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

Indonesians choose president, parliament in world’s biggest one-day vote

A supporter covers his head with a T-shirt with the image of Indonesia's incumbent presidential candidate Joko Widodo during a campaign rally at Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta
A supporter covers his head with a T-shirt with the image of Indonesia's incumbent presidential candidate Joko Widodo during a campaign rally at Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

April 16, 2019

By Kanupriya Kapoor and Tabita Diela

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesians vote in the world’s biggest single-day election on Wednesday, with polling stations opening first in the east of the sprawling equatorial archipelago after a six-month campaign to choose a new president and parliament.

President Joko Widodo, a furniture businessman who entered politics 14 years ago as a small-city mayor, is seeking re-election against former general Prabowo Subianto, whom he narrowly defeated in the last election, in 2014.

The economy has dominated a hard-fought campaign, though the rise of political Islam has loomed over the vote in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

Most opinion polls give Widodo a double-digit lead but the opposition says the race is much closer. It alleges data irregularities that could affect millions of voters and has vowed legal or “people power” action if its concerns are ignored.

“The system is not foolproof, but there are enough checks and balances in place,” Kevin O’Rourke, a political analyst and author of the newsletter Reformasi Weekly, said this week.

He said problems with voter lists “are not so bad that it can affect the outcome of the election”.

An unexpected win for the challenger could trigger a brief selloff in financial markets that have priced in a Widodo victory, analysts say.

“Should Prabowo win, this would literally be the end of opinion polling in Indonesia … and a major, major upset,” said Marcus Mietzner, associate professor at Australian National University.

“The question is what the margin of victory will be,” he said, predicting Widodo’s re-election.

Graphic: Presidenti Joko Widodo’s achievements – https://tmsnrt.rs/2CRgHYC

‘GAME OF THRONES’

Poll-related hashtags were trending on Twitter in Indonesia during a three-day quiet period in the run-up to voting day.

Social media users compared the presidential race to the HBO series “Game of Thrones” – with one online meme showing Widodo sitting on its coveted Iron Throne.

Widodo has touted his record on deregulation and improving infrastructure, calling it a first step to tackling inequality and poverty in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

A moderate Muslim from central Java, Widodo has had to burnish his Islamic credentials after smear campaigns and hoax stories accused him of being anti-Islam, a communist or too close to China, all politically damaging in Indonesia.

He has picked Islamic cleric Ma’ruf Amin, 76, as his running mate.

Prabowo, a former special forces commander who has links to some hardline Islamist groups, and his running mate, business entrepreneur Sandiaga Uno, say they will boost the economy by slashing taxes and focusing on infrastructure.

QUICK COUNTS

Nearly 350,000 police and soldiers will join 1.6 million paramilitary officers stationed across the country of 17,000 islands to safeguard the vote.

More than 192 million people are eligible to cast ballots in national and regional legislative elections being contested by more than 245,000 candidates.

Polling stations will open at 7 a.m. (2200 GMT on Tuesday) in the east and close at 1 p.m. (0600 GMT) in the west.

Voters will have five paper ballots for president, vice president, and national and regional legislative candidates.

Unofficial “quick counts”, based on samples from polling stations, will be released hours after voting ends. The winning presidential candidate could be known by late Wednesday.

Official results will be announced in May. Any disputes can be taken to the Constitutional Court where a nine-judge panel will have 14 days to rule on them.

(Reporting by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Ed Davies and Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

0 0

Factbox: New revelations from the Mueller report

The Muller Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election is pictured in New York
The Mueller Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election is pictured in New York, New York, U.S., April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

April 18, 2019

(Reuters) – There are several aspects of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 U.S. election campaign that were not previously known until the release of his report on Thursday.

TRUMP’S REACTION TO APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL

U.S. President Donald Trump believed the appointment of a special counsel to take over an active federal investigation would spell the end of his presidency, according to Mueller’s report.

When then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Trump of Mueller’s appointment on May 17, 2017, the report said, Trump slumped back in his chair and said: “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.”

Trump asked Sessions, whom he had berated for months for recusing himself from the investigation of Russian interference in the election: “How could you let this happen, Jeff?” and told Sessions he had let him down.

Trump told Sessions he should resign, and Sessions agreed to do so. When Sessions delivered his resignation letter to Trump the following day, Trump put the letter in his pocket but said he wanted Sessions to stay on the job.

