is a crime, and those who support such delivery are also committing a crime,” he added.

Source: Fox News World

0 0

Senate Dems Block Disaster Relief Bill Over Puerto Rico Funds

Senate Democrats on Monday stonewalled a massive disaster relief bill from getting to a final floor vote over what they say is a lack of funds for Puerto Rico, The Washington Post reports.

The proposal, which failed in a 44-49 vote, would have provided $600 million in nutrition assistance to Puerto Rico, but no additional funds to bolster flood protection and repair the electrical grid.

The Caribbean island is still reeling from back-to-back hurricanes in 2017 that uprooted trees, destroyed homes and knocked out power to the entire island.   

The House passed a $14.2 billion disaster recovery bill earlier this year that included funds that could be used by Puerto Rico to rebuild its water systems.

The GOP Senate version, introduced by Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., in late February, set aside $13 billion for aid to Southern farmers, California communities devastated by last summer's wildfire, and rebuilding help for hurricane-hit states such as Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Hurricane-damaged military bases in Florida and North Carolina would receive rebuilding funds.

President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Puerto Rico, last week told Senate Republicans that the island squandered previous disaster assistance and shouldn’t receive more money.

“Democrats should stop fighting Sen. David Perdue's disaster relief bill. They are blocking funding and relief for our great farmers and rural America!” Trump tweeted Monday ahead of the Senate vote.

Source: NewsMax Politics

0 0

Biden’s ‘expressions of affection’ may take him out of 2020 race, Mark Steyn tells Tucker Carlson

Is former Vice President Joe Biden just being “touchy, feely” or is something more sinister afoot?

Conservative commentator Mark Steyn appeared on Fox News' “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to discuss the latest accusations of improper physical contact by the former VP and said other Democratic presidential candidates are trying to do what Trump did in 2016 with former Florida Gov.Jeb Bush: take out the competition.

“And the Democrats are completely morally indifferent on this unless it serves their ends," Steyn told Carlson. "And what they want to do is take this guy out. The other candidates want to take him out the way Jeb Bush was taken out by Trump two to four years ago."

OTHER 2020 DEMS SAY THEY BELIEVE BIDEN ACCUSER LUCY FLORES

“But they haven't got a Trump to take out Jeb Bush with a single well-placed adjectival insult, ‘low energy Jeb.’ So you use what you have -- and that's why all these Democratic candidates have basically decided this … is the bullet that takes out Joe Biden.”

BIDEN ACCUSED BY SECOND WOMAN OF IMPROPER PHYSICAL CONTACT

Biden responded Sunday to the allegations made against him.

"In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort," Biden's statement said. He added it “was never my intention” to act inappropriately but did not apologize.

WIFE OF FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY DEFENDS BIDEN, SAYS PHOTO CIRCULATING ONLINE IS HIGHLY MISLEADING

Steyn compared Biden’s "presumptuous" conduct to that of former CBS and PBS newsman Charlie Rose, who was fired by both networks in November 2017.

Steyn also said he believes Biden will ultimately decide not to seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

“I don't think he's going to run because I don't think he wants to be defending a lot of this stuff between now and November next year,” Steyn said.

Source: Fox News Politics

0 0

Southern Poverty Law Center urges teachers to lecture 1st graders about ‘microaggressions,’ structural racism

The Southern Poverty Law Center wants to have a talk with first graders, about microaggressions, stereotypes and systemic racism.

“What is this doing in my inbox?” Tyler O’Neil, editor for PJ Media, posted to Twitter Friday. “The Southern Poverty Law Center wants your first graders to learn about microaggressions. Yes, they’re already struggling to be nice to each other, but the SPLC wants them to tackle structural racism in first grade.”

O’Neil included a clip from his email inbox featuring a message from the SPLC about “Teaching first-graders about microaggressions.”

The news site reports the email linked to an essay from Oakland, California teacher Bret Turner titled “Teaching First-Graders About Microaggressions: The Small Moments Add Up.”

The missive is published by Teaching Tolerance, a nonprofit that focuses on providing “free resources” to educators on a mission of “social justice and anti-bias.” “The anti-bias approach encourages children and young people to challenge prejudice and learn how to be agents of change in their own lives,” according to the site.

