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Ex-officer charged with fatally shooting woman in his car

A former vice squad officer in Ohio has been charged with fatally shooting a woman who was sitting in his unmarked police vehicle in what the man says was an act of self-defense.

Columbus police say officer Andrew Mitchell shot and killed 23-year-old Donna Castleberry in 2018 after she stabbed him in the hand during an undercover prostitution investigation.

A grand jury on Thursday charged Mitchell with murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Mitchell's attorney has defended his actions, saying it was a proper use of force.

Mitchell is also facing federal charges of forcing women to have sex with him under threat of an arrest, pressuring others to cover up crimes and lying to the FBI by saying he'd never had sex with prostitutes. He has pleaded not guilty.

Source: Fox News National

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Women forced to exchange sex for food aid after Mozambique cyclone, Human Rights Watch says

As swaths of coastal Mozambique remain ravaged by the aftermath of last month’s tropical cyclone, many women who have lost their possessions are now being forced to trade sexual favors for food assistance, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) investigation has found.

“In some of the villages, women and their children have not seen any food for weeks,” an aid worker said. “They would do anything for food, including sleeping with men in charge of food distribution.”

A slew of victims and aid workers told the watchdog group that local community leaders, some with ties to the government, were demanding that vulnerable women without money to pay bribes exchange sex acts to get their names put on food distribution lists.

DESPERATE WOMEN FLEEING VENEZUELA SELL HAIR, BREAST MILK, SEX TO GET BY

Another mother of four, who claimed she had no means of feeding her family, also told investigators that a community leader offered help not only if “she was nice to him,” but also if she traded sexual favors.

A mother bathing her baby in a bucket at a camp for displaced survivors of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, last month. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)

A mother bathing her baby in a bucket at a camp for displaced survivors of Cyclone Idai in Beira, Mozambique, last month. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, File)

“He gave me only a kilo of beans,” the victim said. “When I complained, he said ‘tomorrow there will be more.’”

Six weeks ago on the eve of harvest, Cyclone Idai slashed through what was already deemed one of Africa’s poorest countries – destroying crops and leaving hundreds not only homeless but facing dire hunger.

HRW called on the Mozambique government to conduct its own investigation into the matter and appropriately prosecute and “adopt measures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse of cyclone victims and create an environment in which women can come forward and report abuses.”

“Emergency aid should be given freely to all people in need, and the government along with aid providers should ensure that aid distribution is never used as an opportunity to commit abuse,” HRW’s Southern Africa director Dewa Mavhinga said.

NUNS SEXUALLY ABUSING MINORS COULD BECOME NEXT CATHOLIC CHURCH SCANDAL, EXPERTS SAY

The United Nations has referred to Idai – which killed nearly 500 people – as “one of the deadliest storms on record in the southern hemisphere,” and lamented that its $342 million aid appeal to offer some relief to the cyclone’s victims in Mozambique and neighboring Zimbabwe has been less than one-quarter funded.

Over 1.85 million people, mostly women and children, were believed to be in urgent need of humanitarian help. Bodies remained strewn through the floodwaters and wreckage, with many roads ruined and unreachable and little outside recourse.

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Yet, the already threadbare relief effort may only get worse.

Another cyclone, named Kenneth, is expected to make landfall in northeastern Mozambique on Friday, threatening a different area of the country and one not accustomed to such extreme weather.

Source: Fox News World

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Sudan protest leaders urge people to remain in streets amid military coup, with 16 people killed in last few days

Sudanese protest leaders are urging people to remain in the streets of the capital Khartoum following the military coup even as activists say 16 people have been killed by the regime in the last few days.

The protesters marched for the introduction of the civilian rule rather than letting the military to rule the country after the army forced President Omar al-Bashir from power amid months of anti-government protests.

“We will never leave the place. We will shout together. We will shout to our freedom, to our liberty,” protester Rami Mustafa said Saturday.

“We will never leave the place. We will shout together. We will shout to our freedom, to our liberty.”

— Protester Rami Mustafa

SUDAN'S UPHEAVAL BRINGS FEARS FOR SOUTH SUDAN'S PEACE DEAL

The army said it wants to govern the country for two years and only then call an election for a new head of government, a plan that raised concerns among human rights experts and groups.

The demonstrators fear that the military, dominated by al-Bashir loyalists, won’t give up the power after two years or will hand it only to one of their own.

Sudanese activists say that 16 people, including a soldier, have been killed in the two days since the military coup.

Demonstrators gather in Sudan's capital of Khartoum, Friday, April 12, 2019. The Sudanese protest movement has rejected the military's declaration that it has no ambitions to hold the reins of power for long after ousting the president of 30 years, Omar al-Bashir.

Demonstrators gather in Sudan's capital of Khartoum, Friday, April 12, 2019. The Sudanese protest movement has rejected the military's declaration that it has no ambitions to hold the reins of power for long after ousting the president of 30 years, Omar al-Bashir. (AP Photo)

At least 13 people were shot dead on Thursday while another three people were killed on Friday, activists from the Sudan Doctors Committee said, claiming that the victims died “at the hands of regime forces and its shadow militias.”