That alarmed chief of staff Reince Priebus and senior advisor Steve Bannon, who worried Trump would use the letter to control the Department of Justice, and they tried to return it to Sessions.

Trump took the letter with him on a trip to the Middle East, where he showed it to several senior advisers and asked them what he should do about it. On May 30, he finally returned the letter to Sessions with a note saying: “Not accepted.”

THE PRESIDENTIAL INTERVIEW THAT WASN’T

Mueller tried for more than a year to interview Trump, but in the end Trump refused. Trump provided written answers on some Russia-related topics, but did not agree to answer questions about possible obstruction of justice or events that took place during the presidential transition.

Mueller said he thought he had the legal authority to order Trump to testify before a grand jury, but he decided not to take that course because of the “substantial delay that such an investigative step would likely produce at a late stage in our investigation.”

TRUMP’S EFFORTS TO FIRE MUELLER

Trump tried to get Mueller fired in June 2017, shortly after he was appointed, according to the 448-page report. Trump called then-White House counsel Don McGahn twice and directed him to order Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to fire Mueller on the grounds that he had conflicts of interest.

McGahn felt “trapped,” but did not carry out the order, deciding that he would rather resign, Mueller said.

Other White House advisers later talked McGahn out of resigning, and Trump did not follow up to ask whether McGahn had fulfilled his directive.

Trump pressured McGahn to deny that these events took place when they surfaced in news accounts in January 2018, but McGahn refused, according to Mueller’s report, some of which was blacked out to protect some sensitive information.

TRUMP’S EFFORTS TO LIMIT THE INVESTIGATION

Trump also enlisted his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowksi, to try to narrow the investigation’s scope. The report said Trump asked Lewandowski in June 2017 to tell Sessions that he should publicly announce that the Russia probe was “very unfair” to the president, say Trump had done nothing wrong, and limit Mueller’s probe into interference in future elections, not the one that had put him in the White House.

A month later, Trump asked Lewandowski about the status of his request and Lewandowski assured Trump he would deliver the message soon. Trump then publicly criticized Sessions in a New York Times interview and a series of Twitter messages.

Mueller says Lewandowski did not want to deliver the message to Sessions, so he asked senior White House official Rick Dearborn to speak to him. Dearborn also did not want to carry out the task. Ultimately, the message never reached Sessions.

MANAFORT’S EFFORTS TO MONETIZE THE CAMPAIGN

Mueller found that campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s efforts to work with his former business partners in Ukraine were greater than previously known, as he tried to use his insider status on the campaign to collect on debts owed for his past work by Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Shortly after he joined the campaign in the spring of 2016, Manafort directed his deputy Rick Gates to share internal polling data and other campaign materials with Konstantin Kilimnik, a former Ukrainian business partner, with the understanding that it would get passed on to Deripaska, the report said.

During an August 2016 meeting in New York, Manafort told Kilimnik about the campaign’s efforts to win the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota, the report said. Trump ended up winning three of those states in the November election.

Manafort worked with his Ukrainian allies until the spring of 2018, after he had been indicted by Mueller, to promote a peace plan that would have split the country in two. These efforts did not constitute coordination between the campaign and Russian efforts to disrupt the election, Mueller found.

Manafort urged Gates not to plead guilty after they were both indicted by Mueller, apparently believing that they would be pardoned by the president if they did not cooperate with investigators. Trump’s numerous sympathetic statements before and during Manafort’s criminal trial could be interpreted as an effort to sway the outcome, but they also could be interpreted as a sign that he genuinely felt sorry for Manafort, Mueller said.

PLAN FOR U.S.-RUSSIA RECONCILIATION

Relations between Washington and Moscow had deteriorated under two previous administrations and the United States had imposed sanctions on Russia. Following Trump’s election victory, Russian financier Kirill Dmitriev worked on a proposal to improve ties with Rick Gerson, a hedge fund manager who is friends with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. Dmitriev runs Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and reports directly to Putin.

Gerson gave the plan to Kushner before Trump was sworn in, Mueller’s report said, and Kushner gave copies to Bannon and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

After Trump took office in January 2017, Dmitriev told Gerson that his “boss” – an apparent reference to Putin – wanted to know if there was a reaction to the proposal, which called for cooperation on terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and economic matters. When Putin and Trump spoke by phone, Dmitriev told Gerson that their plan had “played an important role.”

