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German consumer morale darkens unexpectedly: GfK

A man passes a sale sign in a shop window in downtown Hamburg
A man passes a sale sign in a shop window in downtown Hamburg, Germany, January 25, 2018. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

March 26, 2019

BERLIN (Reuters) – German consumer morale deteriorated unexpectedly heading into April, a survey showed on Tuesday, suggesting that household spending could weaken in the second quarter of this year.

Domestic demand is expected to be the sole driver of growth this year in Europe’s largest economy as exporters struggle with a global slowdown, trade disputes and Brexit uncertainty.

Record-high employment, hefty pay hikes, moderate inflation and low borrowing costs have helped household spending to replace exports as the most important pillar of economic growth.

The GfK market research group said its consumer sentiment indicator fell to 10.4 points heading into April from a revised 10.7 the previous month. That undershot the forecast of 10.8.

The survey of around 2,000 Germans showed that income expectations fell slightly and propensity to buy dropped to its lowest level in more than two years.

“Despite these losses, consumer mood among Germans remains decidedly positive,” GfK researcher Rolf Buerkl said.

Germany’s robust labor market and rising employment should ensure that consumers continue to spend their money, especially as low interest rates make saving unattractive, Buerkl added.

Buerkl said he expected private consumption to remain an important pillar of economic expansion in Germany this year.

“However, this is reliant on the assumption that the uncertainty caused by Brexit and the trade conflict does not increase further,” Buerkl said, adding that any encroachment of this uncertainty on job market expectations should be avoided.

The survey followed Ifo’s business climate index on Monday which showed that business morale improved unexpectedly in March after six consecutive drops and helped to dispel concerns about the risk of a recession in Germany.

The GfK survey was conducted from March 1 to 15.

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Michelle Martin)

Source: OANN

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Giuliani: Trump Lawyers Want Look at Mueller's Findings Before They Are Made Public

President Donald Trump’s lawyers want an early look at special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings before they are made public.

That’s according to Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s attorney. He says Trump’s legal team hasn’t received any assurances that they’ll get the early look they want, though.

Mueller notified Attorney General William Barr on Friday that he had concluded his probe of Russian election interference and any possible coordination with Donald Trump’s campaign.

Source: NewsMax Politics

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Virginia man gets 10 years for killing mediator in argument

A Virginia man who fatally shot a bystander while arguing with his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend will serve only 10 years in prison for manslaughter under a plea deal.

The Virginian-Pilot reported Thursday that 41-year-old Nathaniel Lamarr Williams entered an Alford Plea — asserting his innocence but acknowledging there's evidence to find him guilty — in his 2017 shooting of 25-year-old Aaron Reynolds Charles. Prosecutors dropped a murder charge and agreed to limit the sentence.

Williams' ex-girlfriend, Elaina Johnson, told the court that Williams was visiting that August when her new boyfriend stopped by and the two men argued in front of her home.

She said that when Charles approached asking them to take their argument elsewhere, Williams shot Charles in the chest and then pistol-whipped the mortally wounded man.

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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com

Source: Fox News National

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German conservatives: Let’s suspend Hungarian party from European bloc

FILE PHOTO: CDU party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer attends CDU party meeting in Potsdam
FILE PHOTO: CDU party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer attends meeting of Germany's governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in Potsdam, Germany, January 14, 2019. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt -/File Photo

March 20, 2019

By Andreas Rinke

BERLIN (Reuters) – German conservative leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Wednesday that suspending Hungary’s Fidesz party from the EU’s center-right political group would be a good option until trust was rebuilt with Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The European People’s Party (EPP) meet on Wednesday to decide what action to take against Orban’s Fidesz after a row between the mainstream group which accuses the populist, anti-immigrant Orban of flouting the rule of law. Some delegates want to exclude Fidesz altogether.

“As long as Fidesz does not fully restore trust there cannot be normal full membership,” Kramp-Karrenbauer, a confidante of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told Reuters on Wednesday.

A membership “freeze” would be an option, the leader of Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) said.

Fidesz angered the EPP by distributing posters of European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker depicted as a puppet manipulated by billionaire George Soros into backing uncontrolled immigration into Hungary.

Orban has also campaigned against the private Central European University in Budapest founded by Soros.

Earlier this month, Orban apologized for offensive language but some EPP leaders said was not enough.

Kramp-Karrenbauer said Orban had taken some first steps to show that it made sense to continue a dialogue.

“But it is not enough to put doubts to rest about whether Fidesz shares an understanding of the common values of the EPP that would enable a future cooperation based on trust,” she said.

Juncker told German radio on Wednesday that he advised the center-right EPP bloc to kick out Fidesz.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Thomas Seythal and Madeline Chambers; Editing by Michelle Martin)

Source: OANN

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Hillary Clinton compares ‘Game of Thrones’ to real life political drama

White walkers in the White House?

Hillary Clinton joked Thursday that “Game of Thrones” most closely resembles reality in politics during a speaking engagement with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, at the Beacon Theater in New York.

