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The Latest: Boy died of blunt force trauma to head

The Latest on death of the 5-year-old northern Illinois boy (all times local):

4:10 p.m.

An autopsy determined that the boy whose body was found in a shallow grave in northern Illinois died of blunt force trauma to his head and that he'd been struck multiple times.

In a news release, the McHenry County Coroner confirmed that the body that was found wrapped in plastic in a wooded area a few miles from the family's Crystal Lake home was that of Andrew "AJ" Freund.

The boy was reported missing last week and his body was discovered buried in a wooded area a few miles from the family's Crystal Lake home on Wednesday.

His parents, 36-year-old Joann Cunningham and 60-year-old Andrew Freund Sr. have been charged with first-degree murder and other felony charges and at a hearing on Thursday a judge set their bail at $5 million each after prosecutors alleged that the couple had forced the little boy to stand for an extended period of time in a cold shower and beat him.

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10:45 a.m.

Police say an Illinois couple who reported their 5-year-old son missing last week killed him days earlier by beating him and forcing him to remain in a cold shower for an extended period of time.

Those allegations are laid out in a criminal complaint filed Thursday against Joann Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr. They face first-degree murder, aggravated battery and several other charges in the death of Andrew "AJ" Freund.

During a brief court hearing Thursday, a judge set bail at $5 million each.

According to the complaint, AJ was killed about three days before his father called police to report that his son had disappeared. A body believed to be AJ's was found Wednesday, wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area a few miles from the family's Crystal Lake home.

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10 a.m.

A judge has set bail at $5 million each for an Illinois mother and father charged with murder in the death of their 5-year-old son.

Joann Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr. appeared separately on Thursday morning at the McHenry County Jail during a hearing in which a prosecutor told Judge Mark Gerhardt that Freund allegedly beat Andrew "AJ" Freund and forced him into a cold shower.

The judge's order means that each of the parents would each have to post 10 %, or $500,000 to be released from jail.

The parents reported the boy missing last week. On Wednesday, the boy's father provided information that led to the discovery of a body believed to be that of the boy in a shallow grave a few miles from the family's Crystal Lake home.

The parents are charged with first-degree murder and several other felony charges.

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8:15 a.m.

An Illinois couple is due in court on charges accusing them in the death of their 5-year-old son after a body believed to be his was found wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave.

McHenry County sheriff's records show 36-year-old JoAnn Cunningham and 60-year-old Andrew Freund Sr. of Crystal Lake have a Thursday morning hearing.

They were arrested Wednesday and face murder and battery charges in the killing of Andrew "AJ" Freund.

Authorities say an autopsy could happen Thursday.

Cunningham and Freund reported AJ missing a week ago and authorities used sonar and canine units to search the area for the boy. On Wednesday, detectives confronted the parents with cellphone data evidence, which led investigators to the boy's body in a "makeshift grave" near a farm access road.

Source: Fox News National

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Syria asks UN to condemn US accepting Israel's Golan control

Syria's Foreign Ministry is calling on the U.N. human rights commissioner to denounce President Donald Trump's recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights.

The ministry's statement Wednesday said Trump's decision this week is a "blatant aggression" against Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as a violation of the U.N. charter and international law.

It called on U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to publicly say Trump's decision endangers the rights of Syrians living in the occupied Golan.

Thousands of Syrians have held rallies in cities controlled by President Bashar Assad's government against Trump's announcement. In the coastal city Tartus, hundreds gathered Wednesday outside the governor's office in protest.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in 1981.

Source: Fox News World

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Fitzpatrick takes Bay Hill lead with McIlroy a stroke behind

PGA: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard - Third Round
Mar 9, 2019; Orlando, FL, USA; Matthew Fitzpatrick drives the ball off of the 15th tee during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

March 10, 2019

(Reuters) – Matthew Fitzpatrick played bogey-free golf as he eased past Rory McIlroy for a one-stroke lead over the Northern Irishman after the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida on Saturday.

Back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th holes enabled the Englishman to overtake McIlroy and the 24-year-old saved pars at his final two holes for a five-under-par 67 to head into Sunday’s final round at nine-under 207.

Defending champion McIlroy shot a 66 to surge up the leaderboard at Bay Hill.

The former world number one, strong off the tee, birdied four of his first six holes and three of his final four as he continued solid play for the season.