Gerson told Mueller’s team that he acted as an intermediary between Trump and Russia on his own initiative, not at the request of Trump’s aides.

(Compiled by Andy Sullivan; editing by Grant McCool)

Source: OANN

0 0

Athletics: Semenya wins 5,000m gold at South African Championships

South Africa's double Olympic champion Caster Semenya takes part in the 5,000m run at South African Championships in Germiston
South Africa's double Olympic champion Caster Semenya takes part in the 5,000m run at South African Championships in Germiston, South Africa, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

April 25, 2019

GERMISTON, South Africa (Reuters) – Caster Semenya cruised to victory in the 5,000 meters at the South African athletics championships on Thursday, a potential new distance as she waits for the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an appeal against regulations seeking to limit her testosterone level.

Semenya looked in complete control as she won in a time of 16:05.97 on the opening day of the championships, which serve as an important test for the South African team going to the World Championships in Doha in September.

Semenya made a rare run in the longer distance after earlier cruising into Friday’s final of the 1,500m with a time of 4:30.65, well below her personal best.

Although she barely broke a sweat, her 1,500m time was nine seconds quicker than the second fastest qualifier.

The heats for the 800m, her principal event, are on Friday morning, with the final to be run on Saturday evening.

Semenya is waiting for the outcome of her appeal asking CAS to halt the introduction of new regulations by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that would require her to take medicine to limit her natural levels of testosterone.

The IAAF wants female athletes with differences in sexual development to reduce their blood testosterone level to below a stipulated concentration for a period of six months before they can compete, to prevent any unfair advantage.

But this is limited to events ranging between 400m and a mile, and so would not include the 5,000m, leaving Semenya free to compete unhindered.

Her time on Thursday was 45 seconds slower than the best mark set in 2019 so far, but Semenya looked to be holding back before putting in her familiar sprint in the final 200 meters.

CAS is due to deliver its verdict on Semenya’s appeal before the end of April.

Meanwhile, 400m Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk pulled out of his heat on Thursday, citing a wet track as he attempted to resume high-level competition after 18 months out.

“Sad to announce my withdrawal from the Athletics South Africa Senior Championships,” Van Niekerk tweeted.

“Was looking forward to competing again on home soil after a good build-up but the weather isn’t playing along so we don’t want to take any chances.

“I look forward to representing South Africa on the international circuit.”

Van Niekerk injured his knee in a charity touch rugby game in October 2017 and missed the entire 2018 season.

(Reporting By Nick Said; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Source: OANN

0 0

Explainer: How Sisi’s backers are planning to change Egypt’s constitution

FILE PHOTO: Egyptian President al-Sisi attends a signing ceremony following a meeting with Russian President Putin in Sochi
FILE PHOTO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a signing ceremony following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia October 17, 2018. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

February 22, 2019

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s parliament is debating proposed constitutional changes that could allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in power until 2034 and tighten his control over the judiciary.

The proposals, submitted by Sisi supporters in parliament, have divided the country of nearly 100 million people, the most populous in the Arab world.

Supporters say the changes will allow the president to finalize economic reforms and major development projects. Opponents argue they will entrench authoritarian rule and further empower Egypt’s military.

WHAT ARE THE KEY CHANGES BEING CONSIDERED?

One central proposal would amend article 140 of the constitution to extend the presidential term to six years from four. It retains a two-term limit but includes a clause that would allow Sisi, whose second term expires in 2022, to seek two new six-year terms.

The president would have more control over the appointment of judges and the public prosecutor.

Lawmakers have also proposed introducing the post of vice president, allowing the head of state to appoint one or more deputies.

A second parliamentary chamber known as the Council of Senators would be added. The president would appoint one-third of its members.

Article 200 of the constitution would be amended to give the military a duty to protect “the constitution and democracy and the fundamental makeup of the country and its civil nature.”

WHO IS BEHIND THE CHANGES?

The amendments were initiated by the pro-government parliamentary bloc Support Egypt. Under the current constitution, which was approved by referendum in 2014, amendments may be introduced to parliament at the request of a fifth of the assembly’s 596 members, or by the president.

Parliament speaker Ali Abdelaal has sought to distance Sisi from the plan, saying it was purely a parliamentary initiative and that Sisi may choose not to run in 2022.