Turner explained that first-graders are “in the thick of learning to read and write” as well as “learning how to communicate with others,” making it the perfect time to introduce the concepts of racism, bias, and injustice.


Recently a photo of artwork by renowned street graffiti artist, Mear One, was used by MSM to smear Alex Jones as anti-semitic. Mear One joins Alex to reveal his true thoughts behind his mural.

Kids tease each other, it’s part of their development, but “not all unkindness is the same,” according to Turner.

“It can be particularly detrimental when the hurtful language relates to race, gender, religion or other aspects of a child’s identity,” Turner wrote. “These are microaggressions: small, subtle, sometimes-unintended acts of discrimination.”

It’s a teacher’s job to hyper focus kids on their unintentional racism and other unconscious prejudices, but it’s not as simple as a classroom chat or one-on-one conversation. There’s groundwork, Turner advised.

“Before talking with students about microaggressions, it’s essential to establish an identity-safe classroom. Students need to feel safe and supported. In my class, when we do discuss microaggressions, I remind students of conversations we’ve already had about representation,” he wrote.

“I remind them that, when we’re reading together, we always ask, ‘Whose story is being told here?’ I also reference the discussions we’ve had around more overt racism: how being called a racist may hurt, but it doesn’t compare to actually experiencing racism.”

It’s all about equipping 6-year-olds with the “tools, vocabulary and context” to call out their classmates when they unintentionally use biased language or engage in politically incorrect behavior.

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Waffle House suing man who killed 4 in restaurant, father

Waffle House is suing the man accused of killing four people in an attack on a Nashville, Tennessee, branch of their restaurant last year.

The suit filed Monday in state court seeks damages from Travis Reinking and his father, Jeffrey. It claims the elder Reinking was part of a civil conspiracy because he returned several guns to his son that had been confiscated and left in the father's care. It adds the father knew his son was mentally unstable and dangerous.

One of the guns returned was a Bushmaster XM-15 used in the April 22, 2018, attack.

Besides at least $100,000 in damages, the Georgia-based restaurant chain wants the Reinkings to indemnify it against legal claims arising from the shooting.

Travis Reinking remains jailed on murder charges. His father's attorney didn't answer his phone late Tuesday.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

5 found dead in Pennsylvania apartment, mother and daughter arrested: police

A mother and daughter in Pennsylvania were arrested and charged Monday night for allegedly killing five family members -- including two children -- whose bodies were found during a wellness check, according to local reports.

Police said they discovered the bodies in a Bucks County apartment around 5:30 p.m. A neighbor had requested a wellness check after not seening the family for a week, Action News reported.

Shana S. Decree, 45, and Dominique Decree, 19, the mother and daughter, were transported to the hospital for unspecified reasons and later arrested, police said. It wasn't immediately clear how the family members died. Morrisville Chief of Police told Levittownnow.com that "there were no obvious signs of trauma."

TEXAS COUPLE ARRESTED AFTER BODY OF DAUGHTER, 3, FOUND IN ACID-FILLED CONTAINER, POLICE SAY

The family members were identified as Shana Decree’s children: Naa’Irah Smith, 25, a 13-year-old, her sister Jamilla Campbell, 42, and Campbell’s twin daughters, Imani and Erika Allen, both 9, according to Action News. Police said they are searching for Jamilla Campbell’s 17-year-old son, Joshua Campbell, but he is not considered a suspect.

“This is a terrible tragedy. I just spoke with the family of the five of the deceased and we’re all heartbroken,” Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub told reporters Monday night.

The mother and daughter face five counts of homicide and one count each of conspiracy, the Bucks County Courier Times reported, citing Weintraub. Police are continuing an investigation, the report said.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Morrisville is located near the border of New Jersey and is about 35 miles northeast of Philadelphia.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Source: Fox News National

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



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!
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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture
FILE PHOTO: Small toy figures are seen in front of a displayed Huawei and 5G network logo in this illustration picture, March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

April 26, 2019

By Charlotte Greenfield

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
FILE PHOTO: The logo commodities trader Glencore is pictured in Baar
FILE PHOTO: The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company’s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, July 18, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

April 26, 2019

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

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

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

(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru)

Source: OANN

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