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Ruble near one-week high versus dollar ahead of Putin’s speech

FILE PHOTO: A view shows a Russian one rouble coin in this picture illustration
FILE PHOTO: A view shows a Russian one rouble coin in this picture illustration taken October 26, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo

February 20, 2019

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian ruble eased slightly in early trade on Wednesday but hovered close to a one-week peak ahead of an annual address to parliament by President Vladimir Putin.

At 1037 GMT the ruble was 0.1 percent down against the dollar at 65.83 after firming to 65.74 the day before, its strongest level since Feb. 13.

Putin’s televised address to parliament and other members of the Russian political elite is due to start at 0900 GMT. He is expected to touch upon a wide range on topics, both domestic and international, a day after data showed yet another drop in real disposable incomes among Russians.

Versus the euro, the ruble was down 0.1 percent at 74.67.

Russia’s Ministry of Finance is set to hold an auction for three OFZ treasury bonds. Demand for such bonds at weekly auctions is seen as a barometer of market sentiment toward Russian risks.

“The ruble has a reason to strengthen amid the OFZ placement, which has seen rather strong demand lately,” Otkritie brokerage said in a note.

Oil prices remained supportive for Russian assets as Brent crude oil was steady at $66.43 a barrel, near recent peaks.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was 0.8 percent higher at 1,183.2 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index rose 0.6 percent to 2,472.7 points.

(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Source: OANN

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Magnitude 5.2 earthquake rocks Iran’s west, no casualties

Iran's seismology center says a magnitude 5.2 earthquake has rocked the country's west on the Iran-Iraq border.

The Monday report says the quake hit near the town of Sumar in Kermanshah province, some 690 kilometers (430 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran.

Iranian media reported no deaths or injuries in the sparsely populated area.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was centered 31 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of the Iraqi town of Mandali, at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles).

Two more aftershocks hit in less than an hour, which the USGS says were magnitude 4.9 and 4.4.

In November, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck a nearby area, injuring over 500 people.

Iran is located on major seismic faults and experiences one earthquake per day on average.

Source: Fox News World

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One of world’s rarest whale species has mini-baby boom off New England coast

An endangered species of whale is experiencing a mini-baby boom in New England waters, researchers on Cape Cod have said.

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the rarest species of whale on the planet, numbering only about 411. But the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Mass.,  said Friday its aerial survey team spotted two mom and calf pairs in Cape Cod Bay a day earlier. That brings the number seen in New England waters alone this year to three.

145 WHALES DIE ON NEW ZEALAND ISLAND

That's big news because the whale's population has been falling, and no calves were seen last year. In all, seven right whale calves have been seen so far this year.

The whales give birth off Georgia and Florida in the winter and travel to feeding grounds off New England in the early spring, including the Gulf of Maine, a body of water that touches Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Canada.

Cape Cod Bay is part of the Gulf of Maine and is a critically important feeding ground. The animals often feed close to shore, providing watchers on land "unbeatable views of one of the rarest of marine mammals," the Center for Coastal Studies said in a statement.

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It's illegal to get within 1,500 feet of the animals without a federal research permit, so boaters are discouraged from attempting to get close to the whales.

Source: Fox News National

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Woods’ Masters win earns man $1.2 million from first sports wager

Tiger woods celebrates after winning the 2019 Masters
Golf - Masters - Augusta National Golf Club - Augusta, Georgia, U.S. - April 14, 2019. Spectators applaud as Tiger Woods of the U.S. celebrates on the 18th hole to win the 2019 Masters. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

April 16, 2019

(Reuters) – A Wisconsin man who bet $85,000 on Tiger Woods to win the Masters was handed a check for $1.275 million by bookmaker William Hill on Monday.

A day after Woods came from behind to win his first major title in 11 years, a video circulating online showed James Adducci picking up his check at SLS Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.

The 39-year-old told Golf Digest that the 14-1 bet was his first sports wager. The stockbroker, who works from home, said he planned to spend the winnings on home improvements and paying off debts while investing the rest.

Reports said the net $1.19 million payout was the largest for a single ticket golf bet in the company’s history in the United States.

“Pretty good first bet,” Nick Bogdanovich, William Hill’s U.S. director of trading, told ESPN.

“It’s great to see Tiger back. It’s a painful day for William Hill — our biggest loss ever — but a great day for golf.”

William Hill was not the only bookmaker to feel the pain after the 43-year-old Woods secured his fifth green jacket at Augusta National.

SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas had a “high five-figure” net loss on its Masters futures, and offshore sportsbook BetOnline.ag said the surprise win produced the company’s biggest loss on a futures market, ESPN said.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Source: OANN

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Golfer Phil Mickelson says he used consultant in college admissions scandal

Golfer Phil Mickelson said on Twitter Thursday that he is among “thousands” who used the college consulting company accused of orchestrating a massive college admissions bribery scheme.

Mickelson said his family was shocked by the recent revelations about the consultant, William Singer.

Mickelson’s daughter attends Brown University in Providence, R.I.

The university did not respond to a request for comment.

FELICITY HUFFMAN, LORI LOUGHLIN MOCKED BY FELLOW CELEBRITIES OVER COLLEGE ADMISSIONS CHEATING SCANDAL

Mickelson emphasized that his family was not involved in any fraud.

The golfer has not been charged with a crime or implicated in the bribery scandal.

Federal prosecutors said Singer led a scheme in which wealthy parents bribed sports coaches and other officials to get their children entry to elite universities.

More than 50 people have been charged — prominent among them were TV actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.

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The colleges have cast themselves as victims and have moved to distance themselves from the coaches, firing or suspending them.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Report: NKorea’s Ghost Ships Help Get Around Sanctions

North Korea employs a fleet of ghost ships sailing around the globe to evade sanctions and buy and sell goods such as coal and oil, according to an in-depth report.

The Washington Post published a lengthy look Wednesday evening about North Korea's actions, which involve meeting other ships in the middle of the ocean to transfer cargo, carrying and transmitting false ship identification numbers, and conducting backroom deals.

"It's anarchy," Hugh Griffiths, the outgoing coordinator of United Nations sanctions monitors, told the Post. "These massive gaps in maritime and financial governance will provide Chairman Kim [Jong Un] with an economic lifeline for months, if not years, to come."

North Korea has resorted to the illicit actions because sanctions from the UN and the United States have crippled its ability to conduct international trade. Kim will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

The Post report provided several examples of how Kim's regime gets around sanctions. In many cases, ships that do business with North Korean ships are registered in countries that do not conduct full oversight, such as Panama, Togo, and Dominica — called a "flag of convenience," according to the Post.

The UN monitors work near the UN headquarters in New York City and keep tabs on North Korean ships via photos and satellite images.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Walmart tops 4Q expectations all around

Walmart is beating expectations on profit and revenue, and e-commerce sales surged during the fourth quarter.

Shares moved sharply higher before the opening bell Tuesday.

The company had a fourth-quarter profit of $3.69 billion, or $1.27 per share. Earnings, removing one-time items, were $1.41 per share, which is 8 cents better than analysts had expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

The Bentonville, Arkansas, company had revenue of $138.79 billion, also better than expected.

Sales at established U.S. Walmart Inc. stores jumped 4.2 percent, easily beating projections.

Walmart's performance is encouraging after a dismal government report on December sales from U.S. retailers.

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Portions of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on WMT at https://www.zacks.com/ap/WMT

Source: Fox News National

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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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