But the proposed changes are widely seen as driven by Sisi, his close entourage, and security and intelligence agencies who hold real power in Egypt. They follow months of speculation that the presidency was preparing to push constitutional changes through a pliant parliament.

WHAT DO SUPPORTERS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES SAY?

Supporters argue that Sisi came to power with a huge mandate after mass protests against Islamist President Mohamed Mursi’s one year in office.

They say Sisi helped stabilize the country after three years of turmoil following the 2011 uprising, and has presided over economic reforms that put the country on the mend.

With macro economic indicators improving, Sisi supporters say he deserves more time to build on the reforms.

WHO OPPOSES THE CHANGES AND WHY?

A handful of leftist and liberal members of parliament in the so-called 25-30 opposition bloc oppose the changes. But thousands of ordinary Egyptians, including lawyers, judges, actors, engineers, doctors and journalists have also signed a petition against them circulating on social media. As of Feb. 18, organizers said more than 21,500 had signed.

Critics say that while article 226 of the constitution stipulates that article 140 can be amended, it clearly states that such changes can only be made to reinforce civic rights rather than weakening them, as critics contend these proposals would.

“This assembly has no right to amend articles related to the presidential election or rights, freedoms and equality except to provide more guarantees,” Ahmed al-Tantawi, a member of the 25-30 bloc, said.

Opponents argue that a central promise of the Jan. 25, 2011 uprising, when mass protests prompted former President Hosni Mubarak to step down, is at risk: the principle of the peaceful handover of power.

Ahmed Galal, a former finance minister, said the amendments represented a return to the system that kept Mubarak in power for three decades.

“Isn’t the principle of the transfer of power a precious goal in itself?” Galal wrote in a column published in Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper.

Many Egyptians also worry that the amendments give the president powers to appoint judges and the public prosecutor, thrust the armed forces into political life by formally assigning them a role in protecting democracy, and establish further curbs on freedom of expression.

Opponents say Sisi, first elected president in 2014 and reelected last year in a vote in which the only other candidate was an ardent Sisi supporter, has overseen the worst period of political repression in Egypt’s modern history and that his economic reforms are not benefiting average Egyptians.

HOW DO WESTERN POWERS VIEW THE CHANGES?

The United States and its Western allies have not publicly commented on the changes, which they see as an internal Egyptian matter. But they maintain that the stability of Egypt is crucial for the security and stability of the Middle East.

During a regional tour last month, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo showered Sisi with praise as a key ally in the fight against terrorism.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in Cairo last month that “things haven’t gone in the right direction since 2017,” pointing out that bloggers, journalists were in prison.

“Because of that, Egypt’s image can find itself suffering,” he said.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

After two days of heated discussions on Feb. 14, parliament passed the amendments in principle by an overwhelming majority of 485 votes against 14. Nearly 100 MPs were absent.

The head of parliament’s legislative and constitution committee, Bahaa Abu Shaqqa, said proposals and suggestions from outside parliament would be collected for one month, with two weeks of parliamentary discussions to follow, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Then parliament will hold a second, final vote.

If approved, the proposals will be put to a referendum expected by the middle of this year, possibly before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that starts in May.

(Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Robin Pomeroy)

Source: OANN

0 0

In the city of Gouda, Dutch cheesemakers worry about U.S. tariffs

A seller holds a piece of Gouda cheese at the cheese market in Gouda
A seller holds a piece of Gouda cheese at the cheese market in Gouda, Netherlands April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

April 19, 2019

GOUDA, Netherlands (Reuters) – Surrounded by 15-kg (33 lb) wheels of cheese ready to be carted away in horse-drawn carriages, a dairy farmer in the Dutch city of Gouda faces off against a cheese trader wearing traditional wooden clogs.

Staring each other in the eyes, they clap their hands together until they seal a deal, recreating an auction ritual that dates back to medieval times.

These days the historical cheese market — now a tourist attraction — operates under a shadow.

Two famed Dutch cheeses, Gouda Holland and Edam Holland, are among the many artisanal European products threatened with U.S. tariffs the Trump administration announced on April 8.

“If they cannot be exported to America, we will have to find another outlet,” said Jan de Goeij, a retired cheesemaker who plays the part of trader. He knows that would mean accepting lower prices.

“So we are very concerned about that threat from Trump. I hope it won’t happen.”