McIlroy’s round could have been even stronger had he not twice three-putted at par-five holes, including at the 12th where his putting cost him a chance of an eagle.

Australian Aaron Baddeley (69), Englishman Matt Wallace (69) and American Kevin Kisner (70) shared third at seven-under.

Third round co-leaders Tommy Fleetwood (76) and Keegan Bradley (75) stumbled out of contention after beginning the day with a four-stroke advantage.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina, editing by Nick Mulvenney)

Source: OANN

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After drug distributor charged, Trump sets speech on opioid fight

U.S. President Trump attends the 2019 White House Easter Egg Roll in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump attends the 2019 White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 22, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

April 24, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump is expected to tout his fight against opioid abuse in remarks in Atlanta on Wednesday, a day after his administration brought its first related criminal charges against a major drug distributor and company executives.

America’s opioid epidemic, especially damaging in rural areas where Trump is popular, has been a focus for the Republican president.

Little has come of Trump’s calls for executing drug dealers, but on other fronts the administration has taken some action. Trump has worked to boost funding for treatment and raise awareness of the problem.

On Tuesday, the government charged Rochester Drug Co-operative Inc and executives of the major drug distributor. The company agreed to pay $20 million and enter a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve charges it turned a blind eye to thousands of suspicious orders for opioids.

Deaths from opioid overdose in the United States jumped 17 percent in 2017 from a year earlier to more than 49,000 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Deaths from synthetic opioids like fentanyl surged 45 percent in that time, according to the CDC.

Hundreds of lawsuits by state and local governments accuse drugmakers such as Purdue Pharma of deceptively marketing opioids, and distributors such as AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc and McKesson Corp of ignoring that they were being diverted for improper uses.

Trump has said he convinced Chinese President Xi Jinping in a December meeting in Argentina to designate fentanyl as a controlled substance.

China last month listed all fentanyl-related substances as controlled narcotics after criticism from Trump, though its government blamed U.S. culture for abuse of the drug and said the amount of fentanyl going from China into the United States was “extremely limited.”

Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency in October 2017. He plans to provide an update on his administration’s work on the issue at the Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit, a White House spokesman said.

Trump has used the crisis to support his call for building a wall on the border with Mexico, saying it would help keep out drugs and curb the crisis.

Heroin from Mexico accounted for 86 percent of the heroin found on U.S. streets, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency’s most recent annual narcotic report. Heroin, unlike fentanyl, is derived from the seeds of the opium poppy plant.

Last week, U.S. health officials said they will spend $350 million in four states to study ways to best deal with the opioid crisis on the local level, with a goal of reducing opioid-related overdose deaths by 40 percent over three years in selected communities in those states.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and David Gregorio)

Source: OANN

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Sanders nabs top spot in new Dems poll as Pete Buttigieg gains momentum

A new poll released Monday has Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., leading the 2020 Democratic presidential field, ahead of former Vice President Joe Biden, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Kamala Harris of California and more than a dozen other potential White House challengers.

The poll, which was conducted by Emerson Polling, puts Sanders atop the already crowded Democratic field with 29 percent, followed by Biden – who has yet to declare his candidacy -- with 24 percent and a surging South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg rounding off the top three with nine percent.

O’Rourke and Harris garnered eight percent, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., pulled in seven percent.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT BERNIE SANDERS' FOX NEWS TOWN HALL 

The polling indicates that Sanders, who will appear Monday evening at a Fox News Town Hall, has a broader appeal than just his Democratic Socialist base and that his message about trade, unions, working families and health care is resonating with Democratic voters. Last week, Sanders launched a revamped “Medicare for All” plan that would replace job-based and individual private health insurance with a government-run plan that guarantees coverage for all with no premiums, deductibles and only minimal copays for certain services. In this latest version, Sanders added coverage for long-term care.

Besides Sanders plucking the top spot in the poll, the other big news from the Emerson survey was the rise of Pete Buttigieg. Affectionately known to his fans as Mayor Pete, the poll is another piece of good news for the once thought-to-be longshot candidate who officially declared his White House intentions on Sunday.

PETE BUTTIGIEG FORMALLY ANNOUNCES 2020 PRESIDENTIAL RUN

Within hours of announcing his candidacy, Buttigieg’s campaign tweeted that it had received $1 million in grassroots donations.

In a speech announcing his run, Buttigieg highlighted both his progressive values and Midwestern upbringing.