‘GAME OF THRONES’ STAR KIT HARINGTON TO USE JON SNOW STATUE AS A ‘SCARECROW’ FOR HIS VEGETABLE GARDEN

“Which is closer to the reality of life in politics? Which TV show? The West Wing or Veep?” the moderator asked Clinton. “Probably Game of Thrones”, the former 2016 Democratic presidential candidate said, pausing as the crowd roared in laughter before adding “at least in my experience.”

The HBO series "Game of Thrones" first aired in 2011 and has grown wildly popular over its seven-season span. Fans became hooked on the dramatic tales of royals committing incest, dragons, flawed kings and even zombie armies all vying for power. Its final season begins airing Sunday.

While Clinton’s extensive political career may fall a few dragons short of "Game of Thrones" level controversy, the former Secretary of State addressed other dramas she’s faced in her pursuit of her own Iron Throne, most notably her experience with disgraced WikiLeaks creator Julian Assange.

WikiLeaks was accused of affecting Clinton’s shot at the White House when the organization disseminated information from stolen internal communications at the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton presidential campaign in 2016.

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Assange was arrested Thursday at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to be extradited to the U.S. where he faces conspiracy charges in stealing military secrets with Chelsea Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst who leaked classified documents to WikiLeaks.

Clinton is, therefore, no stranger to the cutthroat world of politics. the "Game of Thrones" final season, which will have a total of 13 episodes, kicks off Sunday.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Saudi court resumes women activists’ trial that has angered West

Demonstrators from Amnesty International protest outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy on International Women's day in Paris
FILE PHOTO - Demonstrators from Amnesty International stage the protest on International Women's day to urge Saudi authorities to release jailed women's rights activists Loujain al-Hathloul, Eman al-Nafjan and Aziza al-Yousef outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Paris, France, March 8, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

March 27, 2019

By Stephen Kalin

RIYADH (Reuters) – A Saudi court resumed on Wednesday the trial of prominent women activists facing charges related to their human rights work and contacts with foreign journalists and diplomats, in a case that has sharpened Western criticism of the kingdom.

The women, including rights campaigner Loujain al-Hathloul, university professor Hatoon al-Fassi and blogger Eman al-Nafjan, were expected to respond to charges including some that rights groups say fall under an article of the kingdom’s cybercrime law stipulating jail sentences of up to five years.

Western diplomats and media, including Reuters, were denied entry to the hearing and escorted from the building, despite petitioning the authorities to attend amid global scrutiny of the case.

Three dozen countries, including all 28 EU members, Canada and Australia, have called on Riyadh to free the activists. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo both raised the issue during recent visits to Riyadh.

Nine prominent U.S. senators wrote a public letter last week asking King Salman for the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners held on “dubious charges related to their activism”, citing many of the women currently on trial.

It remains to be seen if Riyadh will bend to international pressure — with the women possibly receiving acquittals or pardons — or pursue harsh sentences in a case critics say has revealed the limits of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s promises to modernize Saudi Arabia.

The activists were detained weeks before a ban on women driving cars in the conservative kingdom was lifted last June under efforts to relax social rules and boost the economy.

Dozens of other activists, intellectuals and clerics have been arrested separately in the past two years in an apparent bid to stamp out possible opposition.

The crown prince has courted the West to support ambitious economic and social reforms, but his reputation was tarnished when Saudi agents killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi last October at the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, sparking an international furor.

SENDING A MESSAGE

The charges against Hathloul include communicating with 15 to 20 foreign journalists in Saudi Arabia, attempting to apply for a job at the United Nations, and attending digital privacy training, her brother told members of Congress this month.

The Saudi public prosecutor said last May that the women, along with several men, had been arrested on suspicion of harming Saudi interests and offering support to hostile elements abroad. State-backed media labeled some of them as traitors and “agents of embassies”, irritating Western allies.

Activists and diplomats have speculated that may have been meant as a message to activists not to push demands out of sync with the government’s own agenda, but the crown prince has denied that, accusing the women of working for Qatari and Iranian intelligence.

Rights groups say some of the women have been held in solitary confinement and subjected to mistreatment and torture, including electric shocks, flogging and sexual assault. Saudi officials have denied those allegations.

The case was apparently moved from a high-security terrorism tribunal to the Riyadh criminal court at the last minute without explanation, possibly signaling a more lenient handling of the cases after months of lobbying by Western governments.

(Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Source: OANN

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US-Russian crew blasts off to International Space Station

A Russian-American crew of three has blasted off to the International Space Station, making a second attempt to reach the outpost after October's aborted launch.

A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch along with Roscosmos' Alexei Ovchinin lifted off as planned from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:14 a.m. Friday (1914 GMT Thursday). They are set to dock at the space station in about six hours.

On Oct. 11, a Soyuz that Hague and Ovchinin were riding in failed two minutes into its flight, activating a rescue system that allowed their capsule to land safely. That accident was the first aborted crew launch for the Russian space program since 1983, when two Soviet cosmonauts safely jettisoned after a launch pad explosion.

Source: Fox News World

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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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