The United States could impose $11 billion worth of European export products with tariffs over subsidies for Airbus, and Europe threatens to retaliate over U.S. tax breaks for Boeing, a dispute that seems far removed from the Dutch cheese industry.

The Dutch, the world’s second-largest agricultural exporter after the United States, send 78 million euros ($88 million)worth of cheese products to the U.S. every year, according to Statistics Netherlands.

Ironically, Gouda gave U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Pete Hoekstra an honorary title – Waegemeester, or “Master of the Scales” – just days before the tariff threat was announced.

“I don’t think Ambassador Hoekstra should give that honorary title back,” said Gouda cheese producer Johan de Wit.

“If we now ask it back we will only get negative effects.”

Gouda and Edam cheeses can be made anywhere in the world by farmers who follow the correct processes. But the “Gouda Holland” and “Edam Holland” geographical designations can only refer to cheeses made entirely in the Netherlands.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: OANN

0 0

EU leaders debate more assertive response to China’s rise

FILE PHOTO: An attendant walks past EU and China flags ahead of the EU-China High-level Economic Dialogue in Beijing
FILE PHOTO: An attendant walks past EU and China flags ahead of the EU-China High-level Economic Dialogue at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

March 22, 2019

By Philip Blenkinsop and Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU leaders said on Friday the bloc must recognize that China is as much a competitor as a partner, after calls for a more assertive policy toward Beijing over the openness of Chinese markets and the role of state-led firms.

The bloc has sought to avoid taking sides in a multi-billion dollar trade war between Washington and Beijing.

But it has become increasingly frustrated by subsidies, state involvement in the Chinese economy, and what it sees as a slow pace of change there.

Brussels will host an EU-China summit on April 9.

EU leaders had been intending to discuss China on Thursday at their summit, but their schedule was blown off course by a long day of talks over how to deal with Britain and its looming departure from the bloc.

The goal of presenting a united front on China was complicated by a simultaneous visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Italy, whose eurosceptic government was due to sign an accord drawing the country into China’s giant “Belt and Road” infrastructure plan.

Other largely eastern EU countries have also signed up to the plan.

The EU debate on China will be combined with a discussion on improving the competitiveness of Europe’s industry. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the debate was long overdue.

“China is a partner, but it is at the same time a competitor,” he said. “It’s crucial that there be fair trade conditions.”

He also questioned why China could be regarded under World Trade Organization rules as a developing country given special treatment, while being on course to become the largest economy in the world – a view shared by Washington.

“We need fair rules and naturally also protection for intellectual property and know-how from Europe and proper treatment of our investors in China,” Kurz continued.

In signs the European Union wants to end unfettered access to Chinese business, it is about to introduce a system to screen foreign investments, particularly those affecting vital infrastructure or technology.

The European Commission, which coordinates trade policy for the 28 member nations, has also urged leaders to back its plan to limit access to EU public tenders worth 2.4 trillion euros ($2.7 trillion) to companies from countries whose procurement markets were not open.

Pro-free trade countries such as the Nordics and the Netherlands say the plan could unfairly restrict commerce and amount to a surcharge for taxpayers by shutting out cheaper providers.

The EU leaders were also due to discuss Huawei Technologies Co and whether it should be allowed to provide equipment for future high-speed 5G networks. The U.S. government has said the equipment could be used to spy on the West.

“We need a relationship of trust. I know that there are questions now about 5G and Huawei in Europe. I think we need a base of rules to be respected by anyone who wants to do 5G in Europe,” Bettel said.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Robin Emmott; Additional reporting by Robin Emmott, Francesco Guarascio, Andreas Rinke and Thomas Escritt; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Source: OANN

0 0

Mercury’s Spin Reveals Planet’s Solid Core

How do you explore the interior of a planet without ever touching down on it? Start by watching the way the planet spins, then measure how your spacecraft orbits it — very, very carefully. This is exactly what NASA planetary scientists did, using data from the agency’s former mission to Mercury.

It has long been known that Mercury and the Earth have metallic cores. Like Earth, Mercury’s outer core is composed of liquid metal, but there have only been hints that Mercury’s innermost core is solid. Now, in a new study, scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland have found evidence that Mercury’s inner core is indeed solid and that it is very nearly the same size as Earth’s inner core.