Sudanese police confirmed the figure on Friday, though saying that the 16 people were killed by “stray bullets. At least 20 people were also wounded at rallies and sit-ins across the country.

A TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS IN RULE OF SUDAN'S AL-BASHIR

The activist group said that at least 38 people, including at least six soldiers, have been killed since the protests began on April 6.

Demonstrators gather in Sudan's capital of Khartoum, Friday, April 12, 2019. The Sudanese protest movement has rejected the military's declaration that it has no ambitions to hold the reins of power for long after ousting the president of 30 years, Omar al-Bashir.

Demonstrators gather in Sudan's capital of Khartoum, Friday, April 12, 2019. The Sudanese protest movement has rejected the military's declaration that it has no ambitions to hold the reins of power for long after ousting the president of 30 years, Omar al-Bashir. (AP Photo)

Al-Bashir was ousted from power earlier this week following nearly four months of protests calling for an end to his nearly 30-year rule. The people at first protested against price hikes and shortages, but it quickly turned into a larger movement for Democracy and autocratic rule.

The ousted president is under house arrest and will be tried for unspecified crimes by Sudanese courts, the military said.

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Al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for allegedly playing a role in a genocide linked to the war in Sudan’s Darfur region in the 2000s.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Stranded migrant boat appeals to Europe for port after eight days at sea

Migrant rescue ship 'Alan Kurdi', operated by German NGO Sea-Eye, is seen off coast of Malta
The migrant rescue ship 'Alan Kurdi', operated by German NGO Sea-Eye, is seen from a resupply vessel off the coast of Malta April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

April 11, 2019

By Angelo Amante

ROME (Reuters) – A charity ship with scores of African migrants on board appealed to European states for a safe port on Thursday after being stranded for eight days between Malta and Italy, saying the health of the rescued people was worsening.

Rome and Valletta denied the Alan Kurdi ship entry into their waters after the vessel, managed by German humanitarian organization Sea-Eye, rescued 64 migrants off the Libyan coast on April 3.

Libya, where thousands of African and Syrian migrants and refugees are trapped in Tripoli as a battle for the city draws closer, is the main embarkation point for migrants attempting the perilous sea-crossing to Europe.

Two of 12 women on board the Alan Kurdi were disembarked this week by Maltese patrol boats for health reasons. One of them, a 23-year-old pregnant Nigerian, was taken away on Wednesday evening after an epileptic crisis, Sea-Eye said.

“The Alan Kurdi urgently needs a rapid, political and humanitarian solution for 62 refugees and 17 crew members, whose families are also worried”, the charity said in a statement.

Italy has closed its ports to humanitarian ships since last June, when the far-right League formed a coalition government with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement.

Last week League leader and deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini told Berlin to take responsibility for the boat.

EU states have been at loggerheads over migration since a spike in Mediterranean arrivals caught the bloc by surprise in 2015, stretching social and security services and fuelling support for far-right, nationalist and populist groups.

Sea arrivals have fallen from more than a million in the peak year to some 140,000 people in 2018, according to U.N. data. But political tensions around migration are still running high ahead of European Parliament elections in May.

Last month, rights groups criticized the EU for abdicating its humanitarian responsibilities after member states agreed to withdraw ships patrolling the Mediterranean for migrants.

A Sea-Eye spokeswoman said on Thursday that Germany had called in the European Commission to mediate among EU member states and find a solution, but Brussels had not achieved anything.

“We must put an end to this. It is unacceptable that one person after another has to fall ill to be able to finally get off the ship,” Sea-Eye president Gorden Isler said.

On Friday Italy offered to open its ports to two woman and their children, but they refused to be split from their husbands and remained on board.

New arrivals in Italy have plummeted since Salvini took office in June, with just 551 migrants arriving so far this year, according to official data, down 92 percent on the same period in 2018 and down 98 percent on 2017.

The vast majority come from Libya, whose descent into a civil war after Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011 has allowed people-smugglers to operate with impunity.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante, Editing by Gavin Jones and Catherine Evans)

Source: OANN

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Kellogg stocks up on Pringles, cereals for fear of ‘hard Brexit’

Cans of Pringles are seen on display in New York
Cans of Pringles are seen on display in New York April 5, 2011. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

February 19, 2019

By Richa Naidu

CHICAGO(Reuters) – As the possibility of a no-deal Brexit looms, Kellogg Co is taking measures to protect Britons from a potential shortage of Pringles, the UK’s second-favorite brand of chips.

With Britain at risk of leaving the European Union on March 29 without a divorce deal – known as a ‘hard’ Brexit – several big companies have begun to prepare for the disruption that could ensue.

Kellogg is opening new warehouses and stocking up on its snacks and cereals, hoping to mitigate damage from friction at the UK border and tariffs on imports, Chief Executive Steve Cahillane said in a recent interview.

Kellogg is also working with suppliers to make sure it has enough raw materials at its plants, Cahillane said ahead of CAGNY, a major food and consumer products event held this week in Boca Raton, Florida.

“We’re making plans and spending real money to mitigate impact. That’s things like opening new warehouses, building inventory, preparing ourselves in the best possible way,” Cahillane said.