"I ran for mayor in 2011 knowing that nothing like Studebaker would ever come back—but believing that we would, our city would, if we had the courage to reimagine our future," Buttigieg said in a speech inside South Bend's Studebaker auto plant. "And now, I can confidently say that South Bend is back."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

He added: "There’s a long way for us to go. Life here is far from perfect. But, we’ve changed our trajectory, and shown a path forward for communities like ours."

The 37-year-old Afghanistan War veteran, who has been exploring a White House run since January, now joins the field of a dozen-plus rivals and one that is likely to reach 20 or more.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Second Major Airport Bans Chick-fil-A

An airport in New York has rejected Chick-fil-A from an upcoming food court project, making it the second airport to ban the restaurant in as many weeks.

On Friday, Democratic New York State Assemblyman Sean Ryan applauded the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) for its decision to ban the restaurant from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport over so-called anti-LGBTQ practices.

“Earlier today I spoke with the vendor of the Buffalo Airport food court project, and they informed me they will not be opening a Chick-fil-A as a part of their airport project,” Ryan wrote in a statement Friday. “A publicly financed facility like the Buffalo Niagara International Airport is not the appropriate venue for a Chick-fil-A restaurant. I applaud the decision that has been made to remove Chick-fil-A from the plans for this project. We hope in the future the NFTA will make every effort to contract with businesses that adhere to antidiscriminatory policies, and we’re confident another vendor who better represents the values of the Western New York community will replace Chick-fil-A as a part of this project in the very near future.”

The announcement comes one day after Ryan penned a statement criticizing the NFTA’s move to allow Chick-fil-A, after last week’s decision by the San Antonio city council to ban the restaurant from its city airport.

“I was disappointed to learn of the NFTA’s decision to introduce Chick-fil-A as a restaurant option at the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport,” Ryan wrote Thursday. “Chick-fil-A has a long history of supporting and funding anti-LGBTQ organizations. In fact, the San Antonio City Council recently rejected a plan to open a Chick-fil-A at the San Antonio International Airport due to the company’s discriminatory advocacy.”

A statement from Chick-fil-A to the San Antonio city council last week disputed their “misperceptions” of the company’s values, and invited them to visit any of its 32 San Antonio area restaurants.

On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to investigate the San Antonio city council’s decision to ensure it does not violate discrimination laws or infringe on the religious rights of Texans.

“The Constitution’s protection of religious liberty is somehow even better than Chick-fil-A’s chicken,” Paxton wrote in a letter to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “Unfortunately, I have serious concerns that both are under assault at the San Antonio airport.”

“You should also note that I have directed my office to open an investigation into whether the City’s action violates state law,” Paxton added. “I trust the City will fully cooperate with my investigation into this matter, and will abide by relevant federal and state laws in the future.”

Chick-fil-A did not respond to Infowars’ request for comment as of writing.


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adan.salazar.735

Source: InfoWars

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Kindergarten teacher accused of recording sexually explicit videos with a child, sending them to ex-boyfriend

A kindergarten teacher from Florida is facing jail time for allegedly recording herself sexually abusing a young child and sending the videos to her ex-boyfriend.

Audra Mabel, 34, is now facing child pornography charges after authorities found the videos on ex-boyfriend Justin Ritchie's computer. He was under investigation after a complaint was filed against him for sexually assaulting a child under the age of 12. He also videotaped the alleged assaults, according to reports.

Mabel allegedly sent Ritchie 11 sexually explicit videos of herself, which were made in 2017 while she was living and teaching at a school in Michigan. The child involved in the videos was reportedly not one of her students. However, in one video, Mabel exposes herself to the camera, then turns the camera to reveal what appears to be a classroom full of students, The Detroit Free Press reports.

FLORIDA WOMAN GETS LIFE IN PRISON FOR SITTING ON, SMOTHERING GIRL, 9, AS PUNISHMENT 

Mabel worked at the Lyons School in the Lansing School District in Michigan from November 2016 to June 2017 as a temporary replacement teacher and left at the end of that school year. After that, she reportedly returned to Florida and gained employment at Spring Lake Elementary School in the Seminole County Public School District, just north of Orlando.

In light of the charges against Mabel, the school has fired her and notified parents while clarifying that it does not appear that she committed any crimes with students. They added that parents with any knowledge of inappropriate behavior conducted by her to reach out to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Mabel and Ritchie are both being held at the Seminole County Jail without bond.

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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