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Ocasio-Cortez says cutting military aid to Israel is ‘on the table,’ slams Netanyahu as a ‘Trump-like figure’

Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez raised eyebrows after an interview on Sunday when she said cutting military or economic aid to Israel is "on the table" after the election of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud Party captured 36 seats in the nation’s 120-seat parliament, the Knesset.

Ocasio-Cortez was on Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast and said Netanyahu's election comes during a disturbing trend of "authoritarianism across the world" and called him a "Trump-like figure."

Netanyahu has pledged to “apply sovereignty” to Jewish settlements in the West Bank. He told Israeli Channel 12 TV that, “we will go to the next phase to extend Israeli sovereignty."

"I will impose sovereignty, but I will not distinguish between settlement blocs and isolated settlements," he continued, The Associated Press reported. "From my perspective, any point of settlement is Israeli, and we have responsibility, as the Israeli government. I will not uproot anyone, and I will not transfer sovereignty to the Palestinians."

The annexation of large parts of the West Bank could damage hope for an Israeli-Palestinian deal on the terms of a Palestinian state on lands Israel captured in 1967. The New York Times reported that American officials have discouraged any Israeli attempt to extend sovereignty in the disputed territory.

Trump has recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital early in his term. The Palestinians, who seek Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as their capital, suspended contact with the U.S.  Trump has also recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a plateau Israel captured from Syria in 1967. The move was viewed in Israel as a political gift from Trump to Netanyahu.

This is not the first time that the freshman representative talked about the tension in the region.

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Ocasio-Cortez in July was forced to explain her comment on PBS’ “Firing Line” when she referred to the “occupation of Palestine.” Republicans took the comment to criticize her knowledge on the region. The host of the show, Margaret Hoover, asked a follow-up question and Ocasio-Cortez admitted, “I am not the expert on geopolitics on this issue,” but said she believed in a two-state solution.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Liu Wei appointed chairman of China’s national social security fund

FILE PHOTO: Chinese Vice Finance Minister Liu Wei attends a news conference during ongoing NPC in Beijing
FILE PHOTO: Chinese Vice Finance Minister Liu Wei attends a news conference during the ongoing National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliamentary body, in Beijing, China March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

April 4, 2019

BEIJING (Reuters) – Liu Wei has been appointed chairman of China’s National Council for Social Security Fund, replacing Lou Jiwei, the country’s human resources ministry said on Thursday.

Xu Hongcai has been named Vice Finance Minister, replacing Liu Wei, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Chinese magazine Caixin has reported Lou Jiwei is retiring.

(Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: OANN

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Fed says U.S. economy ended 2018 with solid but weakening growth

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Clouds over the Federal Reserve in Washington
FILE PHOTO: Flags fly over the Federal Reserve Headquarters on a windy day in Washington, U.S., May 26, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo/File Photo

February 22, 2019

By Howard Schneider and Pete Schroeder

WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. economy maintained “solid” growth through the second half of 2018, likely expanding “just under” 3 percent for the year, though consumer and business spending had begun to weaken, the Federal Reserve said on Friday in its semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress.

In a document that balanced its mostly positive outlook for a still growing economy against an array of emerging domestic and global risks, the U.S. central bank laid out why it had put further interest rate hikes on hold last month.

From a “deteriorated” appetite for risk among investors to a slowdown in China, the outlook for policy is “more uncertain than earlier,” the Fed said, noting “softer global and economic conditions.”

That may spill into the start of 2019, the Fed said, noting that the recent 35-day partial shutdown of the U.S. government “likely held down GDP growth in the first quarter of this year.”

For 2018, the Fed said: “Consumer spending expanded at a strong rate for most of the second half … though spending appears to have weakened toward year-end.”

“Business investment grew as well, though growth seems to have slowed somewhat,” it added.

Consumer and business confidence remains “favorable,” but “some measures have softened since the fall,” the Fed reported. “Domestic financial conditions for businesses and households have become less supportive of economic growth.”

The Fed noted to Congress that it would continue to reduce the size of its balance sheet, which had declined by about $260 billion since its last report to lawmakers, ending the year at close to $4 trillion. But the central bank also repeated its new openness to adjusting “any of the details” of its balance sheet plan if economic and financial conditions warrant.

POWELL HEADS TO CONGRESS

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before lawmakers in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday and Wednesday to elaborate on the report in what could prove to be an important week for economic data and the central bank’s sense of where the economy is heading.

The report indicated some underlying economic strength, with “ongoing improvements in the labor market,” and solid growth in disposable income, fueled by the Trump administration’s tax cuts, boosting household consumption.

Inflation last year remained close to the Fed’s 2 percent target.

But the Fed noted headwinds, including those tied to the ongoing debate over global trade policy. Overall, net exports “likely subtracted a little from real GDP growth” over 2018, despite the administration’s efforts to improve the U.S. trade position.

At a policy meeting late last month, Fed officials put their three-year push for higher interest rates on hold amid a broad recognition that inflation and global growth had weakened, and that the U.S. outlook was less certain than just a few weeks earlier.

Since then, economic data has been mixed, with weaker retail sales and manufacturing reports balanced by continued strong job growth.

But some important pieces of the puzzle have been missing altogether. Most notably, the report on gross domestic product for the last quarter of 2018 was delayed by the recent government shutdown.

That report is due to be released on Thursday, and will be followed on Friday by the jobs report for February.