Cahillane said Kellogg’s supply chain left it exposed. For instance, Pringles, the UK’s No. 2 chips (crisps) brand after PepsiCo Inc’s Walkers, are made in Belgium. Pringles, which could last up to 15 months in storage, banked UK retail sales of $342.6 million last year, according to Euromonitor.

In Europe, Kellogg’s cereal business – which makes Coco Pops and Bran Flakes – is sourced primarily from the UK, Cahillane said.

“In an EU environment that’s just fine, but in a customs environment, in a ‘hard Brexit’ environment, it’s going to change and we have to prepare ourselves for that.”

Kellogg’s cereal business is the biggest in Western Europe with a 23.2 percent share of the market last year and retail sales $1.68 billion, according to Euromonitor. Europe accounted for nearly 18 percent of Kellogg’s total sales in 2018.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Britons could face shortages of fresh food, price rises and less variety if the country leaves the European Union next month without agreeing to trade terms.

Earlier this month, Kellogg said $3 million in Brexit planning costs were partly to blame for lower fourth-quarter earnings. This compounded surging input costs that have plagued the packaged food industry over the past year. In addition, Kellogg has been spending more on advertising to boost demand for cereals among health-conscious consumers.

“Everyone has this problem. Kellogg’s competitors have it too. Brexit’s not their core problem,” said Jerry Storch, CEO of Storch Advisors, a U.S.-based consulting firm for retailers and consumer goods companies.

Anglo-Dutch consumer goods maker Unilever said in January that it was stockpiling ice creams in Britain and deodorants in continental Europe to guard against potential supply disruptions in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

(Reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Vanessa O’Connell and Steve Orlofsky)

Source: OANN

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Protest and celebration in Brazil on Lula prison anniversary

Thousands of people chanting "Free Lula!" protested Sunday outside the jail where former President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva is being held on the anniversary of his incarceration, but other Brazilians staged rallies across the country to celebrate the crackdown on corruption that has put him and other politicians behind bars.

Da Silva is serving a 12-year sentence on a corruption and money laundering conviction. Prosecutors say he received a beachfront apartment from a construction company in exchange for a lucrative contract with the state-owned oil company Petrobras. He and his Worker's Party maintain he is innocent and say he was persecuted by the judiciary and political enemies to prevent him from running for president again.

His imprisonment is at the center of a deeply polarizing debate between Brazilians who see him as a political prisoner for championing the poor and others who believe justice is being served for a corrupt politician.

Fernando Haddad, who ran for president in da Silva's place and lost a November runoff election to far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro, spoke at the rally outside the federal police station that is holding da Silva, who is widely known to Brazilians as Lula.

The country's elites "wouldn't stop until they put possibly one of the worst Brazilians in the presidency and put one of the best Brazilians in prison," Haddad told protesters.

"Lula has been kidnapped by the bourgeoisie," said another speaker, João Pedro Stedile, a leader from the far-left Landless Workers Movement. "The ransom is for us to stop fighting. They want to bring the Brazilian people to their knees."

Protester Beth Dori, 65, called da Silva's arrest unjust. "They did this so they could do what they're doing now with social security and workers' rights laws," she said, referring to unpopular austerity measures taken on after the Worker's Party was no longer in power.

Meanwhile, on the boardwalk of Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach, a rally supporting the attack on corruption cheered da Silva's continued incarceration.

"Today marks one whole year that Lula hasn't stolen!" a protester yelled from the top of a sound car while the crowd applauded.

"I'm very happy to see he's stayed in prison a whole year, and one year is nothing compared to what he's done to the Brazilian people," said Jose Elias, 67, a retired farm worker. "Lula and the Worker's Party ruined this country with their corrupt, leftist mess."

Da Silva is the most prominent figure jailed in an anti-corruption investigation called "Operation Car Wash" that has snared dozens of prominent politicians and business figures.

Anti-corruption demonstrators also demanded the continued take-down of "old politicians," calling for the arrest of other corrupt politicians and applauding the judiciary that is going after them.

"I'm here to call for the impeachment of the corrupt Supreme Court. As long as the court is corrupt, Lula and other corrupt politicians have a chance to be free," said Yasmin Albudane, a 24-year-old university student.

___

Freelance video journalist Fabio Tissot in Curitiba contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News World

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Sen. Blumenthal: Barr Must 'Stand Up, Speak Out' for DOJ

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on Thursday said Attorney General William Barr has to "stand up" for the Justice Department when special counsel Robert Mueller finishes his report.

Blumenthal told CNN's "New Day" that Barr is in for a "wild ride" once Mueller completes his report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

"That means [Barr] has to make a decision: Is he going to be the people's lawyer or is he going to be the president's lawyer?" the senator said. "Clearly, this president regards the attorney general as one of his minions.


"He has no respect for the law, in fact, utter contempt for judges and the judicial process and he has denounced relentlessly the FBI and other law enforcement," Blumenthal continued. "Absolutely unprecedented, shattering all the norms."



"William Barr is a professional, at least he should be," he said. "And he's going to have to stand up and speak out for the Department of Justice and the rule of law. And that will make his ride pretty wild."

Source: NewsMax America

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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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