Some scientists compare Mercury to a cannonball because its metal core fills nearly 85 percent of the volume of the planet. This large core — huge compared to the other rocky planets in our solar system — has long been one of the most intriguing mysteries about Mercury. Scientists had also wondered whether Mercury might have a solid inner core.

The findings of Mercury’s solid inner core, described in Geophysical Research Letters, certainly adds to a better understanding of Mercury, but there are larger ramifications. Just how similar, and how different, the cores of the planets are may give us clues about how the solar system formed and how rocky planets change over time.

“Mercury’s interior is still active, due to the molten core that powers the planet’s weak magnetic field, relative to Earth’s,” said Antonio Genova, an assistant professor at the Sapienza University of Rome who led the research while at NASA Goddard. “Mercury’s interior has cooled more rapidly than our planet’s. Mercury may help us predict how Earth’s magnetic field will change as the core cools.”


Alex Jones reveals the truth behind China’s exploration of the dark side of the moon, an adventure that, in all likelihood, has already been carried out by covert, American-run space programs.

To figure out what the core of Mercury is made of, Genova and his colleagues had to get, figuratively, closer. The team used several observations from the MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, GEochemistry and Ranging) mission to probe the interior of Mercury. The researchers looked, most importantly, at the planet’s spin and gravity.

The MESSENGER spacecraft entered orbit around Mercury in March 2011, and spent four years observing this nearest planet to our Sun until it was deliberately brought down to the planet’s surface in April 2015.

Radio observations from MESSENGER were used to determine the gravitational anomalies (areas of local increases or decreases in mass) and the location of its rotational pole, which allowed scientists to understand the orientation of the planet.

Each planet spins on an axis, also known as the pole. Mercury spins much more slowly than Earth, with its day lasting about 58 Earth days. Scientists often use tiny variations in the way an object spins to reveal clues about its internal structure. In 2007, radar observations made from Earth revealed small shifts in the spin of Mercury, called librations, that proved some of Mercury’s core must be liquid-molten metal. But observations of the spin rate alone were not sufficient to give a clear measurement of what the inner core was like. Could there be a solid core lurking underneath, scientists wondered?

Gravity can help answer that question. “Gravity is a powerful tool to look at the deep interior of a planet because it depends on the planet’s density structure,” said Sander Goossens, a Goddard researcher who worked with Genova on this study.

(Photo by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Flickr)

As MESSENGER orbited Mercury over the course of its mission, and got closer and closer to the surface, scientists recorded how the spacecraft accelerated under the influence of the planet’s gravity. The density structure of a planet can create subtle changes in a spacecraft’s orbit. In the later parts of the mission, MESSENGER flew about 120 miles above the surface, and less than 65 miles during its last year. The final low-altitude orbits provided the best data yet, and allowed for Genova and his team to make the most accurate measurements about the internal structure of Mercury yet taken.

Genova and his team put data from MESSENGER into a sophisticated computer program that allowed them to adjust parameters and figure out what the interior composition of Mercury must be like to match the way it spins and the way the spacecraft accelerated around it. The results showed that for the best match, Mercury must have a large, solid inner core. They estimated that the solid, iron core is about 1,260 miles (about 2,000 kilometers) wide and makes up about half of Mercury’s entire core (about 2,440 miles, or nearly 4,000 kilometers, wide). In contrast, Earth’s solid core is about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) across, taking up a little more than a third of this planet’s entire core.

“We had to pull together information from many fields: geodesy, geochemistry, orbital mechanics and gravity to find out what Mercury’s internal structure must be,” said Goddard planetary scientist Erwan Mazarico, who also helped Genova reveal Mercury’s solid core.

The fact that scientists needed to get close to Mercury to find out more about its interior highlights the power of sending spacecraft to other worlds. Such accurate measurements of Mercury’s spin and gravity were simply not possible to make from Earth. Additionally, this result used data collected by MESSENGER over several years, information that’s available for all scientists to use. New discoveries about Mercury are practically guaranteed to be waiting in MESSENGER’s archives, with each discovery about our local planetary neighborhood giving us a better understanding of what lies beyond.

“Every new bit of information about our solar system helps us understand the larger universe,” said Genova.


Millie Weaver and Kaitlin Bennett join Alex Jones to discuss his recent appearance on Logan Paul’s podcast.

Source: InfoWars

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



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!
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!

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

Title

Artist