(Reporting by Howard Schneider and Pete Schroeder Editing by Paul Simao) ((howard.schneider@thomsonreuters.com; +1 202 789 8010;))

Source: OANN

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Canada fears foreign interference in October elections

Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks during a news conference in Ottawa
Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks during a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, December 12, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

April 5, 2019

DINARD, France (Reuters) – Canada’s foreign minister said on Friday it was very likely that there would be foreign meddling in her country’s October elections and that there had already been some interference in the process.

“We are very concerned. I think our judgment is that interference is very likely and we think there have probably already been efforts by malign foreign actors to disrupt our democracy,” Chrystia Freeland said when asked whether she was worried Russia would seek to interfere in the elections.

Speaking on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in Brittany she added the effort was not so much to secure an outcome, but to make societies more polarized.

(Reporting by John Irish and Richard Lough)

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Germany to press for tax cooperation, debt transparency at IMF/G20 meetings

FILE PHOTO: Finance Minister Olaf Scholz addresses a news conference to present the budget plans for 2019 and the upcoming years in Berlin
FILE PHOTO: Finance Minister Olaf Scholz addresses a news conference to present the budget plans for 2019 and the upcoming years in Berlin, Germany March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo

April 5, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz will urge financial leaders next week to agree on a minimum level of corporate taxation globally and increase debt transparency in developing countries, a senior German government official said on Friday.

The talks in Washington will be dominated by political risks such as trade disputes and Britain’s departure from the European Union, said the government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Scholz, who is likely to face calls to increase fiscal stimulus to counter the effect of a slowing economy, will tell allies that Germany’s large current account surplus will shrink gradually due to vibrant domestic demand and higher state spending, the official added.

Finance ministers and central bank governors of the world’s 20 biggest economies are due to meet in Washington next week with the state of the global economy and political risks to growth at the top of the agenda.

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber; editing by Thomas Seythal and Alexander Ratz)

Source: OANN

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UCLA head soccer coach charged in admissions fraud scandal resigns

A sign is pictured on the grounds of University of Southern California in Los Angeles
FILE PHOTO: A sign is pictured on the grounds of University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

March 22, 2019

(Reuters) – University of Southern California Los Angeles’ head men’s soccer coach, Jorge Salcedo, who is among those charged in the biggest admissions fraud scheme uncovered in the United States, resigned his post Thursday, school officials told several media outlets including the New York Post.

Salcedo was one of nine current or former college coaches, as well as an associate athletic director, who were charged by federal prosecutors in Boston on March 12 in connection with the fraud scheme that has captured national attention.

According to court documents, Salcedo was among school officials who are accused of accepting bribes in exchange for designating admissions candidates as recruited athletes to increase their chances of gaining acceptance at elite universities.

UCLA officials placed Salcedo on leave on last week after learning he was charged with accepting up to $200,000 for helping two students gain admission by posing as competitive soccer players.

Neither a UCLA spokesman nor a representative for Salcedo were immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Rich McKay, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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Judge orders Roger Stone to court over inflammatory Instagram post

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered former Trump adviser Roger Stone to appear in court to consider whether his bail will be revoked after he posted a picture of her on Instagram showing what appeared to be crosshairs in the background.

U.S District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered Stone to show up on Thursday afternoon to argue why she should not modify or revoke his bail -- or even impose a full gag order.

ROGER STONE APOLOGIZES AFTER SHARING JUDGE'S PHOTO, DENIES THREAT

Stone deleted the photo, but later posted the same one again, this time without the crosshairs, and slammed the trial in a caption.

“Through legal trickery Deep State hitman Robert Mueller has guaranteed that my upcoming show trial is before Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointed Judge who dismissed the Benghazi charges against Hillary Clinton and incarcerated Paul Manafort prior to his conviction for any crime,” Stone’s post was captioned.

Stone and his lawyers filed a notice on Monday night, admitting that sharing the picture wasn’t appropriate and that he apologizes. His lawyer also said he plans to apologize in person Thursday.

“Please inform the Court that the photograph and comment today was improper and should not have been posted. I had no intention of disrespecting the Court and humbly apologize to the Court for the transgression,” Stone said.

MUELLER CLAIMS TO HAVE EVIDENCE ROGER STONE COMMUNICATED WITH WIKILEAKS

On Instagram, Stone said that the post has been “misinterpreted” and denied he tried to threaten the judge.

“A photo of Judge Jackson posted on my Instagram has been misinterpreted. This was a random photo taken from the Internet. Any inference that this was meant to somehow threaten the Judge or disrespect court is categorically false,” he wrote.

Stone pleaded not guilty last month to obstruction of justice, witness tampering and making false statements to Congress after being indicted last week as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

The indictment alleges that Stone worked to obstruct the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 election by making false statements to the committee, denying he had records sought by the committee and persuading a witness to provide false testimony.

The indictment does not charge Stone with conspiring with WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy website that published Clinton campaign emails, or with Russian officers Mueller says hacked them. Instead, it accuses him of witness tampering, obstruction, and false statements about his interactions related to WikiLeaks.

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Jackson last week issued a limited gag order, preventing Stone from discussing the case near the courthouse -- but it does not stop Stone from making other public comments about the case.

In implementing the limited gag order on Friday, Jackson said it was necessary to "maintain the dignity and seriousness of the courthouse and these proceedings."

Fox News' Lukas Mikelionis, Lillian LeCroy, Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News Politics

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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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